It was a great opening weekend for our Whale Watching Adventure cruise to Friday Harbor, as well as our first Bird Watching / Deception Pass cruise of the season. On the bird watching cruise we saw nearly 50 varieties of sea birds, several of which are shown here. We also did two whale watching tours this past weekend, finding Minke whales, Stellar sea lions, seals, and more. Perhaps the highlight of the weekend though was the weather – absolutely stunning blue waters and endless sunshine. What a great kick-off to the season!

May 4th Bird Watching Cruise: It was our first bird watching cruise of the season. We had wonderful springtime sunshine and the sightings were great!. We sighted 45 different species of birds. Flocks of Bonaparte Gulls were in the thousands. They will start their migration north shortly along with other species. However, as the season progresses, we will have birds that will arrive to spend the summer here. The birds we see will be changing all through the season. We also had numerous sightings of Harbor Porpoise and Harbor Seals. These marine mammals live here year round. (From our on-board naturalist Victoria Souze)

(Photos: Ben Stalheim)