Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

July 17, 2019

Bigg's Killer Whales off Henry Island!

Piper | Wednesday, July 17, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM This morning started out pretty drizzly but Captain Pete, Laura, me, and our enthusiastic guests got covered up in our awesome bright yellow rain slickers and hit the water like some Alaskan deep-sea fishermen! Only, our goal today was to...Read more
Bigg's Killer Whales near Clark Island

July 16, 2019

Playful Killer Whales near Clark Island

Olivia | July 16th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm Today was a gorgeous day out on the water! We had multiple sightings reported for whales in our area, and Captain Gabe decided to go with our best option of heading south just a wee bit before passing between Shaw and Lopez Islands. Between these...Read more

July 15, 2019

Orcas and Then More Orcas!

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/15/19 | 5:30pm Today was so amazing! It was just 12 of my guests, Captain Gabe, and me! It felt like such a nice little group. Everyone was so sweet and it was so much fun making friends with the really bright nine-year-old on board, Caileen. Exiting the harbor, we had...Read more

July 15, 2019

Bigg's Killer Whales and a Humpback Whale in the Strait of Georgia!

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Monday, July 15, 2019 | 1:30 PM What an incredible trip aboard the M/V Sea Lion today! The sun was shining and the water was smooth. Not only did we have an amazing boat ride, but we saw an abundance of wildlife! We headed north out of Friday Harbor and went toward Canada...Read more

July 15, 2019

Two different baleen whales in the Salish Sea!

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 3:00 PM What a lovely trip aboard the M/V Kestrel this afternoon. We began our trip going north out of Friday Harbor because we heard that there was a gray whale travelling along the shoreline of Shaw Island! We were barely ten minutes into our trip when...Read more

July 15, 2019

A true wildlife adventure in the Salish Sea!

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 11:00 AM It was an absolutely wildlife-filled day on the water this morning. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We made our way to Cattle Point and got a lovely view of the lighthouse. Then we went directly across the San Juan Channel...Read more

July 15, 2019

A Humpback, and Not One, Not Two, But Three Minke Whales!

M/V Kestrel | 11 AM | Naturalist Alexandria  | July 15th, 2019

What a great Kestrel trip we had today!  When we got onto the water we didn’t have any firm reports, but we knew that this was not uncommon.  We decided to head south and work our way down through San Juan Channel.

We stopped at Whale Rocks and got some adorable looks at harbor seals hauled out on these rocky areas.  There were a few that had gotten up to some higher areas on the rocks during high tide, and they sat high up on that rocky haul out looking down at the other harbor seals beneath them, smirking from their throne.

After we hung out with the harbor seals for a nice chunk of time we heard a report of a Humpback whale all the way out by Race Rocks.  We decided that we definitely wanted some good looks at this sighting so we started the trek over past Victoria on the southern part of Sidney Island.

Upon getting on scene we got some amazing looks at this humpback.  His name is “Scratchy” and he has some really cool markings at the bottom side of him flukes. Lucky for us he was doing shallower dives and spending a great amount of time on the surface of the water which meant for some fantastic looks!

After we spent thirty minutes or so with “Scratchy” we started the trek back.  On our way back we stopped to look for a Minke Whale, but hadn’t had any firm sightings in a bit.  Luckily Captain Pete us in the perfect spot and after a few minutes of scanning the horizon we got some incredible looks at a Minke surfacing off our bow! 

As we continued to watch we realized that we were with not one, not two, but THREE Minkes!  We got some of the best looks at these Minke whales that I’ve ever seen!  It was quite a treat!

We then worked our way back to Friday Harbor, and were lucky enough to see an Eagle in a tree as we were approaching the harbor.  It ended up being a really cool trip!

Until next time,

Naturalist Alexandria

July 14, 2019

Great Gray Whale and Wonderful Wildlife!

Piper | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM On today’s bright, sunny afternoon tour, Captain Pete, Jordan, and I took an awesome boat full of people into the Salish Sea to look for some whales and wildlife! Not very far outside of the marina of Friday Harbor we spotted a gray whale...Read more

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