Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Laura | M/V Sea Lion | 7/11/2020 | 1:30 PM

Waking up this morning with rainy skies was no deterrent to visitors of San Juan Island to come on a whale watch, as marine mammals obviously love the water!  Passengers were happy as clams to board M/V Sea Lion with high hopes for the day and I was thrilled to hear reports of whales booming on the radio in our bridge!  We headed south through San Juan Channel and curved over towards Salmon Bank.  Captain Pete was in communication with other...

Erick | M/V Kestrel | July 10, 2020 | 2:00pm

Wohoo! Another beautiful day out in the San Juans! It felt a little bit like summer out there in the Salish Sea but there was still a cool breeze coming from the south. Capt. Brian and I took an excited group out on M/V Kestrel to go find some wildlife! We first headed east and soon saw a blow out near Lopez Island! As we got closer, we saw that it was Humpback Whale headed south! We watched this giant whale swim quickly towards Cattle...

M/V Sea Lion

Friday, July 10th | Naturalist Alexandria

What a fantastic day we had today!  Some trips everything aligns, and this was one of those trips!  The weather has been nice the last few days, but today shined.  The sunshine was shining bright, and the wind and seas were nice and calm. 

We boarded our boat and met with Captain Pete, but before we even left the dock we were greeted by a harbor seal that was playing off our stern.  After leaving the dock within minutes of...

It rained again today… That’s okay though even though it feels like our summer here sometimes is constantly loading, the rain means that there is plenty of water for the salmon, and snow that falls high up in the mountains will last longer as reserves for the rivers that run through the northwest. And anyway, the rain must end sometime! Today it cleared up around noon right in time for our 1:30PM Whale watch trip aboard M/V Sea Lion! Capt. Pete was driving, and we took a great group...

Today we had another trip on our adventure boat, M/V Kestrel! It was another stunning summer day in the San Juan Islands. We had blue skies, calm seas, and a light breeze. Capt. Brian and I took a group of guests out to go search for some amazing wildlife in the Salish Sea! There had been reports of Southern Resident Killer Whales on the west side of San Juan Island and a report of some Bigg’s (Transient) Killer Whales east of us in Rosario Strait. These types are both orcas but have...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 8th, 2020 | 13:30

The most fin-tastic trip yet! It was such a great day out on the water, I am still shaking with excitement! We headed towards the western side of Cypress Island to follow rumors of Bigg’s Killer Whales milling in the area. When we arrived on scene, sure enough, there were TWO families of transient orcas swimming around together, comprising of around 11 individuals! These were the T36’s and T37’s, happily reuniting for the day. They were...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 7, 2020 | 13:30

What a special day on the water with Captain Sarah and all our guests. We were able to leave the dock with rumors of Orcas on the west side of San Juan Island, which is always extra heart racing. The reason this particular trip felt special, was because these were not just any orcas; they happen to be J Pod of the Southern Resident Killer Whales. This critically endangered ecotype of orca was labeled the name ‘resident’ by their history of...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 5, 2020 | 17:30

They stayed! We received word that the family group of transient orcas we saw on our 1:30pm trip had started to porpoise south- fast! This made us nervous that we would not be able to have the same look at our favorite T65’s as we did previously. With our luck, they decided to stop and start milling around just south of Turn Island. Once we got on scene, we were the only boat viewing at that hour. This felt extra tranquil with the golden...

Laura | M/V Kestrel | 7/5/2020 | 2:00 PM

The Adventure Whale Watch and Wildlife Tour on M/V Kestrel was OUTSTANDING!  I am so excited to report that we found Bigg’s killer whales just minutes from Friday Harbor, traveling southbound from Spieden Island in San Juan Channel!  They turned out to be one of my favorite family groups, the T65As!  This family consists of 5 members, and T65A2 is a large male who is quite distinguishable in size from his younger siblings!  We had awesome...

Olivia | M/V Sea Lion | July 5, 2020 | 13:30

It was such a gorgeous day out on the water; by far one of my favorites this season. We left the dock with whale rumors in the area which is always a great way to start our trips. We kicked off our adventure by heading north through the San Juan Channel towards Spieden Island.  As soon as we arrived at the Cactus Islands, we had great black and white views of the T65A’s- one of our favorite family groups of transient orcas. We had such...