Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Kelly Klein | M/V Sea Lion | June 3nd, 2026 | 2:30pm

What a lovely opportunity for an extended trip on the water! Todays 7 hour private charter proved that more time does often mean more whales. We started our trip with killer whales just a 10 minute ride from our departure location, Roche Harbor. This family was identified as the T99's consisting of:

T099/Bella — female, born around 1984

• T099B/Holly — female, born in 2007
• T099C/Barakat — male, born in 2009
• T099D/Puck — male, born in 2015

• T099E/Qwiin...

Olivia Esqueda | June 3rd, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

We had a small, but amazing group of folks on the water with us today which made the trip feel very special! We headed north through San Juan Channel with a slight chill in the air, transiting through Spieden Channel and cutting up across the north Haro Strait. This brought us right past Turn Pt Lighthouse (with views of Mount Baker in the background!) and aiming for Swanson Channel. This big body of water brings us north into a series of...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | June 1st, 2026 | 1:30 pm

Today felt like an exceptionally stunning day on the water, with views of Mt. Baker, the Olympics, and even Mt. Rainier in the distance! We traveled south towards Cattle Pass, and spotted harbor porpoise and beautiful sea birds coasting along. Our first stop was at Whale Rocks to see Stellar’s Sea Lions, and there were so many all over the island and in the water. We continued south across some of the banks searching for baleen whales...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | June 2nd, 2026 | 2:00 pm 

The word around town is that the Salish Sea is one of the most productive and biologically abundant bodies of water on Earth, and today we got to experience this firsthand out on our speediest vessel, Kestrel. We cruised our way down south out of Friday Harbor through Cattle Pass and found ourselves just West of Whidbey Island. The glossy conditions made the dorsal fins, flukes, and massive exhalations in the distance of two whales stick out like...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | June 2nd, 2026 | 12:30pm

This tour was immediately welcomed with some beautiful weather as we departed from Friday Harbor. We turned right and headed south, and traveled down San Juan Channel and passed by Cattle Point Lighthouse which is located at the southernmost point of San Juan Island. At about the same time, we checked out a group of Steller’s Sea Lions located on a small island called Whale Rocks. There were some absolutely massive males in this group...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | May 31st, 2026 | 2:00 pm

You can never predict the days you get to see certain behaviors for the first time, and today was full of surprises from multiple species! When we left the dock, we had multiple reports of different whales in our area so we set out north to see what we could find today. We reached Spieden Island and decided to head around the northern side to expand the search range and look for any critters along the shoreline. We got to see a few beautiful...

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

We often say that every day, and more accurately every hour is different out here on the Salish Sea. These animals are constantly moving in and out of the region, so you truly never know what you’re going to see. Today was the perfect example of that. We are in constant communication with other Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) vessels, so we knew there were no orcas sighted anywhere in our range yet today. It’s not every day we see...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | May 30th, 2026 | 2:00 pm

Before departing today we had a plan to follow up on some reports of a few baleen whales in Rosario Strait, and join the search for any killer whales in our region. This plan quickly changed on our way out of the harbor when we got a report of killer whales in the northern San Juan Islands! We headed north, scanning among the islands on our way up San Juan Channel, and stopping at White Rock when we saw many harbor seals. It was such a low...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | May 29th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

Our classic tour departed the harbor today ready to see where our search for whales would take us. We quickly made a stop when our Captain Gabe spotted a California Sea Lion at the surface with what looked like a large fish in its mouth! After getting a closer look with our camera, we realized it was eating a small species of shark called a dogfish! I knew that sea lions would eat sharks and anything else they can grab, but I had never seen...

Lauren Tschirhart | May 28th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 pm

The M/V Kestrel departed the dock for our 2:00 pm Adventure Tour and headed north in San Juan Channel. We had an exciting first stop in mind… A few days ago a dead Steller’s Sea Lion washed up on the south side of Spieden Island. Getting out in nature and going whale watching gives you the rare opportunity to view the circle of life, live and direct. This dead pinniped has been serving as nourishment for several birds of prey. After...