Jordan | July 15, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 trip

What a fantastic day out on the water! The trip started out very warm on the docks but as we got going and we created our own wind with the cold sea air surrounding us, people were grateful to have their adventure suits to keep them warm. Captain Mike and I decided to head down south through the San Juan Channel and stopped by Whale Rocks to see the harbor seals hanging out in the sun! It’s very important for the seals to get as much...

Jordan | July 15, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00

Today’s trip was so great! The morning was lucky to have a clear sky with no clouds and a shining sun. We had a great group of people really excited to go on an adventure! Captain Mike and I heard multiple reports of whales so we decided to take our speedy boat down through the San Juan Channel. Before we headed too far south, we stopped by Whale Rocks and visit the harbor seals that were lounging close to the surface of the water, soaking...

On a sunny and perfect summer day on San Juan Island like today, everyone was eager to get out on the water. As we headed up the San Juan Channel, the wind started to pick up and we were already getting a break from the summer heat on land. We had heard the same group of orcas we had seen yesterday was hanging out around the same area- North West tip of Stuart Island and around the Canadian Gulf Islands. This has been interesting to observe lately because these animals can travel and...

Jordan | July 8, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00 & 2:00 trips

For both trips today, Captain Gabe and I hopped on the Kestrel and booked it up north to find some whales!

On our first trip, the whales were far northwest within the Strait of Georgia so we boated as fast as possible towards that direction. Along the way, we found a huge pod of harbor porpoises! There were about fifty porpoises all around our boat! This rarely happens so it was great to witness. Once we reached the far depths...

Jordan | July 6, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 & 5:30 trips

Captain Gabe, Naturalist Alexandria and I all set out on two trips to Canada today! Even though the voyages were long, Captain Gabe was determined to find the whales and make some wonderful memories for our guests.

On the first, trip we headed up around the west coast of Saturna Island and through Georgenson Pass. This area was incredibly beautiful as we passed by some deer grazing by the rocky shore and we spotted some bald...

Captain Mike, Naturalist Alexandria and I were excited to be on the water on this VERY hot summer day. We had not heard of any reports in our area yet this morning, so we were a little anxious leaving the harbor with a full boat of hopeful guests. Some other boats had found a humpback on the West side of San Juan Island, but we were hoping that we would be able to find our own whales, so we headed up North towards the Canadian Gulf Islands. The whole way up the channel, our eyes were...

Jordan | July 5, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 trip

We had such a fantastic day on the water! It started out as one of the warmest days of the summer, so people were feeling pretty toasty in their adventure suits as we sat on the dock. Luckily it cooled down as our speedy boat created its own wind and that cool sea air swirled around us. Captain Mike and I heard whispers of whales in Canada so we voyaged north!

Just as we reached the southern tip of Moresby Island, we suddenly found two...

Jordan | July 1, 2018 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 trip

On this second trip of the day, we were really lucky that it stopped raining and the sun came out! Captain Mike and I were happy to hear of whales up in Canada, so we sped off north. We wound through Canadian islands until we hit Vancouver Island, then headed north along the west side of Salt Spring Island.

And then we found a pod of whales! We recognized them as the T65As! As one of my favorite pods, they have a tiny baby who is only a...

Jordan | June 29, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 sunset trip

What a lovely sunset tour today! Captain Mike and I set out at 5:30 from Friday Harbor with a fairly decent idea of where we could find orcas!

We received reports of a transient whale pod up in West Sound, so we headed north through the San Juan Channel towards those waters. However, as soon as we grew closer, the whales took off in the opposite direction! Luckily, we were able to catch up and we met the whales in the Upright...

Jordan | June 26, 2018 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 trip

Another lovely day began with leaving Friday Harbor at our newly scheduled time of 1:30 pm. Captain Mike, Naturalist Erick and I headed south through the San Juan Channel and past Cattle Pass.

A group of giant Steller sealions were crawling high up on the rocks at Whale Rocks and then jumping off into the water, making a huge splash! There were also some harbor seals down on the lower rocks near the waters edge. Due to the seals bone...