SUMMER VOYAGES
LEARN TO SAIL AND STUDY WHALES
Ahoy there!
Please note the updated voyages, dates and application deadlines. As we adjust the the current recommendations regarding Covid-19, voyages may be postponed or rescheduled in an effort to keep our community healthy and happy.
Please check with Captain Kevin for the latest information.
Have you ever thought of becoming a Marine Scientist, dreamed of being at sea, or of spending beautiful summer evenings with great friends, if so we’ve got your summer plans!
Participation in our program makes you eligible for Marine Science credits from Everett Community College and your completed research is a great way to meet the requirements for your Culminating Senior Project
RECONNECT & PROTECT
AUGUST 16th-23rd
To apply for a program and scholarship fill out the form at the link below and return to
Please note new program dates ORCA PROJECT JULY 26-AUGUST 8
APPLY FOR A PROGRAM Apply Online Download Application
APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP Apply Online Download Application
THE ORCA PROJECT-THE SAN JUAN ISLANDS SUMMER 2020
Spend two weeks cruising the San Juan Islands in search of orcas!
Age: 15-18 Tuition: $1,650 Application Period: Jan 4th - July 1st
Orca Project July 26th-August 8th
Credits: 2
Onboard: Orion
Destination: The San Juan Islands
Departs From: Seattle
Returns To: Seattle
Research: Southern Resident and Transient Killer Whales
Shipmates: Other teenagers from Washington and all over the country
Sailing: Advanced Keelboat Sailing
Activities: Hiking, Swimming, Stand-up paddle boarding
Will Write Home About: Your epic sunset sails with the Orcas
Research Project Ideas: Do Orcas change their behavior as ship traffic increases? Can Orca vocalizations predict their behavior?What are the plankton concentration levels in areas where Orcas are present?
The San Juan Islands are the summer home for two eco-types of orca whales. Transient killer whales face many challenges and the Southern Resident Killer Whales were listed as endangered in 2005. Since then a number of regulations have gone into effect to protect the whales. We will take a close look at the whales themselves, their environment and current efforts to protect them to form our own opinions about their place and ours in the Salish Sea. Living aboard Orion, you’ll learn to sail and navigate, as well as execute all shipboard operations, from standing watch to cooking for your shipmates.
As we use Orion to follow the whales around the San Juan Islands, we will learn what makes these Orcas so unique. You will become a whale biologist as you do your own independent research or art project. Along the way we will meet with different researchers and “stakeholders” who provide insights into this ecologically and culturally dynamic environment. Throughout the cruise there will be a discussion of the different environmental policies that affect the lives of the whales and at the end of the cruise you will be tasked with making your own policy recommendations based on the findings of your research.
This two-week trip starts and ends in Seattle, Washington. During the cruise we will explore some of our favorite anchorages in the San Juan Islands and along the Straits of Georgia. We will also make a few ports of call; due to weather, whales and tide it is hard to predict where these will be but Friday Harbor, Anacortes and Port Townsend are some of our favorites.
RECONNECT AND PROTECT-SAN JUANS & SWIFTSURE BANK
Alumni voyage to Swiftsure Bank in search of humpback whales!
Open to alumni of all our past summer programs Tuition: $400
Application period: April 14th-July 1st
and is first come first serve
To apply: Email Captain Kevin
Reconnect & Protect August 16 - 23
Onboard: Orion
Destination: San Juan Island and Swiftsure Bank
Departs From: Friday Harbor
Returns To: Friday Harbor
Shipmates: Alumni from the past ten years of
Deep Green Wilderness voyages.
College students and early career professionals.
Sailing: Coastal passage making and Island hopping
Plan to: Share your experience, path and how you stay
connected with the ocean.
Excited to learn: More about the Deep Green Wilderness effort to save North Pacific right whales
Hope to see: Humpback feeding groups and Northern fulmars
This week-long voyage will focus on whale conservation and re-connecting to the Salish Sea. En route to the famed Swiftsure bank we will learn about what is and is not being done to protect whales in the Salish Sea and Eastern Pacific. More importantly the focus will be on what you can do to engage with conservation efforts. Students can plan to present about their current work and/or school, whatever their course has been and talk about how the ocean has influenced this path. We will meet researchers and career conservationists who’s experience will inform our discussion and provide context to the things we are experiencing.
Swiftsure Bank is a highly productive piece of ocean that guards the west entrance to the Salish Sea. It is an important feeding area for humpback whales, killer whales, seabirds and is the location of the last North Pacific right whale sighted in Washington State. This voyage will head west from the San Juan Islands for the 80 nautical mile passage out the Straits of Juan De Fuca to Neah Bay and Swiftsure bank.
Underway
Although we take your education seriously on board we respect the fact that it is your summer vacation, hey it is our summer too. We try and keep a laid back feel on board and never miss an opportunity to have fun. What could be better than sailing a classic yacht through the Salish Sea with all your new friends?