[Sunday, 5/13/18 - M/V Kestrel - 1:00PM - Naturalist Erick]

Happy Mothers’ Day!

This Sunday, Captain Brian and I left Friday Harbor looking for all the wonderful whales and wildlife out here. We started out by going north through San Juan Channel and made our first stop at Green Point on Spieden Island to check out the remaining Steller Sea Lions resting on the point. There were a group of about 20 adult male Steller Sea Lions wrestling and growling at each other. These amazing...

[Sarah – 04/26/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

M/V Sea Lion left Friday Harbor on a late April day that felt more like the middle of July! The sun was shining, the temperature was warm, and we had a rumor of whales in the area to start our day!

Captain Brian and I decided to head north towards Patos and Sucia Islands, weaving around Jones Island, and then northeast through Presidents Channel between Waldron and Orcas Islands. There were beautiful views of Mt. Baker and the Canadian...

[Sarah – 04/25/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Yesterday’s noon whale watch was perfection: full of tons of wildlife, b-e-a-utiful blue skies with sunshine, and of course, whales! Captain Brian, Erick, and I were excited to explore the Salish Sea with our group of intrepid guests.

Heading north around San Juan Island we decided to cut straight to the chase, and ducked into Haro Strait on the west side of San Juan to follow up on an early report of killer whales traveling north. We met...

Monday, April 23, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 Noon

What a gloriously sunny Monday afternoon in the San Juan Islands! Sitting here writing this, I can feel the sunburn set in over what are probably some fresh freckles, and it makes me so excited that summer is finally (nearly) upon us! Today Captain Mike and I led a great group of folks all the way up to Point Roberts, a funny little peninsula of US land attached only to Canada, just south of Vancouver. It was a long haul up there...

Sarah – 04/18/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

Wowza, what a day of whale watching! Pre-season is one of my favorite times to be on the water because we never know what we will find out on the water. Yesterday started out pretty normally for an April day with no reports of whales as we left the dock. Captain Brian and I decided to head north towards the Canadian Gulf Islands to try our luck finding whales and other wildlife. Here in the San Juans there is no “normal” spot to begin...

Monday, April 9 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 Noon

Captain Mike and I got the Sea Lion off the docks today with a great little group of folks onboard and as we left Friday Harbor we made a plan to head south in search of orcas. Passing by Cattle Point Lighthouse we got a view of a colony of Steller’s sea lions hauled out on Whale Rocks with a juvenile bald eagle perched atop! After getting a nice whiff of their stank we decided to check out Salmon Bank, an area south of San Juan Island...

[Sunday – 4/8/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            This Sunday was another cloudy and misty day here in the Pacific Northwest. Captain Brian, Rachael, and I headed out with a group of excited passengers. We headed north to go in search of whales and other exciting wildlife as well as avoid some of the spring winds that were blowing out of the south. We made it all the way up to Swanson Channel. Just around Moat Point we started to see some blows in the distance...

[Naturalist Sarah – 04/03/2018 – M/V Sea Lion – 12:00pm]

April trips don’t often start with whale reports on the dock, but on Tuesday we had incredible reports of orcas be fore we left Friday Harbor. Captain Brian opted for a southerly route, so he steered the M/V Sea Lion right out of the harbor.

The original orcas that were reported on the west side of San Juan Island had been fairly non-directional… traveling north along the shoreline, and then south. With plenty of time to...

[Sunday, 4/1/18 – 12:00 – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

            On Sunday, we went on another fun search for wonderful wildlife in the San Juan Islands! We headed north towards Spieden Island. We made a quick stop just south of Point Caution because there were four Bald Eagles fighting over some carcass right next to shore. They were super active and kept dive bombing each other with talons open! After they flew away we continued northward. We headed through Spieden Channel...

[Saturday, 3/31/18 – 4:00PM – M/V Sea Lion – Naturalist Erick]

     On Saturday, there were so many folks that wanted to go watch fun wildlife that we had a second trip! In the summer we have two trips every day, but this was definitely a treat for this time of the year. Captain Mike and I picked up a new group of guests and headed back out. We headed north in San Juan Channel and pointed towards Boundary Pass. The Orcas of J Pod which we had left in the northern end of Haro Strait...