Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 2nd, 2025 | 12:30 pm

Killer Whales are all unique and identifiable based on different markings on their dorsal fins, saddle patches, and eye patches, but some are definitely more distinct than others. T63, known as Chainsaw, is one of the most distinct whales in our Bigg’s population, and anyone will know why as soon as they see him. On today’s afternoon tour, I was thrilled that we got to see this iconic whale along with multiple others! We began our trip...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | June 29th, 2025 | 2:00 pm

San Juan Summer weather was finally back today and the sunny, warm, clear conditions provided the perfect backdrop for our amazing afternoon on the water. There has been lots of whale activity around the islands this week, and today was no exception. Before leaving the dock we knew there were a number of whale reports to the north, so we began heading that way. We spotted some harbor seals on a small island on our way up San Juan Channel...

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...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | Sunday, June 29th 2025 | 12:30 PM

Goodbye Junuary! Hello proper summer weather! The sun was out and beating down as we left Friday harbor and set course up San Juan Channel. The breeze felt amazing as we picked up speed- instantly cooling everything down. Just outside presidents channel, we began to slow our speed to under 7 knots. In the distance...dorsal fins came into view! 4 distinct fins began to emerge from the water belonging to none other than... the T123's! Including...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Monday, June 23rd, 2025 | 2:00 PM

The Bigg’s Killer Whale matriline the T049A’s is a group of 7 whales in total, but seeing all 7 traveling together is a rarity. The two eldest boys tend to travel solo, or with other relatives or non-related whales. This family includes:

• T049A/Nan — (F) 1986
  • T049A1/Noah — (M) 2001
  • T049A2/Jude — (M) 2007
  • T049A3/Nat — (M) 2011
  • T049A4/Neptune — (M) 2014
  • T049A5/Nebula — (F) 2017
  • T049A6/Charlie II — (M)  2022

Today was a very special day, because we were...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | June 27th, 2025 | 2:00 pm

Our afternoon adventure trip could not have gone more perfectly if we tried! We set out of Friday Harbor already having whale sightings close by, so we zoomed up San Juan Channel and soon found ourselves with a Humpback Whale in Spieden Channel! This individual was slowly traveling east not far from shore, and we enjoyed some beautiful looks at the surface and a few fluking dives. This sighting was the perfect start to our trip as our...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | Friday, June 27th 2025 | 12:30 PM

As the years progress, we are seeing more and more Biggs Killer whales in the Salish Sea! This means that with every year, we are introduced to new Biggs killer whale families as they start to explore this nutrient rich interisland sea. One of these new families to me is the T46C's, one of two families we encountered on todays Classic Tour!

We started the trip turning north up San Juan Channel and into Spiedan Channel, stopping briefly to look...

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...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | June 23nd 2025 | 2:00 PM

Best Kestrel tour ever? I'll say it!

We started the tour heading north in San Juan Channel, stopping briefly for a stoic bald eagle perched in the evergreens. We made our way past the scenic Finger Islands off Sucia's shoreline, and into the Straight of Georgia. Slowly dorsal fins arose in the distance! This group of 8 whales were identified as the T046B's made up of:

T046B/Raksha — female, born in 1988

• T046B2/Akela — born in 2008
  • T046B2B/Takaya — born...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | June 25th, 2025 | 12:30 PM 

We had another great day on the water this afternoon, where we got to spend time with two different Bigg’s Killer Whale matrilines that I have not seen before! Before leaving the dock, we had reports of these whales off the eastern side of Orcas Island, so we began traveling in that direction. Along our interisland cruise, we made a stop to see a number of harbor seals outside of Obstruction Pass. We got to see a few inch their way into the...