Kickin’ Off September with a Transient Orca Encounter + Roche Harbor Wedding Charter
[09/01/17- M/V Sea Lion- Kelsey, Naturalist- 12:00PM & 5:00PM Charter] Happy September! It’s crazy to think that this season will be winding down soon, but not today! M/V Sea Lion and guests had a spectacular day with 17 orca whales spotted throughout the San...
An Epic Journey to Race Rocks – Watching Transients with Our Canadian Neighbors
[Lauren Fritz, M/V Kestrel, 08/31/17, 2:00 pm Tour] Wow - we made quite an epic journey on our whale watch today! The closest whales reported were out by Race Rocks, which is about 10 miles west of Victoria. This means we were headed out towards the Pacific Ocean, and...
Transient Orca Parade in Rosario Strait
[Naturalist Sarah C. 8/29/17 M/V Kestrel 2pm departure] As one of our passengers on M/V Kestrel put it, what a truly epic day on the water today! We left Friday Harbor on our 2pm departure in the hopes of finding some whales that had been tentatively reported just...
A Whale of a Time in the Strait of Juan de Fuca
[Naturalist Sarah C. 8/28/17 M/V Sea Lion 1:30 departure] It's the beginning of a scorching hot week on the mainland today, with temperatures set to rise above 90 degrees. Yikes! Over here in the San Juans, however, we're enjoying a typical late-summer heat of 75,...
Transient Orcas (T60’s) Travel Near Port Angeles and a Surprise Humpback Whale!
[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Kestrel, 8/27/17, 2:00PM] Captain Gabe and I took a full boat out on probably one of our last truly hot days of the year here. We headed south towards a report of some Transient Orcas a good distance away. The report of these...
Transient Orcas Tearing Up San Juan Channel
[Naturalist Erick D., M/V Sea Lion, 8/25/17, 1:30PM] Friday afternoon was full of beautiful pre-autumn sunshine. Captain Gabe, Lauren, and I took an excited group out for another wildlife adventure out on the Salish Sea. It turned out we did not have to...
Whoa – Way Up in Canada to See Transients, Eh?
[Lauren Fritz, M/V Kestrel, 08/26/17, 10:00 am & 2:00 pm Tour] Thank goodness for high-powered vessels! M/V Kestrel really pulled through today on our two tours - we were up in Canadian waters, 20-30 miles out of Friday Harbor, for our orca encounters. That's...
Transients GALORE – Following Orcas From Spieden to Turn Point
[Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 08/25/18, 5:30 pm Tour] Wow. That's the only word I can think of to accurately depict our amazing sunset whale watch this evening. The crazy thing is, we only have a handful sunset trips left! We are stopping them this Sunday because the...
Not One, but TWO Humpbacks in Haro Straight
[08/24/17- M/V Kestrel- Kelsey, Naturalist- 2:00PM] M/V Kestrel had an exciting day ahead of it as we departed Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We headed south, coming around the south end of Cattle Point and coming up to Whale Rocks. We slowed down, because there...
Transient Encounter North of Active Pass – A Fabulous Trip to Canada
[Lauren Fritz, M/V Sea Lion, 08/23/17, 1:30 pm Tour] Some days - you go to Canada to whale watch! What a delight it is to live on an island where another country is mere minutes away by boat. If you come out whale watching with San Juan Safaris, you just might have a...