Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | October 29th, 2026 | 1:30 pm
We had all the whale magic happening for M/V Osprey’s last trip of the season! Today’s afternoon was full of wildlife as we traveled in and out of the rain clouds, and even included watching some of our favorite whales swim underneath a rainbow. When we left the dock, we had a report of Bigg’s Killer Whales near Orcas Island, so we set out in that direction in the hopes of finding them. Once we neared Crane Island, we began to slow down and scan along the shorelines. Soon enough we spotted three black dorsal fins, and got on scene with the T37As! This matriline has a few dispersed calves, so I was excited to see that T37A “Volker” (~32 year old female) had 2 of her calves with her today, T37A2 “Inky” (~17 year old male) and 37A4 “Crinkle” (~11 year old female). Each one of these whales has very distinct dorsal fins, making them very easy to tell apart (though Inky is the most obvious with his tall dorsal). The trio was meandering along the islands, and changed direction with each surfacing. They weren’t traveling very fast, so we enjoyed many amazing looks at them as we followed along. While waiting to see their next dive, they suddenly surfaced facing our direction and then took a dive passing beneath us… We stayed shut down waiting for them to pass, and with the sun finally shining and a rainbow appearing to the east this was one of the most magical moments I have had on the water! At one point, they seemed to be committing west into San Juan Channel but soon turned around again, and this is when they lined up with the end of the rainbow heading back east. We enjoyed our last looks as they swam parallel to us, waving goodbye to the 37As and our beautiful encounter.
We took the rest of our trip to search for other wildlife, heading towards Spieden Island where we immediately noticed a bald eagle and many Moufflon Sheep and Sika Deer. The more we searched, we saw Fallow Deer and more bald eagles! As we scanned the shoreline, we soon also found two Stellar’s Sea Lions swimming along the kelp. Once we turned around to make our way back towards San Juan Channel, we enjoyed a cozy ride back to the harbor in and out of more rain. We could not have had a better end to the season on this vessel; what a pleasure getting to see so many of our Salish Sea species out and about this afternoon. See you in the spring, Osprey!
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/