Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | September 6th, 2026 | 12:30pm

This was an exciting day for our crew, as an uncommon report of Bigg's Killer Whales popped up near Friday Harbor in the morning. The reason for it being uncommon was not because of the type of whales, but because of the individuals themselves. T65 "Whidbey" and T63 "Chainsaw" had made a rare appearance to the inner San Juan Islands and were making their way down San Juan Channel. Whidbey is one of the older living females in the...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, September 6, 2026 | 2:00 PM

Every day here in the Salish Sea brings different repertoires of wildlife, in fact, every single hour on the water is different. This afternoon, our boat saw the same group of 11 Bigg’s Killer Whales, the T049As and T035As; however, they were ten miles further north, even deeper into Canadian waters. Today’s adventure tour surely lived up to its name, and those adventure suits came in handy during our nearly 70 mile round-trip!

Kestrel...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, September 6, 2026 | 10:00 AM 

Little did I know this morning when I crawled out of bed that I was about to spend the morning with 15 whales, let alone perhaps the most iconic Bigg’s killer whale of the Salish Sea.

We usually start the trip with an introduction to the marine mammals of the San Juans, but this morning, there was no time for this, as four toothed whales were visible from the naked eye before even exiting the harbor. I failed at keeping my cool upon...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 5th, 2026 | 10:00 am and 2:00 pm

Two adventure tours today in the most beautiful conditions was pretty awesome! For our 10am trip, we left the dock in the direction of some whale rumors but didn’t know quite where the day would take us. It was an especially lucky morning since not too far up San Juan Channel we found that Bigg’s Killer Whale T65A3 Amir was travelling! He has been seen by himself recently, though he sometimes does travel with his mom and...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Saturday, September, 5 2026 | 12:30 pm 

Beautiful weather plus one of my favorite families of killer whales plus a personal Minke whale milestone...what a fantastic day out on the water.

We headed east from Friday Harbor through Upright Channel. The ferry terminal on Lopez Island suddenly became visible, along with three large exhalations…it was three Bigg’s killer whales! And, not just any killer whales, but one of the most beloved families here in the Salish Sea. Galiano...

Lauren Tschirhart | September 2nd, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 pm

Our 2:00 pm Adventure Tour had an epic encounter with two different eco-types of killer whales today! Not only did we get to observe splashy social behavior from three different families of Bigg’s Killer Whales (a.k.a Transient Orcas) but we even got the rare opportunity to see Southern Resident Killer Whales as we motored back to Friday Harbor. 

The M/V Kestrel departed Friday Harbor and made our way south in San Juan Channel. We...

Olivia Esqueda | September 4th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

What an extra fun day out on the water! We left the harbor and immediately came across one of our favorite Transient Orcas- T065A3 traveling along the Shaw Island shoreline. This adventurous male was weaving between the Wasp Islands and through Spring Passage, until we slowly departed in search of other wildlife. 

T065A3/Amir(a) — male, born in 2007

After traveling across the northern part of San Juan Channel and entering New Channel, we...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | September 3rd, 2026 | 12:30pm

We left the dock and turned South on this tour, pointing straight at a distant report of Bigg's Killer Whales. They were quite a ways away when we left, but they were luckily moving towards us. We were hoping that would continue and cut down our travel time. Along the way we did a drive-by of Whale Rocks which is near the bottom of San Juan Island. There were several dozen Steller Sea Lions hauled out on these rocks, many of which were...

Lauren Tschirhart | August 31st, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

Today we softly said goodbye to Summer. It’s the last day of August and the Burr months are right around the corner. This time of year is always sad knowing our season is winding down, but one thing that is absolutely not winding down is the whale action! We departed Friday Harbor with news that a T-Party had formed near Salmon Bank in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This party was made up of T036/ Flapjack and the T036B’s, T137A/ Jack...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 1st, 2026 | 2:00 pm

We had such a fun adventure to start the month today, finding beautiful conditions to watch whales and lots of other wildlife! Before departing this afternoon, we had a few reports of whales in Canadian waters and planned to check out some reports in the Strait of Georgia to start. We began heading north, and reached the northern part of San Juan Channel before we got another whale rumor in Rosario Strait… The water conditions were...