Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | October 11th, 2026 | 12:30 pm
Today’s journey brought us all the way to Victoria, where we found a Humpback Whale! We departed the dock heading south with plans to head towards Vancouver Island after hearing a few rumors of whale reports in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We took our time scanning along San Juan Channel, finding a sea otter south of Turn Island. We meandered past Goose Island, aiming for Whale Rocks to see the many Stellar’s Sea Lions hauled out. From here we pushed further out into the Strait, scanning everywhere in the great visibility. There were a number of bait balls in the area, based on all the incredible bird activity at the surface. We continued further west, and as we neared Victoria our Captain Gabe spotted a blow! It was still at least a mile away, so we continued until closer range and then slowed our speed to wait for another surfacing. We knew we were waiting for a humpback whale based on the exhalation we had seen from afar, and soon enough we saw another tell tale exhalation and dorsal fin at the surface. After a few breaths, the whale went on a beautiful fluking dive, giving us a wonderful look at its tail. With this view, I could use the photo of the underside of the fluke to try to photo ID this individual. The tail was mostly black with a few scars, and flipping through our book we found a match! I used the dorsal fin to confirm this match, as there were also some unique markings on the side. Our humpback was a well known female named Raptor, CRC-16031! Raptor has been seen in the Salish Sea since 2005, and is a mom to at least three known calves, seen in 2014, 2020, and 2024. We watched Raptor continue diving through bait balls, taking in her enormous size with each surfacing. Female humpbacks are larger than males, so Raptor could be over 50 feet long! She was pointed towards San Juan Island, so we followed along for a while until it was time for us to head back towards Cattle Pass. We took a detour closer to Lopez Island to scan along the shoreline in case any other whales or other wildlife were traveling through here. We spotted some harbor seals and some scattered harbor porpoise along the way, and continued back to Friday Harbor.
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/