Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 30th 2025 | 10:00 am

Today was such beautiful weather and we got so lucky with our expedition for today.

We started our search north towards Spieden Island and as soon as we got there whales were sighted on the other side! Great timing! We made our way along to watch them and were greeted by the T075Bs! This family consists of the mother (Pebbles) and her children (Jasper, Rubble, Petra, and an unnamed newborn). This was an amazing experience as they started...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 20th 2025 | 10:00 am

Today we had an amazing time viewing whales in an area we rarely go to: Skagit Bay!

We started our trip going south to search for whales in the Juan de Fuca enjoying the beautiful weather and views of the Olympic mountains. On the way we stopped at Whale Rocks and watched a group of Steller Sea Lions fighting and splashing about on the rocks. Each grunt was guttural, and we got a great smell for them too, it was quite an intimate time...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 13th 2025 | 2:00 pm

What a spectacular trip! We had rough waters in the south today so we tentatively went northbound hoping the whales up there would not evade us. We made our trip as efficient as possible with short looks at Spieden island, the Turn point Lighthouse (the northwest point of the lower 48 states and jumping pink salmon.

Our luck saved us as the group of whales we were trying to make it to turned south towards us and we got to meet them along...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 9th 2025 | 10:00 am

We began our search southward, descending into deep and mysterious fog. What were we to discover on our adventure today… 

The most beautiful sea lion viewing I have been to may be this trip. Shrouded in fog and hearing ominous loud growls and barks from these large creatures was incredibly entertaining and gave me goosebumps. We got to see them fighting along the rock tops as their background was abrupt dense fog. It was intense and...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | Monday, August 4th 2025 | 2 PM

We made our way swiftly across San Juan Channel and into Presidents Channel aboard the M/V Osprey. We had a confirmed whale sighting reported by a member of the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) toward the east. As we made our way past the Lopez ferry terminal and into the heart of the San Juan's, we spotted many jumping pink salmon! We know that pink salmon runs here every other year, but this is a particularly abundant season. Nearly...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 3rd 2025 | 2:00 pm

Today we had an amazing outing finding all sorts of wildlife in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

After a direct boat ride, we got to reported Killer Whales along the Whidbey naval air station. These whales were a group of 5, the T065As led by their mother Artemis. As we first got on scene, we were surrounded by a large group of Harbor Porpoise that we stopped for before we met up with one of the larger sons in the group seen alone. After a...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | Friday, August 2nd 2025 | 12:30 PM

It has truly been Humpbackapolooza here in the Salish Sea and today was no expectation. We took a left out of Friday Harbor, made our way up San Juan Channel and eventually into New Channel. During our entire transit up to Canadian water we treated to endless looks at jumping pink salmon! We eventually made our way past the scenic Turn Point Lighthouse (the most northwest point in the entire continental united states!) and into Canadian...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | Friday, August 1st 2025 | 2 PM

Captain Sarah and I made our way north to investigate a whale report in Rosario Straight. We pointed north up San Juan Channel and into Presidents channel. Once at President channels northern mouth, we spotted the most pristine bald eagle sitting in a tree on Waldron Island. The stoic bird of prey was perfectly perched atop Waldron's most iconic tree, the one hanging over its most eastern point (local boaters know what I'm talkin bout!). We...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | July 28th 2025 | 2:00 pm

Total we got to see most of the prey animals for transient killer whales in our area before getting to watch the whales themselves! 

It all started with a harbor seal floating around the dock before we left. This cutie was doing backflips and was even present at the dock when we returned.

Stop 1: Whale Rocks

We began our first wildlife viewing by observing many Steller’s Sea Lion on Whale Rocks. These giants were quite vocal to each other as...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | July 27th 2025 | 2:00 pm

This trip was quite a venture! We booked it all the way to Galiano Island to track down the only whales seen today in our area.

On scene we got thew chance to watch the T065Bs as they maneuvered along the shore and even approached and encircled a group of hauled our seal pups on a small offshore island. This group of Transient Killer Whales consists of a mother named Chunk and her 3 children. The origin of the mother’s name comes from a chuck...