Lauren | M/V Osprey | Saturday, June 7th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Today I had one of the most rewarding days of my career. I got to finally meet one of the whales I got to nickname! Each whale in the Coastal Biggs population gets an alphanumeric designation, along with a nickname. For the alphanumeric designation, each family gets a number and then it goes back-and-forth between letter and number based on lineage. For example, in this family of whales, the matriarch's designation is T036B. Which means...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Friday, June 6th, 2025 | 2:00 PM

Our Adventure Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour began with the M/V Kestrel heading south in San Juan Channel. We slowly cruised by Goose Island getting looks at the Double-Crested Cormorant nests with Cattle Point lighthouse as the backdrop. We made our way into the Strait of Juan De Fuca admiring the beautiful Olympic Peninsula in the distance. We then headed Southwest towards an exciting whale report! We got word that at least two families of...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | Monday, June 2nd 2025 | 2pm

Best humpback day of the year? I'll say it! We B-lined it for the reported location of 2 humpback whales in the Straight of Juan de Fuca. Taking a left outside Friday Harbor and heading south down San Juan Channel. We made a quick pit stop at Goose Island, covered in harbor seals, gulls and cormorants. Perfect glassy sea greeted us as we made our way in the Straight. The humpbacks had already been identified as Pop Tart and Sandstorm. After a few...

Olivia Esqueda | May 29th, 2025 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

What a fun day out exploring in the Salish Sea! We spent the afternoon up north in the Strait of Georgia hanging out with Big Mama [Humpback Whale, BCY0324] and her new calf! While this is her 8th known calf, she is also a grandma AND great-grandma! 

Big Mama is one of our favorites out here and who we tip our hat to for the comeback of the Humpback Whales in the Salish Sea. After being heavily whaled out of this area, there were no more...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Thursday, May 8th | 2:00 PM

Today the M/V Osprey took a trip southwest. Aiming for Discovery Island off the coast of Victoria, British Columbia. First we took a right out of Friday Harbor and headed south into San Juan Channel. As we exited Cattle Pass we were greeted by a Steller’s Sea Lion munching on a fish. We cruised west through the Strait of Juan De Fuca and into the Haro Strait. Right before crossing into Canadian waters we witnessed several harbor porpoise surfacing...

Olivia Esqueda | April 28th, 2025 | M/V Osprey | 2:00pm

Despite the PNW spring rain, today’s trip turned out to be so much fun! We were able to spot many birds as we traveled down San Juan Channel into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, admiring Cattle Point Lighthouse along the way. After searching through the misty backdrop, we spotted the T065B’s- a matriline of Bigg’s Killer Whales. 

This ecotype of orca feeds on marine mammals and is commonly found in the greater Salish Sea area. We are very...

Olivia Esqueda | March 22nd, 2025 | M/V Sea Lion | 2:30pm Charter

This afternoon was such a special treat out on the water with the Orca Behavior Institute’s Biggs 201 Class. Lucky for us, we were able to leave the dock about 10 minutes early, which worked in our favor since we had a whale report flirting with the line of the range our vessel could travel in the allotted timeframe to get folks back for the 6:25pm ferry!

We immediately started traveling south through San Juan Channel keeping San...

Olivia Esqueda | M/V Sea Lion | September 28th, 2024| 12:30pm

Saturday out on the water was SO fun! We headed south through San Juan Channel making a brief stop at Goose Island where we saw Harbor Seals, Double Crested Cormorants and Pelagic Cormorants before passing Cattle Point Lighthouse and exploring the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After transiting past heaps of Surf Scoters, we came across a large bait ball where we were able to see one of the few Minke Whales in the Salish Sea. However, we...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | September 21st, 2024 | 2:00 pm

The T049 matriline owned the inter-island zone today. Reports were coming in with members from this famous family along multiple sides of Lopez Island. T049C was headed north in San Juan Channel, T049A1 was heading south in Rosario Strait and the rest of the T049A1’s (minus T049A2/Jude) were hanging out in Thatcher Pass! Captain Eric and I were excited to get on the water for this T049 family affair, but where to begin? T049C/Nielson made that...

Olivia Esqueda | M/V Sea Lion | Thursday, September 19th, 2024 | 12:30pm

Today was such a fun tour bringing in all the fall vibes. We started off our trip by heading south through San Juan Channel, stopping briefly off Turn Island to see a Sea Otter floating around in the bull kelp reef. This gave us an opportunity to chat about how the increased sightings of sea otters in the last few years all circles back to sea star wasting disease. We love conversations showing how everything is connected...