Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Olivia Esqueda | April 25th, 2026 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm

Continuing our streak of beautiful weather in the Salish Sea, we headed south today past Cattle Point Lighthouse and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The water was calm and we were gifted with sharp views of Mount Baker, the North Cascades, and the Olympic Mountains. 

We headed far west today past Victoria, B.C to see one of my personal favorite matrilines of Bigg’s Killer Whales- the T019’s [formerly referred to as the T018’s]. These...

Abby | M/V Kestrel | April 25th, 2026 | 2:00pm

I could not have asked for a better trip today. The sun was shining, the water was calm, and we already had some reports of whales in our range before we left the dock. However, before we saw some cetaceans, we had a surprise visitor towards the southern end of San Juan Island! An infrequently seen species of pinniped was spotted on Goose Island, a female elephant seal! We don't usually find elephant seals in these waters, so it was an incredible...

Olivia Esqueda | April 24th, 2026 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm I know we each say this often as the season goes on- and truly, it’s never a lie as people, weather, and wildlife are ever changing- however, today was one of my favorite trips of the entire season. Our whole passenger group was phenomenal, with backgrounds in biology, ties to the island, newcomers who have been waiting and working hard to see whales, and a constant curiosity for not just one thing, but everything. That is what’s...

Abby | M/V Kestrel | April 24th, 2026 | 1:00pm

A beautiful day out on the water today! We turned left in San Juan Channel and headed north to begin our trip. Our first stop was Green Point on the southern end of Spieden Island. We had great looks of a raft of Steller's Sea Lions in the water, as well as numerous individuals hauled out on shore. Shortly after our time with the Steller's, we ventured over to White Rock to hopefully find some harbor seals. We did, which is good! We were having such...

Olivia Esqueda | April 23rd, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 11:00am

What a fun midday trip to kick off the end of the year with the Friday Harbor Sophomore class! Taking a break from their state testing, we had them out on our vessel for a field trip right on their home turf. 

Traveling inter-island, we aimed for Eastsound (the middle of the horseshoe on Orcas Island) where we had an early morning report of the same whales we saw the day before all of way over by Victoria, B.C. On the way, we passed heaps of...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | April 20th, 2026 | 1:30pm 

We left Friday Harbor with nothing but a solo whale report potentially too far into Canadian water for our boat to transit. Wasting no time, we began our journey heading north in San Juan Channel, quickly slipping into President's Channel. As we cruised into the bigger body of water between Waldron and Sucia island, I heard chatter on the our local radio- fellow naturalist Abby spotted something in the distance! Through Binoculars and with Abby's...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | April 18th, 2026 | 1:30pm 

I was beyond excited to head inter-island and investigate a whale report just outside Bellingham Bay. The whales reported where the infamous T419's a mysterious NEW (Yes, new) Bigg's killer whale family that was first reported off Vancouver city last month. Made up of:

• T419 — female
• T420 — male, born around 2012
• T421 — born around 2021

Since then, the group of three has made their way down to Seattle and back, seen traveling both alone and with other...

Olivia Esqueda | April 19th, 2026 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm

Woah! Today was picture perfect. 

The weather, the wildlife, the calm seas- we really felt the warmth of it all. After heading north, we visited Spieden Island, where at least a dozen adult and juvenile Bald Eagles scanned the area from both the treetops, down to the ground itself. We were also able to see two species of Pinipeds! First, we saw Steller’s Sea Lions (the world’s largest sea lion) hauled out on the shoreline at Green Pt, and...

Abby | M/V Sea Lion | April 18th, 2026 | 12:30pm 

We traveled into Canadian waters today along the coast of Discovery Island and Chatham Islands. We had a longer journey today in a larger area of water, so we made sure to keep an eye out for anything that could have popped up along our route. We had a few quick looks of some Harbor Porpoise, as it is always a fun treat to find them. They come and go so quick! We also saw some beautiful birds today, like Pelagic Cormorants and Surf Scoter's. The...

Abby | M/V Sea Lion | April 17th, 2026 | 12:30pm 

Another sunny spring day here on San Juan Island and another great day to explore the Salish Sea. Today we took a right out of Friday Harbor and headed inter island. We crossed San Juan Channel and traveled along the ferry route! We cruised along the south shore of Shaw Island where we could see the shoreline of Lopez Island on our starboard, or right, side of the vessel. As we rounded the north tip of Lopez Island and passed along the Lopez...