Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | September 25th, 2026 | 12:30 pm
This rainy afternoon ended up being one of the most wildlife filled trips I’ve experienced recently! When we departed Friday Harbor, there were no known whale reports in our area so we joined the search in the Salish Sea. Within our PWWA network, we are able to cover lots of water working together, so we decided to head east and widen the day’s search in the grey and rainy weather. Outside the harbor at Turn Rock we found the sea otter rolling around in the kelp, making for a wonderful first stop! We continued on to the east, taking Upright Channel to explore interisland and make our way potentially towards Rosario Strait. Along the way, we stopped to see a bunch of harbor porpoise giving us surprisingly great looks at the surface! We enjoyed watching them surface many times in our vicinity, before continuing on when they all disappeared once again. We didn’t have to go too far before spotting a bald eagle perched on a tree. With the dark lighting, this regal bird looked extra beautiful standing out against the treeline. We pushed on, continuing to scan along the shorelines and each branch off of different channels.
We decided to take Peavine Pass to explore into Rosario, and noticed some harbor seals on some distant islands and more bird activity. While still quite rainy, there was great visibility up and down this large channel. Suddenly, Captain Gabe picked up some more speed and let us know that he thinks he saw a tall exhalation a few miles out from us! We continued a bit north, and soon could all see the distinct exhalation of a Humpback whale out ahead. We slowed our speed down once we were less than a mile away, and waited to see where this individual would surface again after we noticed its fluke come out of the water to signal a dive. After some waiting, we saw this exhalation again for a quick breath before another fluking dive! We began timing the dives, and watched this whale take 5-9 minute dives for some time. With so many opportunities to see the underside of the fluke, we were able to get some great pictures for photo ID. We figured out that this individual was a whale named Graphite, a male born in 2019 to mom “Slate” that is known to travel to the Hawaiian breeding grounds. Graphite continued diving and making his way further north, so soon it was time for us to say goodbye and go back into searching along our way towards Friday Harbor. We noticed some Stellar’s Sea Lions hanging out on a red channel marker not too far away, so we stopped for some looks at these large pinnipeds. The rest of our way home we scanned for any other wildlife, feeling incredibly lucky to have spent time with Graphite and so many species in just a few hours. As we pulled into the harbor, the skies were beginning to clear and the sun came out… What a perfect end to our trip!
Want 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/