Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

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...

Olivia Esqueda | September 1st, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

What an adventure we had today out in the Salish Sea finding whales. The weather this week is reminding us that the summer season is transitioning into fall, as the wind and rain are starting to pick up. This didn’t stop us from heading north through the islands in search of whales and other wildlife, though! 

Weaving between the Wasp Islands, up Spring Passage and into President’s Channel, we found ourselves by the outer islands, which...

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

Today was quite the cozy day aboard Osprey; town has begun to slow down after peak summer season, and the gray skies and winds allude to fall just around the corner. 

With reports of whales over in Rosario Strait, we made our way northeast from Friday Harbor, weaving between Shaw and Lopez Island. After weaving through Obstruction Island and Blakely Island, we found a haulout of harbor seals at Peapod Rocks! These 250-300 pound rock...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | August 31st, 2026 | 2:00 pm

We had quite an adventure today, ending August with lots of whales and wildlife near San Juan Island! When Captain Brian and I departed the harbor, we had some reports of killer whale activity in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We headed south, taking Cattle Pass and travelling across the banks to reach the first report that was furthest away. Today’s beautiful conditions made it easy to scan in this large strait, and once we made it south...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Friday, August 28, 2026 | 10:00AM

Every trip as we are leaving the harbor, we alert everyone on board that they are now officially apart of the search team. Between the captain and I, that is only four eyeballs scanning for signs of wildlife. However, now that everyone has been primed as naturalists with intros of common marine mammals to see in the Salish Sea, as well as how to spot them, we have an additional 20 eyeballs. We tell every guest that the search starts NOW...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | August 29th, 2026 | 2:00 pm

I was very excited to head out this afternoon because there were reports of a family of Bigg’s Killer Whales I’ve been waiting to see all summer! We departed Friday Harbor and caught up to this family just across San Juan Channel on the Shaw Island side, heading north. It was easy to spot this group of 4 travelling on the shoreline based on one individual, the oldest son named “Yelnats”… It was the T60 matriline! We have recently seen the...