As I drove down to our Friday Harbor location today to go into work, the weather didn't look super. However, right before we went to un-dock the sun decided to make an appearance! It ended up being a gorgeous day on the water today- little to no wind, sunny, clear skies, and beautiful wildlife.

As we headed out the San Juan Channel and into Cattle Pass, we encountered a small Minke whale feeding on small schools of Sand Lance, Krill, and Herring. Minke whales aren't normally found...

Heading out of Friday Harbor on this gloriously sunny day, passengers and crew aboard the M/V Kittiwake didn't have to go far to meet up with some Minke Whales! Sitting over Salmon Bank we were able to kill the engine and enjoy the silence while waiting for the minkes to surface. Generally a good way to spot Minke Whales is to scan the horizon for birds feeding on bait fish below the surface. Both the Minke whales and the birds are feeding on the same type of fish. Lucky for us, our...

As the sun was looming low in the sky, the Sea Lion headed out once more to show our guests a wonderful time with our Southern Resident Killer Whales. We headed out through the whirling up-wells in the San Juan Channel and met our whales in Cattle Pass. We met them with as much excitement as they appeared to be feeling! Some L-Pod members were in the Pass; they were already breaching, tail slapping, and traveling close together. They swam increasingly close to Goose Island, jumping...

We left our Friday Harbor location today and headed south out the San Juan Channel, though Cattle Pass, and into the Haro Strait where we came across a Humpback Whale! This was the same Humpback that we saw last night right off the south end of San Juan Island. When we reached Hein Bank, the whale was heading toward Vancouver, BC. At first it was diving deep and staying down for about eight minutes at a time. Then, the whale seemed to have a change of pace and started swimming slowly...

Today Captain Mike, naturalist Caitlin and myself headed out of the San Juan Channel, through Cattle Pass and to the south end of the Haro Strait. We had heard rumors about the whale activity on the south end of the island and hoped to encounter L-Pod and even some transient killer whales! This trip we had a particularly great, enthusiastic group of guests on board and our hopes were high when we saw our first spout from our resident L-Pod.

This is the second day that L-Pod has been...

We headed South today from our Friday Harbor location and into the San Juan Channel where we promptly had to do a "man overboard" drill to retrieve one of our customers hats! The hat flew off and into the water, at which point Captain Mike swiftly turned the boat around and Caitlin and I retrieved the water-logged hat! Sometimes, we start out with a little excitement right in the very beginning! We'll always go out of our way to make sure we still have smiling faces aboard!

After the...

Today we headed to the south end of San Juan Island with some fabulous guests, many from foreign countries such as Japan, Germany, and even Australia! We were happy to see such diversity on board today. As we headed through the San Juan Channel, we were all excited to see our Dall's Porpoise having a grand old time ridding the waves off of our stern and bow! Both myself and Emily (the other naturalist on board) had never seen these small mammals and were equally excited to witness...

Captain Mike, Andrew and myself left our Friday Harbor location today and headed south through the San Juan Channel and into Cattle Pass where we hoped to encounter some great whale activity. Along the way we stopped to say "hello" to my favorite small critters that are known to inhabit the Salish Sea: Harbor Seals. The harbor seals thrive on our large tidal difference here which create the upwellings they navigate through to hunt. Their whiskers on the front of their face are...

The day started off great! As we headed out into the San Juan Channel, Captain Mike, Naturalist Kevin and myself along with our eager guest came across our local Harbor Seals feeding in the amazing tidal rips that develop in the Cattle Pass area. We saw close to a hundred Harbor Seals!

From there, we heading out through Cattle Pass were we encountered at least a half dozen Minke whales. Minke whales are approximately 25-30 feet long and feed in the shallower waters off the south end...

Once again, it was beautiful day in the San Juan Islands with bluebird skies and flat calm waters.  And, the Salish Sea was teeming with wildlife and seabirds. 

In the San Juan Channel and Cattle Pass we saw Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoise, Steller Sea Lions, and a number of different seabird species.  Here the tide is funneled through Lopez Island and San Juan Island creating upwelling.  Eager for a meal, marine mammals and seabirds congregate in this area, taking full advantage...