Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/18/19 | 3:00pm

What a great trip today! Captain Pete and I took the Kestrel and headed out to open seas to find the whales! We heard reports of the whales from our first trip travelling north so we set off in that direction.

We boated up through the San Juan Channel and up towards Waldron Island. Here we stopped at a little place called white rocks. We spotted so many harbor seals! These puppy dogs of the sea flopped around and tried to balance on tiny rocks...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/18/19 | 11:00am

What am amazing morning! Captain Brian and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor and headed towards reports of orcas! We boated south of Shaw Island across the south shores of Orcas Island, intertwining through Peavine Pass and then up Rosario Strait.

We stopped by some tiny islands called Peapod rocks where we found some seals! These harbor seals basked in the sunlight as they dried themselves from their watery hunting adventures. You had...

Laura C. | 7/17/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

This evening’s whale watch was simply magical!  Captain Pete manned the helm and ventured north to Swanson Channel.  Our passengers were thrilled to find a family of Bigg’s killer whales traveling near North Pender Island!  This family was quickly identified as the T60s, with the lead matriarch estimated to be 39 years old!  T60C is a large male that was born in 2001 and he stood out as a powerful bull compared to his younger and smaller...

Olivia | July 17th, 2019 | M/V Kestrel | 11:00am / 3:00pm

What an adventurous Adventure Tour on our M/V Kestrel with Captain Gabe! We had a morning trip with 22 passengers and an evening private charter with a fabulous work group for their team bonding. For both the 11:00am and 3:00pm trips, we saw the same Cetaceans within our waters.

In the morning we decided to head north around San Juan Island and eventually end up in Haro Strait where our first reported whale sighting was. On...

Piper | Wednesday, July 17, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30 PM

This morning started out pretty drizzly but Captain Pete, Laura, me, and our enthusiastic guests got covered up in our awesome bright yellow rain slickers and hit the water like some Alaskan deep-sea fishermen! Only, our goal today was to get to watch some orcas and other wildlife just do their own thing, and we definitely accomplished that goal today!

We left Friday Harbor and headed north in San Juan Channel up and around...

Olivia | July 16th, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

Today was a gorgeous day out on the water! We had multiple sightings reported for whales in our area, and Captain Gabe decided to go with our best option of heading south just a wee bit before passing between Shaw and Lopez Islands. Between these islands we saw three Bald Eagles and a Bald Eagle Nest! These large birds of prey are considered to be monogamous by returning to the same nest with the same mate year after year. They...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 07/15/19 | 5:30pm

Today was so amazing! It was just 12 of my guests, Captain Gabe, and me! It felt like such a nice little group. Everyone was so sweet and it was so much fun making friends with the really bright nine-year-old on board, Caileen. Exiting the harbor, we had high hopes for some good orca sightings based on reports we were receiving from other whale watching boats! They were headed towards us!

So, we took our boat and headed north through the San...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Monday, July 15, 2019 | 1:30 PM

What an incredible trip aboard the M/V Sea Lion today! The sun was shining and the water was smooth. Not only did we have an amazing boat ride, but we saw an abundance of wildlife! We headed north out of Friday Harbor and went toward Canada. There were some reports of orcas in the Strait of Georgia, so we headed in that direction. As we got to East Point, we saw a humpback whale blow in the distance. The whale went down for a dive...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 3:00 PM

What a lovely trip aboard the M/V Kestrel this afternoon. We began our trip going north out of Friday Harbor because we heard that there was a gray whale travelling along the shoreline of Shaw Island! We were barely ten minutes into our trip when we saw a beautiful blow up at the surface. It was indeed a gray whale. The whale was travelling very quickly, but we saw it take 2-3 breaths at the surface and then go back down for 3-5...

Erin | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, July 14, 2019 | 11:00 AM

It was an absolutely wildlife-filled day on the water this morning. We began our trip heading south out of Friday Harbor. We made our way to Cattle Point and got a lovely view of the lighthouse. Then we went directly across the San Juan Channel to Whale Rocks and we saw over 20 harbor seals hauled out of the water! There were a few swimming around in the water as well. Not only were there harbor seals, but there was a Steller's...