Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Jordan | M/V Kestresl | 06/01/19 | 11:00am

Today was basically the most magical day. And no, I’m not being dramatic. It’s true. It started with our first trip leaving Friday Harbor at around 11:30am. And although it was a tad later than usual, it was definitely worth the wait!

Captain Gabe and I sped out of the harbor and headed north through the San Juan Channel up towards Speiden Island. Here we stopped to check out some floppy seals! There were a bunch of harbor seals close to the...

Piper | Friday, May 31, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 3:00 PM

On our afternoon tour today the orcas that were spotted in the morning (the T65Bs, T75Bs, and T75Cs) had continued north so we left from Friday Harbor going north into San Juan Channel. When we arrived to Green Point on Spieden Island, a common haul-out site for Steller’s sea lions, at first we continued to motor past because it looked like all of the sea lions had left for Alaska, but Captain Gabe caught sight of some Stellers in...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Friday, May 31, 2019 | 12:00 PM

Today was a day packed full of amazing wildlife viewing! It was a sunny, beautiful day out on the water. We began our day heading north out of Friday Harbor, getting some gorgeous views of Spieden Island. We ended up on the western side of Stuart Island, watching a juvenile humpback whale. It was taking very short dives and only spending a few moments at the surface. It showed its beautiful fluke to us as we left. We also got an...

Piper | Friday, May 31, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 AM

Heading out of Friday Harbor today there was a report of Bigg’s killer whales off Lime Kiln Lighthouse on the west side of San Juan Island so we headed south into San Juan Channel and it wasn’t long before we came upon a group of harbor seals hauled out on the rocks near Turn Island. While we were sitting there watching the little rock sausages, a few harbor porpoises quickly swam through the channel and we got to get a great look...

Olivia | May 30th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Not only did we have an amazing group of people on the boat today, it was gorgeous outside! With a smaller number of people, it was just Captain Gabe and me. We started off the trip heading north through the San Juan Channel past Shaw and Orcas Islands. We wound around Waldron Island through Presidents Channel where we were able to see many Harbor Porpoises. Did you know that these porpoises have a broad range frequency from around 40...

Olivia | May 29th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today was one of the best encounters I have had this season. Captain Gabe, Co- Naturalist Jordan, and I decided it was best to head south through the San Juan Channel between San Juan and Lopez Islands. On route the find whales we stumbled across Harbor Seals! They are the world’s second smallest seal and so cute. They are Pinnipeds much like the Seal Lions, however, they cannot rotate their pelvis or hind flippers. Because of this...

Olivia | May 28th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

Today started off beautifully for Captain Gabe and me. It was such a small group of people that all decided they wanted to sit at the bow together, which allowed us to chat and hang out as our own family group. We started our route traveling past Waldron Island through Presidents Channel and saw Harbor Porpoises! This was very exciting since this is a wee bit of a hot spot for them in the shallow waters where there is an influx in...

Erin | Monday, May 27, 2019 | M/V Sea Hawk | 12:00 PM

Today we had some students from the University of Minnesota come out on our boat! They were studying at the Friday Harbor Labs to learn more about Marine Biology field study, and they came out with us to see some Salish Sea wildlife. It was a lovely, sunny day out on the water. We left from Roche Harbor and headed north towards Canadian waters. On our way to some reports, we saw some harbor porpoises! They were coming up to the...

Olivia | May 27th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:00pm

What a gorgeous day in the Salish Sea! We traveled to the farthest edge of our range, making a four- hour trip, in order to find the Bigg’s Killer Whales. On route there, we had the most amazing warm weather, I don’t think we handed out one blanket! We were lucky enough to have many kiddos on the boat, one of which was the designated spotter right at the bow- a future Marine Biologist, he told me! We had a great time spotting the Stell...

Today was honestly such a beautiful day full of many wonderful moments. We met our people by the store and got suited up even though it seemed way too warm to put on those jackets. But, we soon cooled down as we jumped on the boat and sped out into the chilly sea. Captain Gabe and I took the Kestrel and headed north through the San Juan Channel. 

First, we stopped by Spieden Island and checked out some Steller sea lions! They were just off the point playing in the water and rolling...