Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | August 20th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

With stunning views of Mt. Baker and beautiful sunny skies, we departed Friday Harbor excited to search for whales and wildlife. Luck was on our side as pretty quickly into our trip we reached a report of some Bigg’s Killer Whales! Not too far up San Juan Channel along Orcas Island there was a family of 6 travelling together, and no one was surprised to see that it was once again the T49A matriline! I love this family so much, and it has...

Abby | M/V Osprey | August 19th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

What an epic day! Today's trip is one for the books! We left our dock today as soon as we finished boarding because we had a report of 24 Bigg's (or Transient) Killer Whales that were far away. 24! When we have numerous matrilines’ of these killer whales coming together, we call it a T-Party (T being for Transient). The families that were in this report were the T035's, T036A's, T049A's, T065, T063, and the T100's. Such a diverse group today that...

Abby | M/V Sea Lion | August 18th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

Today we departed from Roche Harbor on the north side of San Juan Island. It was a beautiful day to be on the water. We had a full boat, and a report just outside of the harbor. Other Pacific Whale Watch Association boats had already identified this group as the T049A's, a family of 6 Bigg's or Transient Killer Whales. 

• T049A/Nan — female, born in 1986
  • T049A3/Nat — male, born in 2011
  • T049A4/Neptune — male, born in 2014
  • T049A5/Nebula — female, born in...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | August 18th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

Today’s classic tour was likely my favorite all month, and some of my favorite photos I’ve taken all season! The T49As have been seen all over the area these last weeks, so it was no surprise to hear that they were reported north of San Juan Island today. We set out of Friday Harbor in that general direction, stopping along Spieden to see some great looks at many moufflon sheep and a few harbor seals resting on the shoreline. We made it to...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | August 18th, 2026 | 2:00pm

We left Friday Harbor with absolutely beautiful weather on this tour. We turned North out of town and moved up San Juan Channel. We began by scanning the South shoreline of Spieden Island for wildlife, and were rewarded with so many Deer and Mouflon Sheep sightings! There were also a few Harbor Seals hauled out on the shoreline. From there we continued Northwest and wrapped around Stuart Island. We then encountered a family of six Bigg's...

Lauren Tschirhart | August 16th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 pm

After the excitement of our 10:00 am tour, I could not wait to get back out on the water to see what the whales were up to. Our 2:00 pm Adventure Tour departed Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel. We cruised northwest through Spieden Channel, viewing an abundance of wildlife along the shoreline. We saw mouflon sheep, Steller Sea Lions, harbor seals and bald eagles. We then made our way into the Haro Strait, aimed towards...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | August 18th, 2026 | 9:00am

We left Roche Harbor with no whale reports in the area yet, which is very common for a tour this early. The beauty of the Salish Sea though is that there is always wildlife to be found if you search hard enough! We began by moving up Spieden Channel and wrapping around Stuart Island. We suddenly spotted two Steller Sea Lions swimming North through the water. This was quite surprising to me, as the Stellers that choose to stay in the...

Lauren Tschirhart | August 16th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 10:00 am

The absolute adrenaline rush that the 10:00 am Adventure Tour was about to endure is something we did not expect when departing the dock. Our morning tour began like many of them do, with us not having a clue where the wind may take us. At this time of day, we do not often have any firm whale sightings. Although we may have a general idea of where the whales were left last night, orcas can swim over 150 miles in a day, so just because...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | August 16th, 2026 | 12:30pm

We left the dock with some distant reports of whales, but no firm plan for our trip yet. We began moving North into some waterways that had not been searched much yet. Just a few minutes after leaving Friday Harbor a fellow PWWA vessel spotted some dorsal fins near Saturna Island! The whales were moving South towards us, which was super convenient. We continued heading North to hopefully see these animals. We made one stop on our way at a...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | August 17th, 2026 | 1:30 pm

It is still in the thick of August, and we experienced my first good “Fog-ust” trip of the month as we journeyed south in San Juan Channel and passed through a layer of dense fog near Cattle Pass. We had a report of killer whales in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so we pushed on and were rewarded with quite clear visibility once exiting the pass! Cattle Point Lighthouse and Goose Island looked a bit spooky in the fog, but we could still see...