Episode 67 - Update from San Juan Islands

In this episode we checked in with our friends Sara and Jeff from Maya's Legacy on San Juan Island. We talked to them about what whale watching has been like since COVID started. Sharing a border with Canada, reductions in travel, and shelter in place orders have made life complicated and interesting for the boat based ecotourism operations in the Salish Sea. On top of all of that, there is a whole new set of regulations coming in to play for viewing Southern resident killer whales. There is a lot of misinformation out there about what this means for whale watching in the Pacific Northwest, so we hope this episode clarifies a few things for folks. You can indeed still see plenty of whales, including killer whales, in the Salish Sea on a whale watch tour despite the changes in regulations. One of the best thoughts to come from our discussion in regard to whale watching, the plight of the Southern residents, and salmon stocks was: we all want more fish - fisherman and whale watchers should really be pooling resources to move the needle on government regulations together. We had a few announcements for upcoming online events too!