Naturalist Erick | Sunday, October 13, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | Noon

We couldn’t ask for better fall weather today when Capt. Pete and I took a full group out to go search for wildlife in the Salish Sea.  We started out by heading east through Upright Channel and through the small passage between Obstruction Island and Blakely Island called Peavine Pass. We had heard earlier of reports of some orcas in Rosario Strait and were looking for them. There they were heading north towards...

Naturalist Erick | Saturday, October 5, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | Noon

Saturday started in a pretty typical Pacific Northwest way. Rain and low hanging clouds fell and scraped the tops of the evergreen hills of the San Juan Islands. As Capt. Pete and I got ready to take a full boat out to search for the exciting wildlife of the Salish Sea blue skies started to appear and the sun came out! We motored north through San Juan Channel and started our journey at White Rock. Here we saw a...

Sarah | 09/29/2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Captain Gabe and I set out from Friday Harbor for another day on the Salish Sea. We set out from Friday Harbor heading south towards reports of good weather and smooth water.

On our way out towards open water we decided to stop to check out some Steller’s sea lions hauled out on Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass. These massive pinnipeds are the largest sea lions in the world, males can reach lengths of 12 feet long and weigh over 2,400 pounds! We...

Sarah | M/V Sea Lion | 09/26/2019 | 12:00pm

September continues to impress with great weather and amazing wildlife. Today we left Friday Harbor under blue skies, enjoying some early fall sun and warmth on land. As we motored out of the harbor we were all commenting that we were happy to have our warm layers as the temperature dropped with wind chill off of the water.

Captain Erick steered M/V Sea Lion north through San Juan Channel towards a report of some killer whales in Rosario...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/11/19 | 12:00pm

Today was a fantastic day out on the water! Captain Erick and I headed out of Friday Harbor, into the San Juan Channel and up towards the Canadian border.

We crossed under Speiden Island where we saw exotic sheep and deer grazing along the grassy hillside. We even saw an albino fallow deer! It looked supernatural as its pure white fur glowed in the sunlight!

Then we headed up north, across Boundary Pass and towards the Canadian Islands of...

Laura C. | M/V Kestrel | 9/1/2019 | 11:00am 

We had a lovely day aboard M/V Kestrel exploring the diverse wildlife found in the Salish Sea!  The radio was booming with reports of whale sightings so Captain Gabe was excited to tell passengers of the great news!  As our vessel left Friday Harbor, I was talking to passengers about the unique wildlife we were hoping to see just as a harbor seal came into view!  The harbor seal was basking on the rocks right near the harbor and was...

M/V Sea Lion | August 26, 2019 | 1:30 PM | Naturalist Alexandria

What a fantastic day we had on the water!  When we started out our trip we had reports of orcas in Cattle Pass.  As we loaded the boat and left the harbor we made a right hand turn in San Juan Channel taking us south towards this sighting. 

By the time we reached these animals they had worked their way north towards us so we were able to meet up with them in San Juan Channel right off of Lopez Island.  As we approached...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Saturday, August 24, 2019 | 1:30PM 

It was one of the best whale watching trips of the season today! We began our trip with a multitude of reports of killer whales in our area. We were all so excited that there were so many around. We decided to first head toward Boundary Pass, which is north of Friday Harbor. We left out of the harbor and got into San Juan Channel. We passed Jones Island and found ourselves right by Flattop Island, looking at blows and dorsal...

M/V Kestrel | Saturday, August 24th, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria | 11AM

We had such a good day on the water!  When we started out the trip Captain Brian had heard a report of orcas a bit on of Victoria.  We started our trek down south through San Juan Channel and began heading out towards these reports. 

We stopped at Whale Rocks and checked out some Steller Sea Lions that were hanging out on the rocks. They were so fun to look at, most were hauled out on the rocks sunning...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Friday, August 23, 2019 | 1:30 PM 

It was an incredible trip watching whales in the Salish Sea today! We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor, as we had some very promising reports of Bigg's killer whales around Smith Island. We headed through the San Juan Channel and went through Cattle Pass, where we got an excellent view of Cattle Point lighthouse! We then went into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which was abundant with wildlife. On our way toward...