Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | July 19th, 2026 | 10:00am

We left the dock with no whale reports yet at 10am, but this is not abnormal for morning trips. Each and every day is a clean reset when it comes to sightings, and the morning tours usually have some searching to do to find whales. We went Northwest to search. We started by wrapping around the top of Spieden Island where we spotted a Bald Eagle flying just over us. We then made a stop at Sentinel Rock to view some Harbor Seals, and saw...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Sunday, July 19, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

On today’s classic tour aboard M/V Osprey, we received reports of a rather uncommon scene here in the Salish Sea; four humpback whales were spotted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, widely known as a “whale highway” connecting the greater Pacific Ocean and the Salish Sea. The San Juans are primarily a summer snacking ground for these baleen whales amidst a nearly 3000 mile migration, so social aggregations are quite rare. We headed south down...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, July 18, 2026 | 2:00 PM

Minutes after returning home from the first adventure tour of the day, Captain Vaun and I executed what’s called a “turn and burn,” embarking on adventure #2 with a fresh group of whale enthusiasts. Though we had seen killer whales on our first trip, we truly did not know what to expect the second time around, as every single hour out on the water is different. The Bigg’s killer whales we left earlier had already traveled 15 miles across...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, July 18, 2026 | 10:00 AM 

Sometimes being one of the first boats out on the water provides you with the opportunity to be the boat to find whales out in the Salish Sea. Today was one of those days. M/V Kestrel departing Friday Harbor and headed north up San Juan Channel, stopping to float and scan for wildlife in several channels.

We were cruising at full speed around the northeast corner of Stuart Island, headed towards a wildlife hotspot in Canadian waters, when...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Thursday, July 16, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

M/V Osprey departed the hazy fog swallowing Friday Harbor on July 16 with heavy hearts; between Smith Island and Minor Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a member of the Pacific Whale Watch Association reported the stranding of a killer whale that morning, raising concerns across our team. The individual was identified as T065B2, a seven-year old male Bigg’s killer whale known as Nettle.

We were soon distracted by a sea otter just...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | July 18th, 2026 | 12:30pm

On this day we turned North out of Friday Harbor and wrapped around the top of San Juan Island. We crossed Haro Strait and entered Canadian waters near Sidney Island and D'Arcy Island. Not long after we slowed down, we spotted black dorsal fins cutting through the water. It was the T109As! This family of six Bigg's Killer Whales is led by the mother/matriarch "Runaway" and five of her kiddos. Her eldest son "Garrett" is of the age where his...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | July 17th, 2026 | 5:30pm

This tour turned right out of Roche Harbor, and within minutes had sights of Killer Whales! The T65B family was swimming West through Spieden Channel. This is one of my personal favorite families, so I was super excited! They are a family of four whales, and are led by their mother/matriarch "Chunk". She travels with her three sons, "Birdsall", "Nettle", and "Rook". I was especially interested to get some looks at T65B2 "Nettle", as he has...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | July 17th, 2026 | 2:00 pm

Today’s Adventure Tour set some milestones for my season… My first time being the first one to spot whales! This afternoon was full of surprises, and has to be one of my top trips of the season. We departed Friday Harbor with plans to head north where we had reports of Killer Whales across the Canadian border. As we began to pick up speed out of the harbor, I suddenly spotted dorsal fins about 300m off our starboard side!! A group of Bigg’s...

Lauren Tschirhart | July 16th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00 am

We have a new tour offering here at San Juan Safaris’s. We are now running full day whale watching excursions. Instead of our normal 3 to 4 hour tour, we are now offering an extended 5 to 6 hour adventure. Today was our very first all day tour of the season, and although the weather was not on our side, the whales definitely were. Not only were there thunderstorms in the forecast, which is something extremely rare here in the Salish Sea...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | July 17th, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

The overcast sky cleared as we departed Friday Harbor and took a left into San Juan Channel. Cruising up the channel we were treated to scenic looks at Turtleback mountain on Orcas island. Our first stop of the tour being a harbor seal hotspot known as White Rock. We watched as this cluster of seals clung to the rocky shoreline on the left side of the formation. So many newborn pups visible next to mom! We next slipped over the border into Canada...