Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | March 8th, 2026 | 12:30pm

Truly an unprecedented winter day here in the San Juan. Not only was the weather near perfect- sunny skies and calm water, we also had a report of killer whales right in our backyard! A person on shore at Cattle Pass (the narrow passage between San Juan and Lopez Island) had spotted killer whales heading north into San Juan Channel. We turned the corner out of Friday Harbor aboard the M/V Sea Lion and pointed south toward the report. After motoring...

Kelly | M/V Sea Lion | March 7th, 2026 | 12:30pm

     First tour of the 2026 season! I was beyond thrilled to get back out on the water and explore the Salish Sea. This time of year is considered to be our shoulder season, not because the whales aren't here, but because they are harder to find. We work within the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA), a large network of other whale watch companies and local research groups. In March, we have significantly less eyes on the water, therefore less...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | Thursday August 28th, 2025 | 2:00 pm

While our large network through the Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) makes much of our daily searching easier, some days we do need to do more searching than others. When we left the dock, there were a few boats viewing some Bigg's Killer Whales near Saturna in Canadian waters. We zoomed north as fast as we could to reach the report, but soon after starting our trip all the other boats had to leave scene with the whales so...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 27th 2025 | 2:00 pm

What an amazing outing out on the water! Today we headed northbound to follow reports of Killer Whales near Saturna Island. On the way we stopped by White Rocks and learned more about Transient Killer Whale prey by observing dozens of seals hauled out on the rocks. Many of these seals were small and young having just come out of this year’s pupping season. Seals in this area have gotten to carrying capacity meaning that they are at the...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 30th 2025 | 10:00 am

Today was such beautiful weather and we got so lucky with our expedition for today.

We started our search north towards Spieden Island and as soon as we got there whales were sighted on the other side! Great timing! We made our way along to watch them and were greeted by the T075Bs! This family consists of the mother (Pebbles) and her children (Jasper, Rubble, Petra, and an unnamed newborn). This was an amazing experience as they started...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | Thursday, August 21st, 2025 | 12:30 pm 

The conditions for our afternoon trip were once again perfect as we set out of Friday Harbor in search of whales and other wildlife. We began traveling south in San Juan Channel with reports of whales near Salmon Bank, so we were able to stop by Goose Island to see many harbor seals and sea birds as we neared Cattle Point Lighthouse. We pushed on towards Salmon Bank, getting stunning views of the Mount Baker, the Olympic...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | Sunday August 17th, 2025 | 12:30 pm 

This week has been epic on the water with so much activity so close to San Juan Island. We left the harbor with reports to the east, so we began traveling interisland. We spotted lots of harbor seals, harbor porpoises, and TONS of jumping pink salmon along the way. We always love to see the biodiversity of our waters, especially when so many species surround us throughout the trip! We continued scanning the coastlines for wildlife...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | August 16th 2025 | 10:00 am I hadn't been in Lopez Sound all season, so today was definitely a fun time exploring the beautiful shorelines while watching one of our favorite Bigg's Killer Whale families. When we left the harbor, we had heard about this report of whales traveling inter island so we decided to go that way for our best chance of catching up to them. We zoomed by Shaw Island, and made a brief stop to search for bald eagles by a nest. We got great...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 22nd 2025 | 10:00 am

A great morning to be out looking for whales! Every morning trip begins with anticipation and excitement as no whales have been found yet and we get to try and predict the best areas to search based on yesterday’s movements and groups.

Today with a combination of luck and skill, we found the whales early on! This was near the Darcy islands and the group of 5 we found were the T049As! The mother of this group, Nan, is 39 years old and...

Logan Stecker | M/V Kestrel | August 22nd 2025 | 2:00 pm

 

A beautiful afternoon to be on a boat. Leaving Friday Harbor, we began a journey south past Cattle point making our first stop at Whale Rocks. There we saw a multitude of large male Steller’s Sea Lions battling it out for space and playing on the rocks. This species is the largest sea lion in the world and has a skull similar in size and shape to a Grizzly Bear. The larger sagittal crest atop the skull gives surface area for muscle to...