Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Monday, June 11th, 2025 | 2:00 PM

We were spoiled today. There were whale reports galore, and the Salish Sea was booming with wildlife! Our Adventure Whale Watch & Wildlife tour ended up seeing three different Bigg’s Killer Whale families in three different bodies of water! 

We began our tour by heading east on an inter-island cruise. Our destination was to Rosario Strait to catch up with a family of Bigg’s Killer Whales known as the T123’s. This family of four was taking...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Monday, June 9th, 2025 | 2:00 PM

We started our Classic Whale Watch & Wildlife tour by taking an inter-island cruise. We headed east across San Juan Channel and made our way into Upright Channel. Our first stop was to take a look at an active bald eagle's nest on the northeast side of Shaw Island. After getting great looks at this eagle in its impressive nest, we continued towards a whale report near Orcas Island. I’m not sure if it’s just a coincidence, or maybe the whales...

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...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Thursday, June 5th, 2025 | 3:00 PM

We had a triple fluking extravaganza on our Adventure Tour today! We began our journey by heading north in San Juan Channel. Our first order of business was to search through Boundary Pass. Boundary hadn’t been scanned in awhile, so we decided to see if anything had popped up. We exited San Juan Channel and cruised into Spring Passage, pointed northeast towards Presidents Channel. While searching for whales, we decided to take our guests...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Wednesday, June 4th 2025 | 12:30 PM

We started our Classic Whale Watch & WIldlife Tour off by taking a left out of Friday Harbor and heading north into San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to McConnell Island to view two bald eagles perched high up on a tree top. We made our way into Spring Passage and then northeast into Presidents Channel. As we made our way towards Rosario Strait we were greeted by gorgeous views of Mount Baker. We then traveled to the northwest point of...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, May 24, 2025 | 2:00 PM

Our Adventure began with a cruise out of Friday Harbor, heading north in San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to White Rock to observe a slew of harbor seals. Harbor seals make up around 70% of the Coastal Bigg’s (or Transient) Killer Whales diet. These seals are extremely abundant in the Salish Sea, which is one reason why our Bigg’s Killer Whale sightings have been increasing over the past several years! Harbor seals are not only extremely...

Olivia Esqueda | May 19th, 2025 | M/V Osprey | 2:00pm

Today was one of my favorite days all season as we traveled interisland over to Rosario Strait to view Bigg’s [Transient] Killer Whales! And not just one matriline, but a combination of four! We saw a T-Party [“T” for Transient!] that was socializing and traveling around together. These 11 orcas included individuals from the T100’s, T124A2’s, T49A2, and T124D’s. The eldest among these whales was born around 1979 and the youngest was born just...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Wednesday, May 21, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Today is what whale watch dreams are made of. This was my first tour of the 2025 season that I’ve seen two different species of whale in the same excursion. We left Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to Green Point on Spieden Island to view some Steller Sea Lions. Four Steller’s were hauled out on the coastline, while several more swam around in the bull kelp. We left the point and headed up the Stuart...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, May 17th | 2:00 PM

Today’s Adventure Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour was about as poetic as they come. The fan-favorite Bigg’s Killer Whale family the T123’s were found swimming near the islands that two of them were named after! The matriarch of the family T123 is named “Sidney” after Sidney  Island. Sidney Island is a Canadian island located in northwest Haro Strait. T123’s youngest daughter T123D/Darcy, is named after D’Arcy Island (a small island right below Sidney)...