Piper | Sunday, July 7, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

Today was a drizzly Pacific Northwest summer day and leaving the docks we had a day full of possibilities ahead of us! We started moving northwest and were heading over the top of Stuart Island when a report of Bigg’s killer whales came over the radio! They were just a few miles away so we turned the Sea Lion in their direction and about fifteen minutes later we arrived on scene with a family of marine mammal-eating orcas! This...

Olivia | July 7th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Today we started our adventure tour by finding two bald eagles right away inside Friday Harbor! Such a good spot after finishing the wildlife talk. We decided to head south down San Juan Channel into the Strait of Juan de Fuca where two of our whale sightings were. On the way down, we stopped at Whale Rocks and Spotted Harbor Seals snoozing along the shoreline as well as heaps of Gulls and Cormorants. Did you know the bodies of the...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM | Saturday, July 6, 2019

What an amazing trip aboard Kestrel this morning! We started our trip heading north out of Friday Harbor. We found out that members of the critically endangered Southern Resident population were travelling from Canada into U.S. waters! We headed toward Waldron Island and saw the orcas inshore towards Saturna Island. They were members of J pod. The Southern Residents haven't been back into the inland waters of the Salish Sea for a...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/05/19 | 5:30pm

Today was truly one of my favorite whale watches of the season!

It started with the sun starting to sink lower in the sky as Captain Erick and I loaded the boat with all our passengers and headed out of Friday Harbor. We boated up around the south side of Shaw Island right next to Canoe Island and almost immediately found orca whales!

We were so lucky to find the T65As right away only a few minutes from the harbor. As we arrived, this...

Laura C. | 7/5/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

After a beautiful 4th of July on San Juan Island, the party continued out in the Salish Sea among orcas!  Passengers and crew were so excited to hear reports of Bigg’s killer whales right past San Juan Channel near Waldron Island!  We slowly approached the area and waited patiently as the reported family of killer whales were on a dive.  Luckily these whales were clocking six-minute dives today and in a short matter of time we started...

Olivia | July 4th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am / 5:30pm 

What a fun Fourth of July! We started off both our 11:00am and 3:00pm tours seeing Bald Eagles, Harbor Porpoises and Harbor Seals. Would it really be Independence Day if we didn’t see any Bald Eagles? We even got the chance to see a Harbor Seal pup cuddling with its mother on the coastal shore of Flattop Island. I may have gotten particularly excited since it was my person first pup sighting of the season. This was thrilling...

Olivia | June 29, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

Sunset tours are always favored by the staff, and for good reason! Calm seas, gorgeous, golden sunset over the water, and Cattle Point Lighthouse silhouetted in the background- what’s not to love? We started off the tour heading south towards Salmon Bank where there were potential wildlife sightings. We saw heaps of Pigeon Guillemots, Auklets, Gulls, and Bald Eagles as we traveled down the San Juan Channel. We even saw a juvenile Bald...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, June 30, 2019 | 11:00 AM

Today was an awesome day on M/V Kestrel. We began the trip heading north out of Friday Harbor, as there were some reports of orcas in that direction. It was gorgeous out on the water. The sun was shining and the water was calm. We got to stop at White Rock, which is right by Flattop Island. There were about twenty seals hauled out on the rocks, and there were at least five bald eagles resting on the rocks as well! Some of the...

Laura C. | 6-28-2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

This afternoon was an awesome day to spend on the water!  Captain Gabe drove M/V Kestrel north and stopped along Spieden Island to see some cool wildlife, including bald eagles and harbor seals!  We continued onward and were so excited to find TWO Bigg’s killer whale families traveling together near Saturna Island!  Passengers watched this active group gathering at the surface with calves splashing around and coming fully out of the water...

Olivia | June 27, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Our morning trip out on M/V Kestrel definitely started off as an adventure as we were getting everyone suited up in the rain. Despite the June showers, we wore smiling faces as we set out to find the whales we received word about. We traveled north through the San Juan Channel and made a pit stop at Flattop Island to look at some Harbor Seals who were napping on the coastline. Things heated up fast as we then saw a bunch of Pigeon...