Erin | Sunday, July 28, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

What an incredible afternoon aboard the M/V Kestrel! The sun was shining when we left the harbor, and we were all ready for a wildlife adventure! We left Friday Harbor and headed north toward some reports of orcas in Boundary Pass. Since the reports of the whales were so close to where we were, we figured we could go and search for some other wildlife before heading towards the orcas. We went to Spieden Island and cruised along...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Saturday, July 27, 2019 | 5:30 PM

It was a lovely evening of viewing wildlife around the Salish Sea. The Salish Sea attracts so many different types of wildlife because of the amount of productivity that occurs. This productivity creates phytoplankton and allows for the whole food chain to be present, especially throughout the summer months. Our first wildlife sighting was at Flattop Island. Flattop Island is northeast of Spieden Island, and it is designated as...

Olivia | July 25th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

Captain Pete and I headed out this afternoon on a search for whales in our area. We decided to head north through the San Juan Channel and stop at White Rocks to catch a view of our Harbor Porpoises and their pups as they napped and swam near the water’s edge. After chatting about these small Pinnipeds, we continued on through Boundary Pass heading around East Point towards the northern side of Saturna Island.

Along our route, Mount...

Laura C. | M/V Sea Lion | 7/25/2019 | 1:30pm

Today was a beautiful day on the water!  Our vessel Sea Lion headed far north with morning reports of some cool whale sightings!  After a picturesque journey surrounded by Canadian mountain views and Mount Baker in the distance, we saw a dorsal fin way out in the distance.  It was the fin of a humpback whale moving sleekly through the glass calm water! 

We stayed with this humpback for quite a while and watched her take 4-5-minute dives...

Olivia | July 25th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Commonly on these morning trips, we leave the dock unaware of what wildlife is out there, and it is our job to help scope it out with other Whale Watch Vessels in the area. Not only is this beneficial to our tours, but it also allows for a heads up to recreational boats, ferries, the list goes on! This is one of the many things that make our trips exciting and a daily surprise. That being said, we lucked out as we started boating...

Olivia | July 24th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

Starting out our second trip of the day, Captain Brian and I knew the group of Bigg’s Killer Whales we saw earlier today moved further north, pushing our range to stay between the 3 to 4 hour timeframe. We discussed this with our passengers and came to a group decision that even though there was a possibility we wouldn’t see these whales with the rate they were traveling, we were going to attempt the long trek anyway in hopes of an Orca...

Olivia | July 24th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

It was a beautiful morning as we were able to leave the dock with a reported whale sighting. Earlier that morning, prior to the trip, Captains Brian and Sarah casually boated around to see what whales were gracing our waters when they stumbled upon a family of Bigg’s Killer Whales heading north through the San Juan Channel. Although it is never a for sure thing until we are actively looking at them, especially with marine mammals that...

Olivia | July 23rd, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

Starting off our evening sunset trip, Captain Erick and I headed north with our passengers through the San Juan Channel passing between Spring Passage and up to Presidents Channel on the east side of Waldron Island. This island area is a hot spot for Harbor Porpoise which did not disappoint as we saw heaps swimming about the entire way. So much so, that we continued seeing them everywhere in high volumes up until we stumbled across a T...

Olivia | July 21st, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00pm

PSA: Long Blog for an epic afternoon!

After having an incredible morning trip, Captain Gabe and I set out again to find the whales we had the opportunity to see in the morning, and potentially stumble upon some more. As we were leaving Friday Harbor, we already saw both a Bald Eagle and a Harbor Seal. We continued up towards Spieden Island and were able to observe some lazier Harbor Seals with their pups in addition to Fallow Deer...

Piper | Sunday, July 21, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

Today’s afternoon Classic tour aboard the M/V Sea Lion was crewed by Captain Pete, Jordan, and me! We had an awesome group of folks today with lots of families who asked some really great questions! We left the docks in Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel towards the top of San Juan Island, where we crossed to the west side of the island where a group of Bigg’s killer whales we reported to be hanging out!

When we...