Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel| Thursday, August 6, 2026 | 2:00 pm 

I hope everyone wore their sunscreen on today’s adventure tour, as it was a beautiful, warm day out on the water. Kestrel, our speediest vessel, cruised north through San Juan Channel towards reports near Saturna Island, and that natural windy A/C sure felt good! As we welcomed our passengers to Canada as we entered Boundary Pass, seven dorsal fins officially greeted us as well. It was seven Bigg’s killer whales!! 

• T036/Flapjack — female...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | August 6th, 2026 | 12:30pm

Hot hot summer day here in the San Juan’s! It felt amazing as the boat picked up speed and cooled us all off with a gentle ocean breeze. We took a left turn out of Friday Harbor and pointed north in San Jan Channel, setting our sights for a whale report off Stuart Island. Slipping into Spieden Channel and catching looks at non-native Mouflon sheep, harbor seals and bald eagles close to the shoreline. A we approached Stuart Islands scenic Turn Point...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | August 5th, 2026 | 2:00 pm

 Today’s adventure tour brought us to one of my favorite areas to find whales in… all the way in Saanich Inlet in Vancouver Island! When we departed Friday Harbor, we had some reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales near Salt Spring Island and other rumors in the Gulf Islands. We decided to get out as fast as we could to that area, so we zoomed up San Juan Channel and took the north side of Stuart Island as we continued northwest. Along the way, we...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Wednesday, August 5, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

The sky above the glassy water was incredibly hazy today, the air was warm, and the Salish Sea full of wildlife. We headed north from Friday Harbor up San Juan Channel and circumnavigated San Juan Island thru Haro Strait, where two fifteen-foot blows erupted at the surface. It was two animals with one of the largest appendage-to-body-length ratios of any known animal! Humpbacks! These whales teased us with their arching backs repeatedly...

Lauren Tschirhart | August 4th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 pm

From a sea otter at Turn Rock, to mating harbor porpoise in Salmon Bank, to a Great Blue Heron at Shark Reef… Today’s Adventure Tour was filled with incredible wildlife sightings! Our trip began by heading south in San Juan Channel and cruising over to the kelp beds of Turn Rock. There we spotted an adorable sea otter grooming itself while rolling around in the kelp forest. We didn’t stay with this otter long, as Captain Vaun and I...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | August 4th, 2026 | 12:30pm

We were able to leave the dock a few minutes early today, which is always a nice start. We turned right out of Friday Harbor and began moving South down San Juan Channel. We made an early stop at a nearby kelp bed to watch an adorable Sea Otter that likes to spend time there. He is not always there, but today he was right at the edge of the kelp, with some wrapped around his stomach to keep from floating away in the currents. I always...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, August 2, 2026 | 2:00 pm 

Every day, every trip, and even every hour is different out there on the water, as our Captain Gabe loves to say. This morning M/V Ketrel went south down San Juan Channel, but this afternoon, we cruised the opposite direction after reports of two entirely different families of Bigg’s killer whales. Just north of President’s Channel, the massive dorsal fins of T037A2/Inky (male, born in 2009) and his mother T037A/Volker (female, born in...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, August 2, 2026 | 10:00 am

Today we got a closer look at what we mean when we say that the Salish Sea is one of the most biologically productive bodies of water in the world. At Goose Rock south of Friday Harbor, double-crested and pelagic cormorants welcomed us to Cattle Pass. Moments later, we said hello to the Steller sea lions at Whale Rocks. From there, we followed reports south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where we joined a spread out family of four Bigg’s...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | August 3rd, 2026 | 1:30pm

This trip had it's first wildlife sighting before we had even untied our lines from the dock. An adorable mother/pup pair of Harbor Seals swam just past us after our passengers had boarded. This certainly started the day off on the right foot! We left the dock with beautiful weather on this tour which is always a plus. We travelled South down San Juan Channel, and our first stop was at a small island called Goose Island. We got great looks...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | August 3rd, 2026 | 2pm

We made our way down San Juan Channel and into Cattle Pass, stopping for a quick look at Steller sea lions as we entered the Strait of Juan De Fuca. As we crossed the channel, we enjoyed views of various sea birds in the flat calm water. We began to slow the boat as we approached Hein Bank, a known hotspot for bait fish. We scanned here for wildlife that might be opportunistically feeding. In the distance, a long grey body appeared, followed by a...