What a beautiful day out on the water today! With the sun out shining and the warmth igniting our excitement, we set out for adventure.

Captain Brian and I and our guests headed out of Friday Harbor on our speediest vessel and booked it up north towards the promise of potential whales. We sped past Orcas Island and towards the Canadian border. Hoping the wildlife would stay over within American territory, we approached the scene.

As we slowed, we saw some blows! It was two orca...

Abby | Kestrel | 6/20/2021

Captain Brian, Captain Eric, and I left Friday Harbor looking for the same matriline that we saw this morning. On the way, we saw some new harbor seal pups off Turn Island. Somehow, we had amazing luck right after this viewing, because some Bigg’s killer whales were right next to Jackle’s Lagoon on San Juan Island! We drifted in the water with the engine off for some time while we listened to the exhales of the T049A matriline:

• T049A (Female, 1986)
  
  • T049A1...

Abby | Kestrel | 6/20/2021

Once again, we had the A/B team, Abby (me!) and Captain Brian. We had already been out on the water prior to our trip, and rumors of orcas rang in our ears. Apparently, there were three Bigg’s killer whales near the Orcas Island ferry terminal dock, so we zoomed over in that direction. After a large scan of the area, nothing turned up, so we went towards another loose rumor of a family of Bigg’s killer whales.

We made our way north through San Juan Channel...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/19/2021 | 2:00pm

    By the time Brian and I left Friday Harbor the rumors of Killer whales north of us were consistent. With Kestrel filled with excited guests we turned northbound through San Juan Channel and up towards Stuart island. 

    When we arrived at the Cactus Islands we briefly stopped to observe some harbor seals hauled out on and swimming amongst the rocky islands, seemingly unaware of the potential black and white dangers that had just passed...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/19/2021 | 9:30am

    Captain Brian and I started our morning without a ton of direction. However, a loose report of a few orca heading towards the US border from Canada a few hours prior was enough to send us left through the San Juan Channel, northbound. And I am glad we did! 

    Almost as soon as we arrived at the Cactus Islands north of Spieden we received reports of Orca less than a mile away off John’s Island.

    We weren’t sure who we were looking...

Abby | Kestrel | 6/17/2021

We zoomed north through San Juan Channel with whale reports looming on the west side of the island. Once we arrived just north of Lime Kiln State Park, there they were. 21 Bigg’s killer whales! Neither myself nor our captain Gabe have ever seen this many Bigg’s killer whales traveling as a group.

There was a lot of tail slapping activity on the surface of the water as they traveled. We were all very happy to see that they had stayed on the American side of...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/16/2021 | 2:00pm

    We had a full boat today as we set out of Friday Harbor, heading northbound gourds murmurings of orca on the west side of the island. Almost immediately as we turned left into the San Juan Channel we spotted a Bald Eagle, perched atop a tree on our left. From where we sat just above the water, the eagle seemed small though we know in reality that this was a massive bird. Mature bald eagles can reach over three feet tall when sanding...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/16/2021 | 2:00pm

Today was yet again, another prime example of how unpredictable and serendipitous a whale watch can be out here on the Salish sea. Kestrel left Friday harbor heading north. We weaved between Jones Island and veering right to pass between Orcas and Waldron following reports of a humpback just north of Sucia island. 

We stopped only once to observe a shoal of harbor porpoises as they slowly circumnavigated us. After a few moments we continued...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/13/2021 2:00pm

What an adventurous day! Captain Brian, Captain Erick and suited everyone up and headed out in the rain! I was very impressed with everyone as we faced the rain and headed up full speed to Canada.

As we approached the border, we saw a lone transient orca whale! He was in Canada so we were not allowed to approach closer but eventually he turned and headed closer towards our direction! It was amazing to watch him gently swim through these...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/13/2021 10:00am

Today was so amazing! Captain Brian, Captain Erick and I took off out of Friday Harbor and headed north towards the Canadian border.

As we approached Sandy point on Waldron Island, we saw an orca whale! On closer investigation we saw that he was a transient whale named T124C. He is a huge male with a six-foot-tall dorsal fin born in 1992. We watched as he gracefully travelled through the glassy waters.

The sea was incredibly calm as we...