Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Olivia | June 29, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30pm

Sunset tours are always favored by the staff, and for good reason! Calm seas, gorgeous, golden sunset over the water, and Cattle Point Lighthouse silhouetted in the background- what’s not to love? We started off the tour heading south towards Salmon Bank where there were potential wildlife sightings. We saw heaps of Pigeon Guillemots, Auklets, Gulls, and Bald Eagles as we traveled down the San Juan Channel. We even saw a juvenile Bald...

Laura C. / 7/3/2019 / M/V Kestrel / 11:00am

Today was a fantastic day on M/V Kestrel!  We were lucky enough to have Bigg’s killer whales seen right around San Juan Island!  As we made our way south we were all so excited to see T65A2 with the T65Bs!  This 15-year old male whale has been traveling with his aunt and cousins for the past few days.  The T65As were near other whale-watching vessels further north but close enough for T65A2 to join back in with his close family if he wanted...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Tuesday, July 2, 2019 | 5:30 PM

What an excellent sunset trip in the Salish Sea! We began our trip heading northeast out of Friday Harbor. We knew there were whales near East Sound on Orcas Island, so we went to investigate to see if we could find them. On our way there, we traversed through some smaller islands and got some amazing views. We were also lucky because the rain subsided and the sun was starting to shine when we left the harbor! We made it to...

M/V Kestrel | July 2nd, 2019 | Naturalist Alexandria

What an awesome day we had today on the water!  We were with a family of Biggs Killer Whales for our trip, and we sure got to spend a nice chunk of time with these incredible animals!

As Captain Pete and myself looked at the reports for the day, we were excited to know that we definitely had reports of orcas out and about.  Now we never know anything for sure until we are on scene for sure; until we personally, with our own eyes...

Laura C. | 7/2/2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 1:30pm

It was quite an adventure in the Salish Sea today on M/V Sea Lion!  Passengers embraced the wind and swirling seas like seasoned mariners, in hopes of momentarily connecting with these graceful and somewhat mysterious sea creatures.  Luckily our voyage was to close by Shaw Island, a trifle trip compared to journeys the Sea Lion is capable of enduring.  The rain and fog created breathtaking views of the treetops of surrounding islands...

Olivia | July 1st, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 6:00pm 

What a spectacular sunset this evening! We had a small group of about 9 passengers who were able to enjoy the evening with myself and Captain Brian. The best part? We didn’t have to travel far until we saw Bigg’s Killer Whales! We first viewed the T124A’s in the Wasp Passage around McConnell and Yellow Islands. They moved slowly through the Wasp Islands until they met up in the San Juan Channel with (SURPRISE) another family group...

Erin | M/V Sea Lion | Monday, July 1, 2019 | 2:00 PM

What a beautiful afternoon aboard M/V Sea Lion! We began our trip heading east out of Friday Harbor. We saw some upwelling and currents almost immediately after we left the harbor. It was neat to see all of the slick patches in the water. We made our way through Pivine Pass and ended up on the east side of Orcas Island. We headed toward Peapod Rocks because we were going to try to see some harbor seals, but on our way there we...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 07/01/19 | 11:00 am

Happy Canada Day!! Today was absolutely gorgeous as the sun glistened high in the sky and warmed the Washington air.

Captain Pete and I took the Kestrel out of Friday Harbor towards the north. Immediately, we received multiple reports of whales throughout the northern American Islands. Excited, we headed that direction.

Along the way, we stopped by White Rocks. Here, we saw so many seals! These harbor seals were literally laying on top of...

Piper | Sunday, June 30, 2019 | M/V Sea Lion | 5:30 PM

Happy last day of June! Tonight’s sunset cruise took us south through San Juan Channel to check out a report of orcas near Hein Bank! We headed down towards Cattle Point Lighthouse and stopped at Whale Rocks to check out a few Steller sea lions STILL hanging out in the pass! One sub-adult was lounging on the rocks soaking up the remaining rays for the day, trying to get warm. We continued south to an awesome view of the Olympic...

Jordan | M/V Sea Lion | 06/30/19 | 1:30pm

Today was super great! Captain Erick, Naturalist Piper and I took the Sea Lion out of Friday Harbor and headed north to reports of orca whales coming from Canadian waters. We boated up through the San Juan Channel, passed by Orcas Island and Waldron Island and across Boundary Pass into Canada. Here, we went around East Point off of Saturna Island and headed west where we found orca whales!

We watched them swim into this beautiful area off of...