Lauren | M/V Osprey | Thursday, June 26th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Our first stop today on our Classic Whale Watch and Wildlife tour was to Goose Island, to observe a slew of harbor seals and several different bird species. Today we had an insanely low tide, -3.1 to be exact. We have a massive tidal flux here in the San Juans, at times up to 13 feet! This means that at different times of day there is actually a different amount of islands that make up the Archipelago. At low tide, there are 743 island...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, June 21st, 2025 | 2:00 PM

The Coastal Bigg’s population is estimated to have around 380 to 400 individuals. Of these individuals, we see about 150 of them pretty frequently in the inter-islands of the Salish Sea. The rest of the population spends most of their time in southeast Alaska or on the west coast of Vancouver Island. As time goes on, some families change up their habits and will start frequenting different regions. My first season working with San Juan...

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...

Olivia Esqueda | Monday, June 2nd | M/V Osprey | 2:00pm 

Wow. This was a truly incredible day out on the water, and definitely one of my favorites all season! We started the trip by heading south through San Juan Channel, passing Goose Island with all the birds and Harbor Seals hanging out on its shores. We didn’t spend too much time before passing Cattle Point Lighthouse and beginning our transit to south Hein Bank. We were receiving reports of not one, but two Humpback Whales feeding and...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | October 26, 2024 | 12:30 pm

With only two trips left in our 2024 season, I could not have been more delighted when I woke up to an alert that one of my favorite Bigg’s Killer Whale families was in the region. The T049A’s were picked up near Victoria and were trending northeast across the Haro Strait. The T049A’s are local legends and one of the families we’ve encountered most this season, so I was excited to get the chance to wish them a safe and prosperous winter. 

By the...

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...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | September 3rd, 2024 | 12:30pm

We are officially running our daily classic tours aboard M/V Sea Lion which tends to be a favorite vessel of our naturalist staff. Starting off the day, it sure felt like fall as we headed south into the fog. After a brief stop at Goose Island to check out some Harbor Seals thermoregulating on the shoreline, Double Crested Cormorants nesting on top of the island, and Pelagic Cormorants drying out their wings, we headed into the Strait of Juan...

Maxx | M/V Kestrel | August 31st 2024 | 10:00am

A loose rumor of whales ignited our tour today- s share based report as we left the harbor claimed a small family had been spotted over Salmon bank, south of San Juan Island. We have a heading. 

Kestrel flew south through the San Juan Channel, stopping only briefly at Goose Island to admire a small haul out of Harbor seals and of course all the incredible pelagic birds that call this tiny island home. Double Crested cormorants sunned themselves atop...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | August 23rd, 2024 | 12:30pm 

Our 12:30 Classic Tour departed Friday Harbor with the hopes of catching up with some old friends. We had heard reports that the T018’s might be in the area. The T018’s are a fan favorite Bigg’s Killer Whale family in this region, most notably because of T019B/Galiano. Galiano is a 29-year-old male killer whale, and he has one of the largest dorsal fins in the population. When male killer whales are fully grown, their dorsal fins are on average a...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 7/28/2022 | 10:00 AM

I’ve had a lot of epic whale encounters during my time working for San Juan Safaris, and today I was blessed with yet another first! What happened you may ask? Our 10:00 am Adventure Tour took a trip to a pectoral playground!  

M/V Kestrel started the morning by taking a right out of Friday Harbor and heading south down San Juan Channel. Before heading into the strait, we made a quick stop at Goose Island. Goose Island is known for its...