Olivia Esqueda | August 13th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm
Today was such a gift out on the water with so much wildlife to see and all close to home! We started off today’s trip by heading north through San Juan Channel. After passing heaps of Fried Egg Jellyfish and Harbor Porpoise, we found ourselves at Spieden Island. Not only did we see multiple Bald Eagles and a nest, but there were Harbor Seals hauled out all along the shoreline! This time of year is so fun as we can find pups everywhere nursing from their mothers and learning life skills.
For the first time ever, we saw stampeding Mouflon Sheep racing across the southern hillside of Spieden Island as well! This was a truly WILD experience with at minimum four dozen rams and females racing full speed. None of our staff have seen this before and it was an exciting start to the day!
From there, we circled back to San Juan Channel and headed back south towards the Wasp Islands where we came across the Bigg’s Killer Whale matriline known as the T019’s. This is my personal favorite family and comprises of a mom and her two adult male calves:
T019 “Nootka” female born before 1965
T019B “Galiano” male born in 1995
T019C “Spouter” male born in 2001
These mammal eating orcas traveled from small island to small island, hugging the shoreline and snooping along private docks along the way. After spending time watching this curious family, we headed back south into San Juan Channel and checked out a Sea Otter that has been hanging out at Turn Reef. This otter was very active snacking and rolling around just off the reef and was such a fun experience for everyone on board!
We love every day out on the water, but sometimes wildlife close to home just hits different and fill our hearts.
Wanting to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/
More information about the Pacific Whale Watch Association: https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/