Lauren | M/V Osprey | Friday, August 8th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Our Classic Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour departed Friday Harbor and headed north towards an exciting whale report. The fan favorites the T018’s have been out and about and we were stoked to hear they were back in our range today! There has been much debate on what to call this family of three, as industry professionals refer to them as both the T018’s and T019’s. The T018s is (or was) made up of three generations of orcas. 

T018/Esperanza is...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Sunday, August 3rd, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Today we went the distance. We ventured just about as far as we can during a 4 hour Classic Whale Watch and Wildlife tour. The T065A’s had been picked up in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and they were trending southeast, which was not great news for us. If they continued on that trend they would’ve been out of rour each. We were pretty convinced we weren’t gonna see them as the T065A’s have been spending most of their summer down in Puget...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | Wednesday August 6th, 2025 | 12:30 pm

There were multiple reports of whales when we left the harbor, but all of them were equally far away so we weren’t quite sure if we would be able to make it if they decided to travel the opposite direction. Captain Vaun decided to go for Victoria, BC for our best chance at finding killer whales, so we began heading south. As we passed by Cattle Point, we got to see some harbor seals and many cormorants on Goose Island before...

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...

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...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | Wednesday July 30th, 2025 | 12:30 pm

The T65Bs are definitely the Bigg’s Killer Whale family of the summer! We have seen them more often than any other family over the last few weeks especially, so today was a treat to get to spend another afternoon with them. We departed Friday Harbor hearing reports of this family in Canadian waters near Sidney Island, so we decided to head in that direction. Since the whales were moving further away, we enjoyed a quick stop to view...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 24th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

We had a boat full of determined passengers today as our search for whales brought us south across a rocky Strait of Juan de Fuca. The closest whale sightings when we left the dock were near Victoria, BC, so we began our trip heading south in San Juan Channel. We found some harbor seals and many sea birds near Goose Island, and the extreme low tides exposed a lot more land for the seals to haul out on. As we traveled through Cattle Pass, we...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 22nd, 2025 | 12:30 PM

We didn’t have to travel very far today to find multiple species of whales! Our trip began by heading interisland between Shaw and Lopez Islands, and we quickly caught up with a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales! This familiar family was easy to identify as the T65Bs, and we got great looks at T65B Chunk’s distinct dorsal and her three kids. I am always amazed at how large her 14 year old son Birdsall is; as a sprouting male, he definitely still...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Wednesday, July 16th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

When departing Friday Harbor, we have three route options to choose from. We can go north in San Juan Channel, we can go south in San Juan Channel or we can head east aiming for Upright Channel, the body of water between Lopez and Shaw. Most days we are aware of whale reports before leaving the dock, but today that was not the case. Every whale report we had heard of was too far out of our range. These are the days when whale watching...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 18th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Today’s afternoon began with some light rain and gloomy conditions, but nothing could stop us from having another beautiful day on the water! I was very excited when I heard there were reports of some familiar whales not too far from us up San Juan Channel, so we left Friday Harbor heading in that direction. We scanned along the coastlines as we passed Shaw and then Orcas Island, and reached President’s Channel. Soon enough we began to reach...