Olivia Esqueda | March 25th, 2025 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm

Today was truly such a fun time out on the water, despite the rain! We had nearly a full boat of passengers all ready to go out and see what the day brings. Starting out our travels, we headed northwest through Spieden Channel and eventually crossing the Haro Strait into Sidney Channel. Right as the rain started to pick up, we spotted two groups of two orcas, all part of the same family, the T069’s. This matriline of Bigg’s Killer Whales...

Olivia Esqueda | Friday, March 14th, 2025 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm

This was the first tour of the year for both me and Captain Gabe, and it was definitely an exciting one! We started off the trip by heading north through San Juan Channel, where there has been an increase of whale activity over the past few days. Right away we were spotting many different birds including Pelagic Cormorants, Common Murres, Harlequin Ducks, Rhinoceros Auklets, and many, many more! Most notably, we saw at least a...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | October 25, 2024 | 12:30 pm

One of my favorite things about San Juan Island at this time of year is the crisp fall air and the occasional crystal-clear skies. Yesterday was one of those days, where even Mount Rainer was shining as far as the eye could see. The morning whale reports were abundant… everywhere BUT in the inland waters around Friday Harbor. Captain Eric and I prepared the M/V Sea Lion for our long voyage ahead and set sail. We took a right out of Friday Harbor...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 29th, 2024 | 2:00 pm

Today was the perfect afternoon as Captain Vaun and I headed out on our last trip of the season together. We left Friday Harbor and began traveling north up San Juan Channel to follow up on some reports of whales near Sidney, BC. As we passed Spieden Island, we stopped to look at a few harbor seals hanging out on some small islands before continuing to the Haro Strait. Once we were nearing the Canadian Border, we suddenly saw the dorsal...

Maxx | M/V Kestrel | September 11th 2024 | 2:00pm

Killer whales in this region are not tagged and haven’t been since 2013 (except for the occasional use of non-piercing suction cup tagging devices that are deployed every now and again). The devices that are used are almost exclusively used for data collection: determining where whales travel, what depths they’re diving to, what depth within in the water collum they’re typically feeding, and so on. Therefore, we don’t use tagging data to find...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 10th, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Today’s afternoon trip was yet again another beautiful, whale filled day in the Salish Sea! We left Friday Harbor with some reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales far north in Canada, though we were unsure if we would be able to catch up with them if they continued moving north and out of our range. We traveled straight up San Juan Channel, crossed the border into Canada, and continued northwest in between Saturna and Pender Islands, getting...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | September 6th | 2:00PM

Captain Eric and I left the harbor with so much excitement for the trip ahead! A group of 8 whales was discovered off the coast of Orcas Island heading east. We started the tour with one big loop-de-loop around Shaw Island, Stopping for some adorable harbor Seals along the way. We started to slow the vessel around the mouth of Deer Harbor. Almost instantly after lowering our speed, SPLASH! In the distance along the the shoreline, a large male killer...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 8th, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Our Sunday afternoon Classic Whale Watch left Friday Harbor already hearing reports of whales close by in San Juan Channel, so we wasted no time heading in that direction. We traveled south in the channel, but didn’t have to go too far before we reached a group of Bigg’s/Transient Killer Whales. As we approached this group of eight individuals, we realized there were actually two different matrilines traveling together making this a T...

Maxx | M/V Sea Lion | September 6th 2024 | 12:30pm

Today’s whale watch was nothing short of spectacular: two families of Bigg’s Killer Whales were actively making their way down the San Juan Channel as we began our tour so we made our way up to them in no time. Both the T018s and T049As have taken a liking to the region lately and are without a doubt my most frequently spotted whales of the 2024 season.

From our understanding, these families are unrelated, yet they traveled in this moment as one...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | September 2nd, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Our whale filled holiday weekend continued today with another great trip on the M/V Osprey! We left Friday Harbor with some reports of killer whales to the north, so that’s where we began our search. We took a left out of the harbor and headed up San Juan Channel towards Spieden Island. We stopped nearby Spieden to look at some adorable harbor seals hauled out on a small island, getting great looks at the many different colors of each...