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

We are three months into the 2025 whale watching season here in the San Juan Islands. Three months in, and today was the first trip all season that my guests and I observed breaching killer whales! What an absolute treat this trip was. We left the dock with a loose plan of heading northwest to catch up on a report of a humpback whale over in the Haro Strait. Not long after heading that way we got an exciting update: A large group of killer...

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...

Olivia Esqueda | May 29th, 2025 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

What a fun day out exploring in the Salish Sea! We spent the afternoon up north in the Strait of Georgia hanging out with Big Mama [Humpback Whale, BCY0324] and her new calf! While this is her 8th known calf, she is also a grandma AND great-grandma! 

Big Mama is one of our favorites out here and who we tip our hat to for the comeback of the Humpback Whales in the Salish Sea. After being heavily whaled out of this area, there were no more...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | June 1st, 2025 | 12:30 pm 

Our first trip of the month set the standards high for June! We left Friday Harbor on our Classic Whale Watch today heading east along the ferry route. The interisland cruise gave us lots of opportunities to look close along the shorelines and spot for wildlife. We continued east for some time until we reached Rosario Strait and could see Anacortes in the distance. Soon enough, we saw a number of black dorsal fins at the surface in two...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Wednesday, May 28, 2025 | 12:30 PM

The M/V Osprey departed Friday Harbor and headed towards Upright Channel. We had just got word that a group of killer whales were spotted near the Anacortes Ferry Terminal. We made our way east between Shaw and Lopez Island with crystal clear views of Mount Baker and The North Cascades in the distance. Once we made our way into Rosario Strait, we started to see other Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) vessels in the distance. The whales...

Kelly | M/V Osprey| Monday, May 26th 2025 | 2pm

We took a left outside Friday harbor and were instantaneously treated to a look at a bald eagle sitting in the trees by Friday Harbor Labs. This area always seems to be a hotspot for these impressive raptors. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a nest close by, tucked away in the evergreens. We stopped for some quick looks at harbor seals lounging on the rocks next to Jones Island, always delighting us with there ever so elegant sausage bodies. 

Movi...

Kelly | M/V Osprey| Sunday, May 25th 2025 | 12:30pm

The holiday weekend brought a full boat of guests aboard the M/V Osprey. We took a right out of Friday Harbor, made our way down San Juan Channel and eventually into the the Straight of Juan De Fuca. We had no time to waste, a group of 5 killer whales were spotted quite far from our current location. The drive out to orcas was absolutely gorgeous, clear skies, perfect weather and hardly any other boats around. Low hanging clouds hugged the...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | May 24th, 2025 | 12:30pm 

We had another amazing day on the water during our afternoon Classic Whale Watch! We began by heading north up San Juan Channel, and then followed the west coast of Orcas island. As we rounded the top of Orcas Island, Mt. Baker was the perfect backdrop as we made our approach to a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales! We could see four dorsal fins surfacing together, which turned out to be the T123s. T123A Stanley looked especially majestic as his...

Olivia Esqueda | May 19th, 2025 | M/V Osprey | 2:00pm

Today was one of my favorite days all season as we traveled interisland over to Rosario Strait to view Bigg’s [Transient] Killer Whales! And not just one matriline, but a combination of four! We saw a T-Party [“T” for Transient!] that was socializing and traveling around together. These 11 orcas included individuals from the T100’s, T124A2’s, T49A2, and T124D’s. The eldest among these whales was born around 1979 and the youngest was born just...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | Saturday, May 17th 2025 | 12:30pm

Peak season is officially here! Whales are showing up all over the Salish Sea. We took a quick left out of Friday Harbor and motored up San Juan Channel to investigate a report of killer whales in Canadian water. On our route to Canada we slipped over the top of San Juan Island and into the Haro Straight. This bigger body of water gave us a few quick looks at some harbor porpoise, swiftly surfacing off our starboard side. 

Not long after...