Olivia | June 6th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

What. A. Night. This was the most incredible tour I have had thus far! Captain Gabe and I barely made it out of the harbor; “barely” as in we never had the chance to pick up speed because the family of Bigg’s Killer Whales (T65B’s and T137’s) we saw during the morning tour had traveled about 20 miles north since then and were now directly in front of Friday Harbor. This was extra incredible because our passengers have all traveled far...

Piper | Wednesday, June 5, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

A bank of clouds rolled over the San Juans last night but the rain held off during today’s trip into the Salish Sea. Captain Pete, naturalist Alexandria and I headed out of the marina with our great group of guests during a very low tide! We moved north in San Juan Channel and made our way into New Channel along the north end of Spieden Island. We spotted a group of harbor seals hauled out in the Cactus Islands and since the...

Piper | Tuesday, June 4, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00 PM

Just as I was gathering our guests for our trip today Captain Pete was on the radio with other whale watching boats and received a report of orcas in Canadian waters! So, we got off the docks with an awesome group of people and headed north in San Juan Channel, cutting across Spieden Channel towards the Southern Gulf Islands of Gooch and Mandarte. Arriving on scene with the Bigg’s killer whales, the mammal-eating ecotype, we...

Olivia | June 2nd, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am

Warm, sunny day in the San Juan Islands! I accompanied co-Naturalist Alexandria and Captain Gabe as we set out on our adventure tour. We headed north through the San Juan Channel past Shaw and Orcas Islands, and straight up to the Strait of Georgia where our whale sightings were being reported for the day. On route out there, near Jones Island, we found a group of Harbor Seals lounging about it the sun. These seals are currently at...

Piper | Friday, May 31, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Heading out of Friday Harbor today there was a report of Bigg’s killer whales off Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west side of San Juan Island so we headed south into San Juan Channel and it wasn’t long before we came upon a group of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks near Turn Island. While we were sitting there watching the little rock sausages, a few harbor porpoises quickly swam through the channel and we got to get a great look...

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

Not only did we have an amazing group of people on the boat today, it was gorgeous outside! With a smaller number of people, it was just Captain Gabe and me. We started off the trip heading north through the San Juan Channel past Shaw and Orcas Islands. We wound around Waldron Island through Presidents Channel where we were able to see many Harbor Porpoises. Did you know that these porpoises have a broad range frequency from around 40...

Olivia | May 28th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today started off beautifully for Captain Gabe and me. It was such a small group of people that all decided they wanted to sit at the bow together, which allowed us to chat and hang out as our own family group. We started our route traveling past Waldron Island through Presidents Channel and saw Harbor Porpoises! This was very exciting since this is a wee bit of a hot spot for them in the shallow waters where there is an influx in...

Erin | Monday, May 27, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 12:00 PM

Today we had some students from the University of Minnesota come out on our boat! They were studying at the Friday Harbor Labs to learn more about Marine Biology field study, and they came out with us to see some Salish Sea wildlife. It was a lovely, sunny day out on the water. We left from Roche Harbor and headed north towards Canadian waters. On our way to some reports, we saw some harbor porpoises! They were coming up to the...

Olivia | May 27th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a gorgeous day in the Salish Sea! We traveled to the farthest edge of our range, making a four- hour trip, in order to find the Bigg’s Killer Whales. On route there, we had the most amazing warm weather, I don’t think we handed out one blanket! We were lucky enough to have many kiddos on the boat, one of which was the designated spotter right at the bow- a future Marine Biologist, he told me! We had a great time spotting the Stell...

Olivia | May 25th, 2019 | M/V Seal Lion | 12:00pm 

The weather forecast called for rain, and the Pacific Northwest did not disappoint! With nearly a full boat, most of our passengers (Captain Pete and co- natty, Piper, included) were all dressed up in their rain slickers ready to brave the weather. The great thing about these marine mammals, is they don’t care if its sunny and 75 or pouring rain, they will be just as active. We made sure everyone was warm and cozy with many blankets...