Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | July 3rd, 2026 | 12:30pm

We left Friday Harbor and travelled East this day towards a report of Bigg's Killer Whales. There was a family of whales moving South down Eastsound, which is a waterway that runs right up the middle of Orcas Island. We do not often see whales in Eastsound, so this was pretty exciting! After a quick commute, we approached the T99s right at the bottom of Eastsound. Our timing was perfect, as the family of five whales had just finished eating...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | July 2, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

M/V Osprey took off into the fall-like rainy haze this afternoon from Friday Harbor and headed northeast through Upright Channel. Our first wildlife sighting was not one, but two bald eagles perched atop evergreen trees on the north side of Lopez Island. We continued eastward through Thatcher Pass, and upon entering Rosario Strait, our captain spotted 4 blows. It was the matriarch of a family of Bigg’s (Transient) killer whales and her three kids: 

• T...

Lauren Tschirhart | June 29th, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 pm

Our Adventure Tour today was about as epic as they come… and we never even left San Juan Channel. A group of 11 Bigg’s Killer Whales aka Transient Orcas had been picked up in the Strait of Juan de Fuca heading north towards Cattle Pass. Anytime we have members from 3 or more matrilines swimming together, we call that a T-Party (“T” stands for Transient, which is a specific eco-type of killer whale). Eco-types are like sub-species, but...

Lauren Tschirhart | June 28th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

After hearing we had two rare visitors in town, I couldn’t have been more excited to get out on the water. T128/ Floatsam and his presumed younger brother T125A/ Jetsam are two adult male Bigg’s Killer Whales who spend a majority of their time in the waters of Southeast Alaska. We only get to see this iconic duo a handful of times a year. T125A/ Jetsam has an extremely recognizable dorsal fin, as there is a large circular notch located...

Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | July 1, 2026 | 12:30 pm 

Happy July everyone! M/V Osprey had a spectacular day out on the water, finding five species of marine mammals. 

1/5: Just moments southeast from Friday Harbor, we found a haul-out of Harbor seals off Turn Point, and even found a second haul-out site after continuing south down San Juan Channel at Goose Island, where we also marveled at both pelagic and double-crested cormorants. 

2/5: After getting our true-seal fix, we found the largest species of...

Kelly Klein | M/V Kestrel | June 30th, 2026 | 2pm

Overcast sky no more! The sun was out and the sky was bright blue as we left Friday Harbor and pointed north up San Juan Channel. We made two quick pit stops for a lone Steller Sea Lion and a Bald Eagle near Friday Harbor Labs. As we made our turn into Presidents Channel, exhales sprung up in the distance! A group of 4 Biggs Killer whales identified as the T65A's made up of: 

• T065B/Chunk — female, born in 1993
  • T065B1/Birdsall — male, born in 2011
  • T06...

Olivia Esqueda | June 30th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

Today was truly an exciting day out on the water as we set out from Friday Harbor, following up on potential shore reports. We headed north through San Juan Channel, curving through the Wasp Islands, and extending our search northwest into New Channel which rests north of Spieden Island. Continuing west/ southwest, we dipped into the north Haro Strait around Henry Island and started seeing orca exhales outside of Mosquito Pass. 

We were the...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | June 29th, 2026 | 12:30pm

We left Friday Harbor feeling very hopeful this day, as there was a great report not too far South. We started travelling down San Juan Channel, briefly stopping for a look at some huge Steller Sea Lions on a small group of islands called Whale Rocks. The report was that 11 Bigg's Killer Whales consisting of individuals from four different matrilines were moving West below Lopez Island. It first appeared that they would continue moving West...

Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | June 28th, 2026 | 5:30pm

This tour left the dock a few minutes early, which worked out perfectly because two Killer Whales had just passed by Friday Harbor! We left the dock with the sun shining and had a short ten minutes transit down San Juan Channel. We entered Griffin Bay which resides on the East shore of San Juan Island and were met with a lovely sight, two huge black dorsal fins! These fins belonged to a pair of presumed brothers; T128 "Flotsam" and T125A...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | June 28th, 2026 | 2:00 pm

Today was truly a killer whale adventure tour! Before leaving the dock, we had many different reports of whales in our area but we didn’t know just how many we would end up able to see. Since every hour is different on the water, we decided to head out towards some exciting reports in Rosario Strait and then see what was going on once we got out there. On our way there, we slowed down near Lopez Island ferry dock because there were Bigg’s...