Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | July 10th, 2026 | 12:30pm

This tour had almost immediate excitement. We left Friday Harbor and turned North. About one minute later we spotted a bald eagle standing near the shoreline of San Juan Island. It appeared that it had something in it's talons, but we could not yet tell what it was. Suddenly, the eagle flew off while still holding the prey. We could now clearly see that it had the limp body of a black fox kit in it's talons! We were shocked by this, as...

Olivia Esqueda | July 9th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

Today ended up being a bit breezy out on the water, but still so sunny and beautiful with incredible cloud formations around the islands, making it an aesthetic boat ride through the San Juan Islands. We headed north through San Juan Channel, passing Flattop Island and finding our way over to White Rock where there was a haul out of Harbor Seals. There were so many color morphs in this group, ranging from all black, all white, yellow, and...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | July 8, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

Just moments after leaving the dock at Friday Harbor, a 15-foot blow was seen in the helm off of Canoe Island. Then, a tail fluke descended beneath the Salish Sea. Not only is this fluke beautiful, but it also allows us to match the unique coloration pattern to our photo-identification system; hello humpback whale “Kiarra Kelly” (BCX2473)! This baleen whale is relatively young (first seen in 2022) and is named “Kiarra Kelly” (BCX2473), traveling...

Lauren Tschirhart | July 7th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

Our Classic Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour today completed a full circumnavigation of Orcas Island. We departed Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel. We made our way in between Jones and Orcas Island and then cruised into President’s Channel. While boating through President’s we got great looks at several harbor porpoise surfacing on the port side of our vessel. We made our way into Rosario Strait and were heading for Barnes...

Lauren Tschirhart | July 5th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

Our Sunday Classic Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour was spent watching the T100’s in the teal blue waters of Boundary Pass. We first made our way north in San Juan Channel, cruising towards Waldron Island. We got word that a group of three orca whales were spotted near White Rock. It seems like the T100’s have been spotted in the waters around Waldron Island more days than not these past few weeks. We slowly made our way on scene and watched...

Lauren Tschirhart | July 4th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

Happy 250th Birthday America! We ironically spent our 4th of July watching whales in British Columbia! The aroma of hot dogs and bbq filled the air as we departed Friday Harbor Marina. The holiday vibes were high from the start, as the first thing we spotted after entering San Juan Channel was a bald eagle. The bald eagle is the National Bird of the United States of America! How fitting. Did you know that Ben Franklin originally wanted...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | July 3rd, 2026 | 12:30pm

We left Friday Harbor and travelled East this day towards a report of Bigg's Killer Whales. There was a family of whales moving South down Eastsound, which is a waterway that runs right up the middle of Orcas Island. We do not often see whales in Eastsound, so this was pretty exciting! After a quick commute, we approached the T99s right at the bottom of Eastsound. Our timing was perfect, as the family of five whales had just finished eating...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | July 2, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

M/V Osprey took off into the fall-like rainy haze this afternoon from Friday Harbor and headed northeast through Upright Channel. Our first wildlife sighting was not one, but two bald eagles perched atop evergreen trees on the north side of Lopez Island. We continued eastward through Thatcher Pass, and upon entering Rosario Strait, our captain spotted 4 blows. It was the matriarch of a family of Bigg’s (Transient) killer whales and her three kids: 

• T...

Lauren Tschirhart | June 28th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

After hearing we had two rare visitors in town, I couldn’t have been more excited to get out on the water. T128/ Floatsam and his presumed younger brother T125A/ Jetsam are two adult male Bigg’s Killer Whales who spend a majority of their time in the waters of Southeast Alaska. We only get to see this iconic duo a handful of times a year. T125A/ Jetsam has an extremely recognizable dorsal fin, as there is a large circular notch located...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | July 1, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

Happy July everyone! M/V Osprey had a spectacular day out on the water, finding five species of marine mammals. 

1/5: Just moments southeast from Friday Harbor, we found a haul-out of Harbor seals off Turn Point, and even found a second haul-out site after continuing south down San Juan Channel at Goose Island, where we also marveled at both pelagic and double-crested cormorants. 

2/5: After getting our true-seal fix, we found the largest species of...