Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Abby | M/V Kestrel | May 9th, 2026 | 2:00pm

Yet again, a beautiful day to get on the water! I will never get tired of saying that. We left Friday Harbor with calm seas and blue skies. There were already a few reports in the area, and it is just a matter of choosing the best way to go. Our first stop was Turn Rock, where there was a report of a sea otter! Sure enough, there it was, floating like a log on the edge of a kelp forest. This was my first sea otter spotting of the season! It is not often...

Olivia Esqueda | May 6th, 2026 | M/V Sea Lion | 8:00am

Today we were excited to have UW Students joining us on the water as a part of their marine biology course. This is something we do a few times in the spring and the fall as an interactive way for them to learn out in the field. On our way to pick them up from UW Labs, we spotted Bigg’s Killer Whales right outside of Friday Harbor! We popped over to see what direction they were heading, picked up the students and their professors, and headed...

Olivia Esqueda | May 4th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30pm

Setting off for our second trip of the day, we went north towards Spieden Channel where we looked at Stellers’ Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, and Mouflon Sheep. Shortly after, we rejoined with the T049A’s [Transient Orcas/ Bigg’s Killer Whales] that we had found earlier that morning. This time, they had recently hunted and were prey sharing beneath the water in Spieden Channel, not far from a Harbor Seal haul out. With bits of their food floating to...

Olivia Esqueda | May 4th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 9:00am

This morning, we were the first vessel off the dock. It was warm, there were calm seas, and mountain views. With hot coffee in hand, this felt like a wonderful way to start the day in the Salish Sea. We set off north up San Juan Channel, curved through Spring Passage, and headed into President’s Channel because there were some rumors from an early morning water taxi of sightings north of Orcas Island and heading towards East Point on Saturna...

Abby | M/V Kestrel | May 3rd, 2026 | 2:00pm

Today's trip quite literally left me speechless. We left our dock in Friday Harbor with reports within our range of 3 different whale species. We genuinely had the trip of a lifetime ahead of us. We left the harbor and traveled interisland along the Washington State Ferry route. We passed the Lopez Island Ferry Dock and turned southeast towards Thatcher Pass. Just east of Thatcher Pass in Rosario Strait was a report of a humpback whale. It had been a...

Abby | M/V Osprey | May 2nd, 2026 | 12:30pm

Summer feels like it is finally here! It was a beautiful day to be on the boat. We turned right out of Friday Harbor and started heading south in San Juan Channel. Our goal was to reach Whale Rocks which is off the shore of Cattle Point on San Juan Island. We weren't entirely sure where we wanted to go today, so we made the decision as we got closer to the report. Once we reached the south end of San Juan Island, we decided to turn right, heading...

Olivia Esqueda | May 3rd, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

Today was an extra special day because we were able to share our trip with the San Juan Island community. We set up a trip with Island Rec to get locals out on the water, and it is always such a joy! It was one of those trips where things seemed to “T” up perfectly- beautiful, warm weather, calm seas, sunny skies, crisp mountain views, and lots of wildlife right near home! 

Heading south, we came across multiple Bald Eagles right away in...

Abby | M/V Sea Lion | May 1st, 2026 | 12:30pm

A beautiful day to be on the water! We turned left out of Friday Harbor and traveled north in San Juan Channel. We rounded the north end of San Juan Island with beautiful views of Roche Harbor on our port side and Spieden Island at our starboard. We were headed to a report that was traveling north along the west side of Henry Island. As we rounded McCracken Point on the northwest side of Henry Island, we could see some other vessels that were on scene...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | April 27th, 2026 | 1:30pm 

It was a fruitful day for whale reports here the in the Salish Sea, with multiple sightings to investigate in our general radius! Not to mention it was naturalist Abby's birthday! We do believe in birthday luck here at San Juan Safaris... To start our journey we took a right outside Friday Harbor and made our way south in San Juan Channel. As we maneuvered into Cattle Pass, a humpback whale came into view! We watched this graceful giant come up for...

Abby | M/V Sea Lion | April 26th, 2026 | 12:30pm

The beautiful weather never gets old! Another sunny day with calm waters. As we headed south in San Juan Channel, we had a very quick glimpse of what we think was either a harbor porpoise or minke whale. So many of us on board had a split second before it went under again. It just goes to show how much everyone on board works together to spot things because it can happen so quickly! We turned west to travel along the south end of San Juan Island...