Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | June 2nd, 2026 | 12:30pm

This tour was immediately welcomed with some beautiful weather as we departed from Friday Harbor. We turned right and headed south, and traveled down San Juan Channel and passed by Cattle Point Lighthouse which is located at the southernmost point of San Juan Island. At about the same time, we checked out a group of Steller’s Sea Lions located on a small island called Whale Rocks. There were some absolutely massive males in this group...

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

You can never predict the days you get to see certain behaviors for the first time, and today was full of surprises from multiple species! When we left the dock, we had multiple reports of different whales in our area so we set out north to see what we could find today. We reached Spieden Island and decided to head around the northern side to expand the search range and look for any critters along the shoreline. We got to see a few beautiful...

Lauren Tschirhart | May 30th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

We often say that every day, and more accurately every hour is different out here on the Salish Sea. These animals are constantly moving in and out of the region, so you truly never know what you’re going to see. Today was the perfect example of that. We are in constant communication with other Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) vessels, so we knew there were no orcas sighted anywhere in our range yet today. It’s not every day we see...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | May 30th, 2026 | 2:00 pm

Before departing today we had a plan to follow up on some reports of a few baleen whales in Rosario Strait, and join the search for any killer whales in our region. This plan quickly changed on our way out of the harbor when we got a report of killer whales in the northern San Juan Islands! We headed north, scanning among the islands on our way up San Juan Channel, and stopping at White Rock when we saw many harbor seals. It was such a low...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | May 29th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

Our classic tour departed the harbor today ready to see where our search for whales would take us. We quickly made a stop when our Captain Gabe spotted a California Sea Lion at the surface with what looked like a large fish in its mouth! After getting a closer look with our camera, we realized it was eating a small species of shark called a dogfish! I knew that sea lions would eat sharks and anything else they can grab, but I had never seen...

Lauren Tschirhart | May 28th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 pm

The M/V Kestrel departed the dock for our 2:00 pm Adventure Tour and headed north in San Juan Channel. We had an exciting first stop in mind… A few days ago a dead Steller’s Sea Lion washed up on the south side of Spieden Island. Getting out in nature and going whale watching gives you the rare opportunity to view the circle of life, live and direct. This dead pinniped has been serving as nourishment for several birds of prey. After...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | May 29th, 2026 | 2:00pm

This trip truly put the word “adventure” in our Adventure Tour! We took the M/V Kestrel up San Juan Channel and headed West while wrapping around the top of San Juan Island. Our first stop was to view a group of Bald Eagles and Turkey Vultures feeding on a Steller’s Sea Lion carcass located on Speiden Island. This is not a common sight, and the Bald Eagles were especially active throughout this! We then crossed Haro Strait in rather windy...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | May 28th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

Some days on the water are the most unexpected, action packed trips… When we left the harbor today, we had reports of some killer whales in the south so we decided to head in that direction. We knew that they had been hunting a sea lion earlier in the day, so we figured that by the time we got there they would be hanging out in the area pretty tired out. I was excited to get out there and see what these whales were up to!

On our way...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | May 27th, 2026 | 2:00 pm

Before leaving the harbor we had word of a few different reports in our area, so we set off north to see where we would end up for the day. First, we made our way to Spieden where I was eager to check out the dead stellar sea lion that has been on the edge of the island for days… This was an exciting opportunity to see many bald eagles (adult and juvenile) and vultures up close, and to think about our ecosystem as a whole. Before we began...

Lauren Tschirhart | May 25th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30 pm

Just like humans, killer whales are visually all unique from one another. Also like humans, sometimes they have uncanny resemblances to one another. There are two whales in the Coastal Bigg’s population that are fairly hard to tell apart. Those whales are known as T123/ Stanley and T060C/ Yelnats, hence the name. Yelnats is Stanley spelled backwards. When identifying killer whales, you want to look for three types of distinct markings to...