Yesterday, our little heat wave finally broke so we are back in the safety of 60˚-70˚F. Captain Pete, Kelsey, and I headed out south to go find some wildlife. The Salish Sea is a mix and a crossroads of some many different things constantly changing with the seasons so every day is so different. The Salish Sea is a intersection of the Pacific Ocean, large rivers running from snowcapped mountains, and the land. The ingredients along with seasonal weather changes mix differently...

[6/20/17 ~ Sea Lion 1:30 Departure]

Yesterday was a record-breaking day for me aboard the M/V Sea Lion. I've been pretty far north before, close enough to see the skyscrapers of greater Vancouver, but yesterday I was lucky enough to go even further north into the Strait of Georgia. Lead by a report of two familiar humpback whales in the Strait of Georgia, and no whales closer by, Captain Gabe took us full speed up to the water northeast of Galiano Island. 

Thankfully, the day was...

(06/09/2017 - Kestrel 2pm Departure)

Today was one of those once in a lifetime experiences out on the water. We headed North West towards Swanson Channel where there were reports of a large group of transient orcas.  On our way to look for the orcas we stopped to see some of their favorite food, harbor seals!  We looked at those adorable rock sausages for a bit and then ventured on.  We got into the area where the orcas were located and saw them moving rather erratically.  They were...

Today in the Salish Sea, the Sea Lion departed North of Friday Harbor from San Juan Island in search of wildlife for Mother’s Day. The sky was scattered with clouds, but the day was quiet and beautiful. Harbor seals were quickly spotted bobbing in the waters outside of the harbor, and sea birds darted into the waters alongside the boat. Into the trip, Stellar’s sea lions were spotted basking (and arguing) on a rocky outcrop jutting from the water’s surface. Being the largest sea lion...

The days are a little cloudier as we delve deeper and deeper into Autumn, but that doesn’t slow us down nor the whales! They live in water so cloudy or rainy days don’t bother them and the mists that float in from the ocean here help the isles show their true colors.  This is what the islands usually look like. The greenest evergreens scrape the low lying cloud train all while the calm waters of the Salish Sea reflect the diffused light of the terrestrial world. But no worries there...

We see whales most days and they are super! But some days we have an extra special day. Today we went north and motored through some of the outer islands north of San Juan Island. We first stopped around Flattop Island to look at some really cool Harbor Porpoises surfing in the windy chop south of the island. After we checked out their silly antics we continued north and saw quite a few majestic Bald Eagles and as we approached East Point on Saturna, one of my favorite places in the...

It’s the end of August folks, and that means beautiful vaguely fall days mixed in with sunny days, and less daylight, but not less whales! Yesterday Captain Mike, Sarah C., and I headed north to eventually loop around the north side of San Juan Island to go look at the Southern Resident Orcas. These are the fish eating ones, the ones you probably know the most about, and also the most endangered currently. Since they mainly eat salmon, and this year has been a historically low salmon...

Yesterday, the skies cleared to reveal a wonderfully blue sky with wispy, white clouds. The last few days we have been lucky here. This year has been marked as a historically low salmon year, and for this reason we have not seen the Resident Orcas (whose main food source is salmon) very much in the Salish Sea. This past week J pod of the Residents Orcas has been in and around the islands hunting for salmon. On Sunday, we headed south to arrive on the southern side of the islands to...

Yesterday, Captain Pete, Sarah Cutting, and I set off on a classic Pacific Northwest day full of low hanging clouds, mist scarping the trees, and that filtered light that makes all the green in western Washington sing. We started off north and scooted by Flattop Island to look at some Harbor Seals lounging on the rocks and swimming in the kelp beds around this federally protected island. Next we headed further north towards Saturna Island in Canada, right where two major waterways...

On Friday we went up north! We started our daily search for cetaceans by heading up near Flattop Island to both look at some Harbor Seals and Bald Eagles on this Federally protected island and also look in several different channels to see if any whales could be spotted. None yet so we headed east now through one of my favorite channels in the islands, President Channel! It runs between Orcas and Waldron Island so our journey east was framed by steep wooded slopes on Orcas and...