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Bigg's Killer Whales near Saltspring

Family Favorite Whales in the San Juan Islands

Olivia | September 11th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Wednesday morning was an exceptional day on the adventure Kestrel trip. It has been a while since both Captain Pete and I have been on our zodiac and were equally excited to hit the water. However, we couldn’t get our boat up to full speed because just outside of Friday Harbor in San Juan Channel was a Humpback Whale! This was personally my first time seeing this type of Baleen Whale in the channel and we spent about a half hour...

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Transient Orcas San Juan Islands

Solo Orca and Humpback Whale in the Salish Sea

Olivia | September 8th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a fun day Captain Sarah and I had with all our passengers on M/V Sea Lion! We started off the trip by heading north where we immediately began seeing Harbor Porpoises rounding San Juan Island through Spieden Channel. After taking a quick stop at Spieden Island to see Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, and heaps of Mouflon Sheep, we continued towards Stuart Island where we ran into our solo Bigg’s Killer Whale, T49A3! This goofy...

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Two Pods of Orcas and a Minke in the North!

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/07/19 | 11:00am

What a lovely day today! Although the clouds hid the sun, everyone shone with hopes of finding whales!

Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel. Luckily, we heard reports of some whales up in Canadian waters, so we booked it in that direction.

Before heading too far, we found a huge bald eagle posing on a channel marker! He was perched so we could all see a great view of his entire...

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Southern Residents Near San Juan!

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 09/05/19 | 11:00am

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, random dogs were barking in the distance; it was looking like a great start to our whale watch!

Captain Gabe and I took our new friends out of Friday Harbor on the Kestrel. We headed down south through the San Juan Channel towards Cattle Point.

Along the way we stopped to watch a big bait ball! Swarms of birds were pecking at the surface of the water and diving down to catch fish that were balled...

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Southern Resident Killer Whales in Haro Strait

Killer Whales Love San Juan Island

Olivia | August 29th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Today was such a breezy day on the water, both literally and figuratively. We started off by [barely] traveling south to find Bigg’s Killer Whales near Pear Point. From there, they turned north and were able to view them all the way back to Friday Harbor. As soon as we found them, we also saw Harbor Porpoises that were frantically fleeing the other way, including a full leap out of the water which is rare for porpoises.  This...

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Hungry Whales in the Golden Evening Sun

Olivia | August 26th, 2019 | M/V Kittiwake | 3:00pm

This afternoon, Captain Gabe, our 10 passengers, and I set out on M/V Kittiwake to find whales that were close by! Leaving Friday Harbor, we immediately found a large bait ball that is always a good sign of marine mammals in the area. We headed south down San Juan Channel and found the same family group of Bigg’s Killer Whales from this morning- the T99’s- between Griffin Bay and Cattle Point. They were swimming southwest pointed...

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Bigg's Killer Whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Humpback and Killer Whales Swimming South of Lopez Island

Olivia | August 26th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

What a fun morning on the water! Captain Gabe received reports of several whales nearby, so we set out south through San Juan Channel. With our whales just south of Lopez Island, we decided to stop at Whale Rocks and check out the largest sea lions in the world- Steller’s Sea Lions! There were heaps of them bellowing over the water, swimming along the shoreline of this mini island, and snoozing in the sunshine. We also acquired some...

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Orcas and Humpback Found in the North and the South!

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 08/25/19 | 11:00am

We saw so much wildlife today!

Captain Gabe and I boated out of Friday Harbor on the Kestrel and headed south down through the San Juan Channel.

We stopped by huge rocks sitting in the middle of the channel and found Steller sea lions! These massive bouldering creatures crawled around the island, finding places to collapse for a nap.  Others swam in the water, diving between stalks of a bull kelp forest! Really amazing to see the huge animals...

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A White Whale for a White Wedding

Olivia | August 23rd, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 6:15pm Private Charter

This evening was absolutely gorgeous for hosting a private charter on our M/V Sea Lion. With 45 people in attendance this evening for a wedding the following day, we set up all the catered food and drinks ready to set sail into the sunset. Luckily, we had a small family group just outside the harbor- the T46B1 Bigg’s Killer Whale family group! This...

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Bigg's Killer Whales in Friday Harbor

Bigg's Killer Whales Love Friday Harbor Too!

Olivia | August 19th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

We had such an incredible morning trip that reassured us for an epic afternoon one as well! The T49A’s had traveled up and down the channel since we previously viewed them, and this time came right to Friday Harbor! We didn’t even have the chance to speed up and slowly motored under 7kts to go see them. We mentally prepared our passengers for one quick view before we left and came back later, wanting to reduce the number of vessels in...

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