Guests aboard M/V Sea Lion along with Cpt. Pete, naturalist Erick and I were excited to get on the water on this beautiful day with a report of orcas almost within our reach. Eager to get everyone on the boat and ready to pick up speed we took off hopeful to get to see these animals.

As of earlier, only one whale sighting from way up north had been reported. With no other reports in our area, we quickly headed up the San Juan Channel with plans to take Boundary Pass into the Strait...

Jordan | August 22, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 trip

Today was such a good day! Captain Gabe and I headed south through the San Juan Channel towards reports of transient whales near the Olympic Peninsula. We first stopped by Whale Rocks and saw some Steller sea lions on the rocks! It was really fun to see these massive animals lounging and enjoying the sun streaming through the cloudy skies. There were also harbor seals sitting nearby flopping around.

Then we sped off further south...

Jordan | August 21, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 trip

What a great day out on the water! Despite the fog and smoke that is still lingering around the San Juan Islands, we had a great day cruising around the Salish Sea.

We headed south down through the San Juan Channel and stopped by Whale Rocks to check out some Steller sea lions! These animals are HUGE and yet seem super elegant in the water…until they crawl up on land and lumber and roll around. We also saw some harbor seals that are...

 

Leaving the harbor aboard M/V Sea Lion with Captain Pete and naturalist Eric, I️ was excited to be on the water on such a sunny August day after a couple of foggy ones. There was a report of a humpback not too far away from us, so we decided to head that direction. 

 

Headed up north towards Waldron Island, we took a left out of the harbor into San Juan Channel. The guests were enthusiastic and many seemed very interested to learn about the conservation efforts being carried out...

Jordan | August 18, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 trip

What a beautiful evening trip in the San Juan Islands! As the sun started to set behind the picturesque clouds, we headed out of Friday Harbor to search for our whales. We headed south through the San Juan Channel and towards Victoria on Vancouver Island.

Before we reached Canadian waters, we found the whales! Suddenly we were surrounded by Southern Resident whales all around our boat! It was so exciting seeing the magnificent...

It was a beautiful day to be out on the water and even better, Jpod had just came in yesterday after a few days of being gone. Captain Pete, naturalist Rachel and I️ were really excited to get out on the water although a very chilly day for August and a bit rainy. As we left Friday harbor, there were reports of the orca on the west side moving up the San Juan coast, so we decided to round the northern tip of the island and head south to encounter them. 

 

Headed up the San Juan...

Jordan | August 15, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00 trip

The morning was a beautiful start to the day as the fog, that has been heavy on our sea for the past week, burned away as the sun came out. Captain Gabe and I heard several reports of whales so we were excited to head out into open waters today.

We zipped out of Friday Harbor and headed south through the San Juan Channel. We boated through Cattle Pass and checked out a few Steller sea lions that were lounging on the Whale Rocks...

Leaving the harbor aboard M/V Sea Lion Captain Gabe, naturalist Eric and myself were excited to get out on the water and see some orcas! We had been hanging around a humpback earlier that day and there were now reports of transient orcas up north. Although pretty far out, we were hopeful we’d be able to catch up to them and get a chance to see them on this afternoon trip! The orcas were far out by Point Roberts well into the Strait of Georgia, but Captain Gabe decided to go for it...

Jordan | August 7, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 trip

Today the sun was out and shining and the water seemed especially calm as we headed out of Friday Harbor in our search to find whales! We headed south down through the San Juan Channel and through Cattle Pass past the southern point of San Juan Island.

We then spotted some Steller sealions on the Whale Rocks! These massive creatures lumbered around this tiny island barking at each other and rolling around, trying to get as much sun as...

Leaving the harbor with a full boat Captain Mike, Alexandria and myself were excited to get out on the water and see what orcas were hanging around the San Juan Channel! It’s really a treat and a weight off our shoulders when the whales are right outside the harbor since sometimes we must travel two hours to even catch up to them! With high spirits, we headed North up the channel hugging the east side of San Juan island. About two miles up the coast, we saw some faint spouts coming...