Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 23rd, 2026 | 12:30 pm

Today’s cloudier skies and cooler temps compared to yesterday were a welcome surprise for our trip today! Even with a bit of wind, we had great spotting conditions and were excited to head towards Rosario to follow up on a report of some Bigg’s Killer Whales. We made our way through Upright Channel and continued to the narrower Peavine Pass which led us into Rosario. From there we turned south and traveled along the Blakely shoreline until...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Wednesday, July 22, 2026 | 2:00 pm 

It is certainly not every day that we are lucky enough to meet three different families of killer whales in the span of a few hours. Today was one of those days.

M/V Kestrel headed north up San Juan Channel and scanned the sea for any signs of wildlife, when a passenger at the bow pointed into the distance; sure enough, there were 9 black dorsal fins slicing through the water. Two families of marine-mammal-eating orcas displayed...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | July 22nd, 2026 | 12:30pm 

The M/V Osprey departed Friday Harbor and took a hard left in San Juan Channel. Today we were very lucky, a group of whales was reported right in our backyard! Not but 10 minutes later we slowed the boat and began to notice dorsal fins in the distance off our port side. This group of 9 whales was identified as the 35A's and the 38A's:

• T035A/Lester — female, born in 1998
  • T035A1/Opal — female, born in 2010
    • T035A1A* — born in 2026
  • T035A2/Topaz — born in...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | July 21st, 2026 | 2:00pm

We headed North on this absolutely beautiful afternoon. It was the warmest day that we've had here in a few weeks, and the sun was shining with almost no clouds in the sky. The wind felt amazing on our faces once we picked up speed. We began this trip with a quick stop at White Rock, which is a small island that is often a popular Harbor Seal haul out location. We spotted dozens of them basking in the sun near the edge of the water. We even...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 21st, 2026 | 12:30 pm

After two days of no killer whales sighted in the region, today was our lucky day! We set out of Friday Harbor in search mode, scanning for any signs of whales and wildlife along San Juan Channel, peering up President’s Channel and among the Wasp Islands before turning west into Spieden Channel. We continued into the Haro Strait and made our way south towards a report of whales heading north. After a quick stop to see a bald eagle, we kept...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 20th, 2026 | 1:30 pm

Today’s classic tour took us through many different channels and pathways in our search for whales, including into Canada! We began by heading north and searching along Spieden Channel and the upper Haro. Our first seal stop was along Sentinel Rock, where we saw some seal pups resting with their mothers on the shoreline. These pups only stay with mom for about 6 weeks, so this is a critical time for them to learn and put on weight. We...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | July 20th, 2026 | 2pm 

We turned left into San Juan Channel and made our way to White Rock, first enjoying looks at our ever so lovable harbor seals. Currently, we are in the middle of pupping season, and after close inspection we noticed many adorable pups lounging next to mom! Investigating a whale report, we turned northwest and made our way across the Canadian border and eventually next to South Pender Island. Two tall exhales arose from the surface! A pair of humpback...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | July 19th, 2026 | 10:00am

We left the dock with no whale reports yet at 10am, but this is not abnormal for morning trips. Each and every day is a clean reset when it comes to sightings, and the morning tours usually have some searching to do to find whales. We went Northwest to search. We started by wrapping around the top of Spieden Island where we spotted a Bald Eagle flying just over us. We then made a stop at Sentinel Rock to view some Harbor Seals, and saw...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Sunday, July 19, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

On today’s classic tour aboard M/V Osprey, we received reports of a rather uncommon scene here in the Salish Sea; four humpback whales were spotted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, widely known as a “whale highway” connecting the greater Pacific Ocean and the Salish Sea. The San Juans are primarily a summer snacking ground for these baleen whales amidst a nearly 3000 mile migration, so social aggregations are quite rare. We headed south down...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, July 18, 2026 | 2:00 PM

Minutes after returning home from the first adventure tour of the day, Captain Vaun and I executed what’s called a “turn and burn,” embarking on adventure #2 with a fresh group of whale enthusiasts. Though we had seen killer whales on our first trip, we truly did not know what to expect the second time around, as every single hour out on the water is different. The Bigg’s killer whales we left earlier had already traveled 15 miles across...