Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

June 30th, 2022

Abby Dahl

10am M/V Kestrel

Captain Michael and I peeled out of the harbor, knowing it was about to be a long journey in our search for whales. We had only one report of Bigg’s killer whales near Race Rocks in British Columbia, Canada, so we took a right and began heading south through San Juan Channel. It was almost ironic, as we immediately found a pair of humpback whales upon our southbound journey. They were taking long dives, so we only saw them a few times before...

Elle | M/V Osprey | June 29, 2022 |12:30PM

Today we took a trip to Canada! We left Friday Harbor towards reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales near Victoria on Vancouver Island. We headed north, then west through Speiden Channel. As we approached Sidney Island, we started to see tall, black dorsal fins in the distance. We headed slowly towards them and came across a total of six whales. Brothers T128 and T125A, Flotsam and Jetsam were quickly identified by the deep notch in Jetsam’s nearly...

Helena

6/29/2022

MV Kestrel

Our first encounter of the day was with a Stellar Sea Lion chowing down what appeared to be large chunks of a fish in the middle of a baitball! A baitball is large cluster of small schooling fish near the surface of the water, from our vessels we can identify a bait ball by large groups of birds sitting or taking dives and low swoops at the waterline. We continued south down San Juan Channel to Whale Rocks where we found more Stellar Sea Lions and Harbor...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/28/2022 | 2:00pm

    Sometimes it's really nice to mix things up. We are super fortunate for pretty stellar weather during the summer: sunny skies and little wind. Though every now and again Mother Nature mixes it up on us, and today was one of those days. 

    Kestrel zoomed out of Friday Harbor southbound, shooting out of Cattle Pass and rounding the southern shores of Lopez Island. We stopped at Davidson Rock where we heard rumors of a Humpback whale. 

 ...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/29/2022 | 10:00am

    Forgive me, but I’m gonna geek out here during this blog. Bigg’s Killer Whales are obviously fascinating for a myriad of reasons but I’m never more impressed than when I get lucky enough to see a T-Party of whales. A T-Party is essentially an informal nickname given to the circumstances when several families of Transient whales (related or not) come together for whatever purpose; feeding, socialization, reproducing, family cookouts...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/27/2022 | 2:00pm

    It’s was a bomby summers day. Kestrel absolutely flew threw the San Juan Channel, cutting through the velvety water with ease. We raced up and around through Waldron Island, stopping briefly once to scope out Skipjack Island and dozens of Harbor seals that rested along its rocky shorelines. 

Harbor seals haul out onto rocks for a variety of reasons such as rest, thermoregulation, birthing and nursing. This gives us a great opportunity...

10:00 am

Today’s adventure tour started out as a shockingly hot morning on land. Our guests, and myself, were eager to zip around on the water and cool off. We departed from Friday Harbor scanning the exposed shorelines due to the low tides hoping to find some Harbor Seals. We came across a reef nearby Yellow Island with some curious Harbor Seals hauled out and a Bald Eagle watching from the reef marker. We made our way around the island and across San Juan Channel where we found a...

Maxx K. | M/V Osprey | 06/26/2022 | 12:30pm

    Today was hotter than hades! No doubt about it, summer is officially here. 

    Osprey slowly put putted its way out of Friday Harbor, north through the San Juan Channel and around again into Presidents Channel. A family of Biggs Killer Whales known as the T036A’s had been picked up right outside Friday Harbor a few hours before and had already made it to Sucia Island, north west of Orcas. 

    The T036A’s were a new family to me, being...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | June 25, 2022 | 5:30 pm

Summer is finally here! We’re experiencing our first string of warm, sunny days now that the end of June is nearing and the whales were here for it, too! For today’s Classic Wildlife and Whale Watching tour, sunset edition, we left the dock to see the sun glowing on the water in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We detoured through Castle Island and McArdle Bay, a pristine inlet of steep cliffs, towering trees, and calm seas on the south end...

Elle | M/V Sea Lion | June 25, 2022 | 2:00PM

This Saturday, lead naturalist Laura, Captain Gabe and I were excited to get out on the water and see what we could see. Before we even left the dock, we saw two bald eagles, one adult and one juvenile circling above us. As we cruised out of Roche Harbor, we got a report from other members of the Pacific Whale Watch Association that there were Bigg’s Killer Whales near Friday Harbor. We found the orcas just south of Friday Harbor. The T65A...