Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Lauren Tschirhart | August 21st, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

The San Juan Safaris Classic Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour spent the afternoon observing a family of five Bigg’s Killer Whales. This matriline is known at the T036A’s and is made up of: 

• - T036A/Leland — female, born in 1990
  • - T036A1/Tierna — female, born in 2005
    • - T036A1A/Drift — male, born in 2022
  • - T036A2/Kailas — female, born in 2012
    • - T036A2A/Rogue — born in 2025
  • - T036A3/Storm/Mike III — male, born in 2015
  • - T036A5/Squall — male, born in...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | August 23rd, 2026 | 12:30pm

Bigg's Killer Whales have been absolutely loving Waldron Island lately, and today was no exception. Shortly before we left the dock, a fellow PWWA member vessel spotted a family of these whales circling the island. They likely were looking for Harbor Seals, which Waldron has no shortage of along it's shores. We made the transit North out of Friday Harbor and arrived to Waldron Island to see six black dorsal fins cutting through the...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | August 22nd, 2026 | 5:30pm

As Summer slowly comes to an end, the sun is beginning to set earlier and earlier. Because of this, our Sunset Tours are not able to run into our Fall season. This trip just so happened to be our final Sunset Tour of the season! I absolutely love these tours, and was excited to be working this one to hopefully go out with a bang! We were fortunate enough to leave the dock with a whale report quite close by. A family of Bigg's Killer...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | August 22nd, 2026 | 2pm

We left Friday Harbor and followed along the ferry route across the channel and into the heart of the San Juan’s. Taking a hard left we made our way into Eastsound and pointed steady north. Whales were reported deep into the sound, almost all the way to the town of Eastsound itself. We soon spotted a large dorsal fin in the distance! This was a pair of whales from the T37A’s identified as:

• T037A/Volker — female, born in 1994
• T037A2/Inky — male, born in...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | August 21st, 2026 | 2:00pm

This tour began with several different whale reports scattered around the San Juan Islands. We chose to point Northwest and head towards Waldron Island. The water was incredibly calm, and a bit of fog was moving in which made it feel like a very "pacific northwest" kind of whale watch. We arrived to the top of Waldron and slowly approached a group of five Bigg's Killer Whales. It was the T36As, and it was my first time seeing this family...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | August 21st, 2026 | 10:00am

On this particular morning, whale reports had been developing quite early in the morning. This was perfect for us, as we actually had options when we left the dock at 10am! We began by going strait into the inner islands and moving up West Sound, which is a body of water that juts up into the bottom of Orcas Island. We got to the top of West Sound and were welcomed with perfectly calm water and beautiful weather. We began watching the...

Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Thursday, August 20, 2026 | 2:00 pm

Every day we depart the dock, we always have a plan; however, that plan often changes. Especially when you find a group of killer whales! After heading south down San Juan Channel, we turned the corner into Haro Strait, where we eventually spotted a massive sail-like dorsal fin cutting through the water, with several smaller fins present in spread out groups. It was a family of six Bigg’s killer whales known as the T109As hugging the...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | August 20th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

With stunning views of Mt. Baker and beautiful sunny skies, we departed Friday Harbor excited to search for whales and wildlife. Luck was on our side as pretty quickly into our trip we reached a report of some Bigg’s Killer Whales! Not too far up San Juan Channel along Orcas Island there was a family of 6 travelling together, and no one was surprised to see that it was once again the T49A matriline! I love this family so much, and it has...

Abby | M/V Osprey | August 19th, 2026 | 12:30 pm

What an epic day! Today's trip is one for the books! We left our dock today as soon as we finished boarding because we had a report of 24 Bigg's (or Transient) Killer Whales that were far away. 24! When we have numerous matrilines’ of these killer whales coming together, we call it a T-Party (T being for Transient). The families that were in this report were the T035's, T036A's, T049A's, T065, T063, and the T100's. Such a diverse group today that...

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

Today we departed from Roche Harbor on the north side of San Juan Island. It was a beautiful day to be on the water. We had a full boat, and a report just outside of the harbor. Other Pacific Whale Watch Association boats had already identified this group as the T049A's, a family of 6 Bigg's or Transient Killer Whales. 

• T049A/Nan — female, born in 1986
  • T049A3/Nat — male, born in 2011
  • T049A4/Neptune — male, born in 2014
  • T049A5/Nebula — female, born in...