Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 7, 2020 | 13:30

What a special day on the water with Captain Sarah and all our guests. We were able to leave the dock with rumors of Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island, which is always extra heart racing. The reason this particular trip felt special, was because these were not just any orcas; they happen to be J Pod of the Southern Resident Killer Whales. This critically endangered ecotype of orca was labeled the name ‘resident’ by their history of...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 5, 2020 | 13:30

It was such a gorgeous day out on the water; by far one of my favorites this season. We left the dock with whale rumors in the area which is always a great way to start our trips. We kicked off our adventure by heading north through the San Juan Channel towards Spieden Island.  As soon as we arrived at the Cactus Islands, we had great black and white views of the T65A’s- one of our favorite family groups of transient orcas. We had such...

Laura C. | 11/30/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Waking up this morning was bittersweet, as I knew it would be the last trip of the season, but I was equally excited to get out on the water to hopefully see some whales!  Today could not have more perfect, with orcas graciously providing a grand finale!  This is the last blog of the season as it is our final whale watch of the year!  Eleven passengers eagerly boarded M/V Sea Lion and greeted Captain Pete with enthusiasm.  After...

Laura C. | 11/23/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00

The seas were rocky today in the Salish Sea!  Grey clouds blanketed the sky above swirling whitecaps in the San Juan Channel.  Captain Pete was in his element behind the helm as we stoically ventured north through the deep sloshy seas.  Days like this are my favorite because you really feel connected to the marine environment and feel that there is a greater force out there determining your impending voyage.  We first stopped near Waldron...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 11/17/2019 | 12:00 pm

What an exceptional day out on the water!  The Salish Sea was a buffet of small schooling fish swirling through the surrounding cold-water currents.  M/V Sea Lion headed out of Friday Harbor with gusto to stop only minutes away to our fist whale sightings!  The T18s were in the area foraging just north of Friday Harbor!  T19C and T18 were hugging the east side of San Juan Island and T19B and T19 were in San Juan Channel about 300 yards...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 11/3/19 | 12:00pm

What an awesome day out on the water with Captain Pete!  M/V Sea Lion ventured north into the San Juan Channel on a clear sunny morning blanketed with crystal blue skies.  With only 10 passengers aboard, were able to move around our spacious vessel and appreciate the natural splendor of the surrounding islands in relaxed contentment.  Around the bend of Friday Harbor to the left I quickly spotted a bald eagle overlooking a madrone tree. ...

Olivia | September 30th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today was SO magical! We left Friday Harbor heading north through the San Juan Channel and cutting through Spieden Channel in order to end up near Henry Island. All along the way we saw swimming Harbor Seals and Harbor Porpoises! However, what really took our breath away was seeing a big male Southern Resident Killer Whale! It was beautiful right in the sunshine! I may use an excessive amount of exclamation points in this blog...

Olivia | September 28th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Sadly, today was my last Kestrel trip of the season with Captain Gabe and we decided early on that it was going to be epic. Being one of the first boats out on the water, we often must travel into areas where there haven’t been other boats in order to find potential whale sightings. We heard of a Humpback Whale near Battleship Island north of Roche Harbor, but decided to go scope out waters elsewhere due to the amount of boats...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 09/24/19 | 12:00pm

It was so nice out on the water! It was super sunny and warm, and the blue skies brightened everyone’s day!

Captain Gabe and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel.

Along the way we saw our first wildlife sighting: a bald eagle! It was soaring through the sky, elegantly flying with ease as it surveyed the area for fish before disappearing behind the trees.

We boated up towards Speiden and...

Olivia | September 22nd, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

We started off our Adventure Trip by heading north through Spieden Island. To our surprise, the entire island was so lush green in just a matter of one week with the amount of rain we have gotten. We looked at Mouflon Sheep for quite a bit before heading into Haro Strait to check out the body of water to see if any whales were around. After that we headed north through John’s Pass where we saw heaps of Harbor Seals floating around...