friday harbor

Jordan | M/V Sea Hawk | 08/17/19 | 11:00am

What a beautiful day out on the water!

Captain Sarah and I headed out of Roche Harbor on our vessel, the Sea Hawk! We heard reports of the Southern Resident killer whales down south by False Bay and heading north through the Haro Strait!

Excitedly, we booked it down the strait, boated past Lime Kiln lighthouse and headed towards the whales! It was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, and I had the sweetest group of people...

Olivia | July 14th, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 2:00pm

Heading out of Roche Harbor today, we stumbled across one of our Harbor Seals right as I was giving the wildlife talk about how to spot them, how perfect is that? The sun was shining, and it stayed awfully warm, especially since we didn’t have to travel far before we saw our first whale siting! Despite never getting too cold, I passed out blankets to all 7 passengers so we could stay nice and cozy the entire trip. We...

[Monday, 6/18/18 - M/V Seahawk - 12:00 - Naturalist Erick]

This Monday We headed out into the bright shiny waters of San Juan Channel. Captain Pete and I took a group of passengers south through San Juan Channel. On our way we passed Harbor Porpoises that were swimming, Bald Eagles that were soaring, and Pigeon Guillemots that were diving. We headed south past Friday Harbor and Turn Island to go see a Humpback Whale that was travelling and feeding down here. Humpback...

color:#333333">San Juan Island… the sunshine, the water, the wildlife- it truly is paradise!  If you are looking for an easy one-day adventure from Seattle, San Juan Island is the place to come! 

color:#333333">Situated just two hours north of Seattle, a trip to the San Juan Islands is just a gorgeous drive on I-5 away!  From Anacortes hop on the Washington State Ferry and take it over to Friday Harbor, located on San Juan Island. Voted one of the top 10 most beautiful...

April 27^th, 2017 marked the first official Marine Mammal Rescue Day in California! This year we wanted to commemorate the hard work of the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network (SJCMMSN) operated by the Whale Museum and the SeaDoc Society under the guidance of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, a division of NOAA).

The Marine Mammal Stranding Network operates year-round throughout San Juan County to respond to calls of stranded animals, both live and...

I don’t know about you, but I love creative and adventurous dates or getaways! With Valentine’s Day right around the corner now is the time to start planning your romantic getaway to San Juan Island.  Within the last couple of years Friday Harbor and San Juan Island have become better known in the travel-sphere for our beautiful summer season, but the winter months here on the island have slid under the radar as a prime time to visit the islands.

In the winter the islands...

Many of you may already be familiar with Mona, San Juan Island’s resident dromedary camel, but the word on the street is that she’s now got some stiff competition for the title of Cutest Exotic Animal on Island!

Last weekend saw the arrival of SJI’s newest community member, Mystery the zebra, as well as Mystery’s fellow rescue animals under the care of The Surf and Turf Animal Sanctuary. The cattle-ranch-turned-animal-sanctuary is relocating from Colorado to their new...

Have you ever heard of the Marbled Murrelet? No? Well sit back and enjoy this quick little read about one of the endangered species native to the Salish Sea and Pacific Northwest!

The Marbled Murrelet is an endangered species of seabird. It is related to the puffin, and it has a stocky, pudgy body about 10 inches long. It has a short pointy beak with a short pointy tail to match. It’s a diving bird, propelling itself with its wings by “flying” into the sea depths to catch...

[Lauren Fritz, M/V Seahawk, 08/12/17, 2 pm Tour]

Don't you just love when you can spot killer whales near your home turf? Every day is different and unpredictable out here in the San Juans, but today we had the chance to observe a family pod of Transient orcas in San Juan Channel - moments after we were watching a humpback! It was a whale watching jackpot day. 

Captain Joe and I greeted our guests on the dock at Roche Harbor, excited to see what was in store for the day...