Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Kelly | October 13th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30 pm

With nothing but an expired humpback whale sighting to follow up on, we slipped out of Friday Harbor and into San Juan Channel on this gorgeously moody autumn afternoon. Cruising quickly up the channel, eventually slowing around two large bait balls just off White Rock. Bait balls are tight concentrations of small schooling fish that attract a frenzy flock of gulls and other sea birds. We shut the engine off and waited for any signs of other...

Kelly | October 9th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

The weather is most certainly turning here in Friday Harbor! There was a slight chill in the air as we departed on the M/V Osprey. We took a left into San Juan Channel and began our search for whales and other wildlife. As we made our way up the channel, we noticed those distinct stubby black dorsal fins began to spout from the water erratically. Of course, belonging to harbor porpoise AKA our squirrels of the sea. We made our first official stop...

Lauren Tschirhart | October 6th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30 pm

Our whale friends really showed up for us on this foggy afternoon. Most of the Salish Sea was covered in a thick white hazy blanket this morning, which makes spotting whales and wildlife a bit difficult. Lucky for us, the T046B’s were seen traveling along the ferry route this morning. Not only were these whales seen traveling in an area where boats could easily acquire them… but by the time we left the dock they were right outside of...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | October 5th, 2026 | 1:30 pm

October has already been full of so many fun whale sightings, even with foggy mornings and cooler temperatures. While it looked quite foggy even when we left the dock this afternoon, we started out incredibly lucky with a whale report not far outside the harbor! Across the channel along Shaw Island, the T49As and two members of the T50 matriline, T50B1 and T50D, were making their way north along the shoreline. We made our way slowly into...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | October 4th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

What an unforgettable day on the M/V Sea Lion today! While the month has only just started, this trip is going to be hard to beat. When we departed Friday Harbor, we had some whale reports that were in the furthest areas of our range. We pointed north towards a humpback report, but decided to continue past it in the hopes of first catching up to a report of some killer whales heading south from the Gulf Islands. We journeyed past Stuart...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion October 3rd, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

Today’s stunning day on the water brought us all the way to Victoria to see some Bigg’s Killer Whales! We were hoping to reach this report in Canadian water when we left the dock, so we went south through Cattle Pass to reach the Juan de Fuca. We stopped at Turn Rock on the way to find the sea otter, and saw many birds including a Great Blue Heron by Goose Island. We scanned all across the Juan de Fuca, searching for any signs of whale...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | October 2nd, 2026 | 12:30pm

We left the dock and turned North up San Juan Channel on this tour. We wrapped around the top of San Juan Island and entered Mosquito Pass. We wanted to follow up on a whale report that had been submitted from shore along the West side of San Juan about an hour earlier. After searching in the general area for a bit we decided to cross Haro Strait and follow up on a different report from a fellow PWWA vessel. Shortly after crossing into...

Lauren Tschirhart | September 27th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 pm

Today was our last public tour aboard the M/V Kestrel for the 2026 season! I was excited, but I was also feeling a bit melancholy. Not only is our Adventure Whale Watch and Wildlife Tour my favorite tour that we offer, but today was also my last day working with Captain Vaun before he heads off island for his winter travels. There was simply too much sentimental energy in the air to not have an epic day out on the water! The M/V...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | September 28th, 2026 | 1:30pm

This tour left the dock and began moving South. We chose to turn and cruise around the West side of Turn Island and spotted some Harbor Seals and Cormorants while over there. We then continued down San Juan Channel and were treated to some views of black dorsal fins entering the bottom of the channel! We were already heading to this report of whales, but they had decided to travel North and come our way, how nice of them! We quickly...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | September 26th, 2026 | 2:00pm

This tour left the dock with some very exciting whale reports down South in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We decided to head straight down there without stopping to ensure that we'd make it there as fast as possible. We zoomed down San Juan Channel and through Cattle Pass into Juan de Fuca. The conditions down here were very calm today, which made out transit even shorter! We eventually started to see SO many black dorsal fins in the...