Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | July 27th, 2026 | 2:00 pm

Humpbacks, Killer Whales, Seals, Sea Lions, Porpoise, and a Sea Otter in one afternoon… Wow! It’s always amazing when we get to see any of the marine mammal species in our ecosystem, but extra special when we see most of them in one trip! We knew of a few whale reports before leaving the harbor, so we began heading towards the one furthest away from us with the plan to work backwards from there. Kestrel’s speed gives us so many opportunities...

Lauren Tschirhart | July 24th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00 am 

Bigg’s Killer Whale matriline the T100’s is a family that frequents the inter-islands of the Salish Sea. For whatever reason, they have been spending an insane amount of time in Boundary Pass this summer. There is clearly something appealing about the waters around Waldron Island. Boundary Pass is the large body of water just south of Saturna Island. There are several different channels and passageways that intersect at Boundary...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | July 27th, 2026 | 1:30pm

We left the dock and pointed North out of Friday Harbor on this trip. We travelled up San Juan Channel and turned Northeast into Presidents Channel. We saw quite a few Harbor Porpoise on our way up! This is an excellent area to see them, and there was no shortage today. We continued on our way as we had a whale report a bit North of here to catch up to. Eventually we arrived to Sucia Island and just beyond that was a family of Bigg's Killer...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | July 26th, 2026 | 5:30pm 

This tour left Roche Harbor in slightly foggy conditions, as some rainfall had just lightened up before we left the dock. I personally am a huge fan of viewing whales in conditions like these, so I was super excited to get out there! We left the harbor and turned East. We almost immediately were surprised by two Steller Sea Lions swimming past us! I do not often see this species in this part of the Salish Sea, so this was a treat. From...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | July 26th, 2026 | 10:00 am

I’ve been looking forward to a fun adventure into Active Pass for some time, and the rain today really made our trip extra exciting. When we departed this morning, there were not many reports yet in our region so we joined the search for whales. We made a stop at Turn Rock outside Friday Harbor to search for the otter, and while no otter this time there were harbor seals and a bald eagle! From here we continued on to the north, planning to...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | July 25th, 2026 | 12:30pm

We ventured South down San Juan Channel on this trip, and were immediately greeted by an adorable Sea Otter just minutes in! He was swimming around the outside of a kelp bed just off of Turn Island. As we were arriving, he swam into the kelp and began wrapping himself in it so that he wouldn't float away. We then watched him roll around for several minutes as he groomed himself. Sea Otters are obsessive over keeping their fur clean, as it...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Friday, July 24, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

Our crew got M/V Osprey off the dock at Friday Harbor at 12:30pm this afternoon. After heading north up San Juan Channel, we waved hello to a small group of Harbor porpoise gracefully raising their chocolate-chip shaped dorsal fins above the surface of the water. Shortly after exiting President’s Channel, Captain Gabe announced that he spotted three black dorsal fins in the distance just west from Patos Island. Here are the IDs, names...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 23rd, 2026 | 12:30 pm

Today’s cloudier skies and cooler temps compared to yesterday were a welcome surprise for our trip today! Even with a bit of wind, we had great spotting conditions and were excited to head towards Rosario to follow up on a report of some Bigg’s Killer Whales. We made our way through Upright Channel and continued to the narrower Peavine Pass which led us into Rosario. From there we turned south and traveled along the Blakely shoreline until...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Wednesday, July 22, 2026 | 2:00 pm 

It is certainly not every day that we are lucky enough to meet three different families of killer whales in the span of a few hours. Today was one of those days.

M/V Kestrel headed north up San Juan Channel and scanned the sea for any signs of wildlife, when a passenger at the bow pointed into the distance; sure enough, there were 9 black dorsal fins slicing through the water. Two families of marine-mammal-eating orcas displayed...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | July 22nd, 2026 | 12:30pm 

The M/V Osprey departed Friday Harbor and took a hard left in San Juan Channel. Today we were very lucky, a group of whales was reported right in our backyard! Not but 10 minutes later we slowed the boat and began to notice dorsal fins in the distance off our port side. This group of 9 whales was identified as the 35A's and the 38A's:

• T035A/Lester — female, born in 1998
  • T035A1/Opal — female, born in 2010
    • T035A1A* — born in 2026
  • T035A2/Topaz — born in...