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Orcas and Then More Orcas!

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/15/19 | 5:30pm

Today was so amazing! It was just 12 of my guests, Captain Gabe, and me! It felt like such a nice little group. Everyone was so sweet and it was so much fun making friends with the really bright nine-year-old on board, Caileen. Exiting the harbor, we had high hopes for some good orca sightings based on reports we were receiving from other whale watching boats! They were headed towards us!

So, we took our boat and headed north through the San...

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Transients Everywhere!

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/11/19 | 1:30pm

WOW! Today was unbelievable. We saw so much wildlife, it was fantastic.

Captain Erick, Naturalist Piper and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed up north through the San Juan Channel. We boated all the way up to Boundary Pass near Moresby Island where we saw orca whales!

Here we saw our first pod of orcas identified as the T77s! This group consisted of 5 whales including one of the newest members of the entire...

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Humpback Whales in Boundary Pass

Dual Whale Day Continues; Humpback and Killer Whales in Boundary Pass

Olivia | July 8th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

Perk of being on the 3:00pm tour, is that our 11:00am has already scoped out the area to know where our potential whale sightings are. Captain Pete and I were confident on seeing both Humpback Whales and Killer Whales up in Boundary Pass, so we started off by heading north through the San Juan Channel to find them! We ended up near the same family group as this morning, the T65A’s, and watched as they milled around and provided us with...

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Humpback Whale

Whale Trifecta in the Salish Sea!

Olivia | July 7th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today we started our adventure tour by finding two bald eagles right away inside Friday Harbor! Such a good spot after finishing the wildlife talk. We decided to head south down San Juan Channel into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where two of our whale sightings were. On the way down, we stopped at Whale Rocks and Spotted Harbor Seals snoozing along the shoreline as well as heaps of Gulls and Cormorants. Did you know the bodies of the...

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whale!

Humpback and Transients in Northern Waters!

 

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/23/19 | 11:00am
 

The day started with clouds floating low in the sky. It wasn’t the typical overcast but somehow much more beautiful as they hid the distant mountains. Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel.

We sped towards this beautiful island called Flattop and stopped along its shoreline. Here we found a bald eagle perched high in a tree, its white head glowing in the light. Then we saw...

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jumping

Porpoising Orcas in the Haro Strait! 06/21/19

 

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/21/19 | 12:00pm

The sun shone high in the sky on this lovely Friday in Friday Harbor! Almost immediately, the crew received reports of whales not too far away, so everyone got really excited.

Captain Pete, Naturalist Erin and I took our vessel, the Sea Lion, out of the harbor and headed south through the San Juan Channel. Passing between San Juan and Lopez, we boated past Cattle Point lighthouse, a beautiful southern point to our island. Then, we turned...

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Orca swimming

Three Transient Pods in Rosario Strait! 06/13/19

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/13/19 | 12:00pm

Today started as a beautiful day in Friday Harbor! The sun was shining, and it truly felt like one of the first real summer day here in the San Juan Islands. Captain Sarah, Naturalist Erick, Naturalist Laura and I took our beautiful boat, the Sea Lion, out for a day of adventure! We were incredibly lucky to hear multiple reports of whales. So, we set out to find whales, excited for what the day had to offer.

We headed northeast through...

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T123 Bigg's Killer Whales in San Juan Channel and Humpbacks Slate and Calf in Boundary Pass!

Piper | Wednesday, June 12, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Today was another wonderfully sunny and warm day in the San Juans and as we were getting suited up to get on the colder waters off-island, a report of Bigg’s killer whales came through the radio! So Captain Gabe and I loaded up on Kestrel with some awesome folks and headed north in San Juan Channel! Right off the bat we saw an awesome bald eagle resting on the trees outside the marina, scanning the waters for food! We stopped...

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Bigg's Orcas

Big Group of Bigg's Orcas Play in San Juan Channel : The T90's, T87, and the T124A's frolic as best as orcas can

Erick | Tuesday, May 14, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

Today, we were back in our normal spring weather – so gray skies with light drizzles through out the day. I love this weather because the low-lying clouds scrap along the tree line and the mist that you walk through cools down the temperature and the colors of the islands. Captain Pete and I left with a good group of folks out of Friday Harbor to find out what sort of marine life was out there today. We started out going north in San Juan...

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Bigg's Orcas

Bigg's Killer Whale Family, T65A's, Hunts in San Juan Channel!

Erick | Monday, April 15, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

 

The Spring BLOOM has arrived! Noooo I don’t mean all the wildflowers blooming on all the prairies around the islands (well, they are blooming too). I’m talking about the phytoplankton and zooplankton! Every spring once daylight hours hit a certain threshold and there are enough nutrients floating around the phytoplankton re populate exponentially thereby feeding the zooplankton and eventually the whole ecosystem! Your can see...

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