San Juan Excursions staff members are residents of San Juan Island and are happy to assist you with your island planning from giving advice on where to stay, to suggesting the best places in town to eat at and ferry information. More tips and travel advice can be found on our blog.

Our captains & naturalists are among the best in the business. Not only are they experts about the wildlife and natural history of the San Juan Islands, but they are entertaining and fun. They get excited every time they see wildlife ( checkout our photo gallery ). This enthusiasm is one of the main ingredients that keeps people coming back year after year to San Juan Excursions for whale watching/wildlife tours.

Captain Pete

Captain Pete is the owner and operator of San Juan Excursions. He was born and raised in Washington and has worked on boats since the young age of 14 when he began working on his father’s fishing boat during the summer months in Alaska. After he graduated from college, Pete began working as a kayak guide running multi-day tours from San Juan Island. His love of the Salish Sea combined with his love of being on the water prompted him to obtain his captains license. “I have always loved being on boats and working on the water and I make it my goal to provide our guests with a safe, informative and fun tour each day.” - Pete. Pete and his wife, Erin, enjoy working with our guest and are happy to assist you with any questions or needs you may have.

Melisa

Melisa has been working for San Juan Excursions since 2010 and is a certified marine naturalist/orca identification expert. She was born and raised on San Juan Island and in 2017, she graduated Evergreen State College with a Bachelor of Science in marine biology and ornithology. When she is not on the Odyssey, Melisa is tending to her native plant nursery, helping identify orcas for different research organizations, birding, or spending time with her partner. Melisa is ready to answer any questions you might have about the Salish Sea and its amazing wildlife.

Faith

Faith joined the San Juan Excursions team in June of 2023 after working as an educator for the Center for Whale Research. She is currently earning her bachelor's degree in marine biology at the University of Washington and has studied at Friday Harbor Labs. From a young age, she's been dedicated to learning about the ocean and the life within it—a passion that only deepened with her family's move to San Juan Island in 2016. She believes that real life experiences foster interest in the natural world and hopes to share her stories with passengers aboard the Odyssey.

Taylor

Taylor grew up visiting the San Juan Islands specifically to see the whales of the region, originally starting as a passenger on the Odyssey with San Juan Excursions in 2015. After completing her marine naturalist certification at age 14 in 2019, she began interning during the summer with San Juan Excursions and joined the team as a naturalist in 2024. Loving killer whales from a young age, Taylor taught herself to identify the individual killer whales we see here in the region starting at 9 years old. While killer whales are her favorite species, she also has a soft spot for our local minke whale population. When not in the San Juan Islands, Taylor is in Seattle working on her bachelor's degree in marine biology at the University of Washington.

Brittini

Brittini joined San Juan Excursions in 2025. She has been working as a marine mammal biologist since 2018. She earned her master's degree studying Atlantic spotted dolphins in the Bahamas with the Wild Dolphin Project, where she worked as a research and field assistant for seven summers. She worked on research projects with orcas in Iceland and various cetacean species in the Hawaiian Islands and also taught at a marine biology school for children in the Dominican Republic. Moving to San Juan Island was a dream come true because the Salish Sea is home to her lifelong favorite species—orcas. Brittini currently works with the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network and SR3. She is passionate about conservation and sharing the wonders of the ocean, which she loves to explore freediving beneath the surface with her husband, son, and friends.

Marti

Marti's orca obsession started in earnest during her first trip to the islands in 1990. Annual kayaking-camping trips and whale watching excursions were never enough, so she moved to Friday Harbor in 2017. A certified marine naturalist since 2020, Marti has volunteered with Soundwatch and the Naturalist Network. She brings her lifelong love of the sea and education experience aboard the Odyssey; living for those lightbulb moments when guests experience the glorious San Juan Islands firsthand and gain a new understanding of the creatures of the Salish Sea. When she's not at work, you can find her kayaking-camping nearby, lounging at South Beach, or tending to flowers and veggies in her garden.