Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | June 12th, 2026 | 2:00 pm
Our capital-A Awesome adventure on this beautiful Friday afternoon began north from Friday Harbor through San Juan Channel. It did not take long to spot two bright-white heads atop White Rock! These fully-grown bald eagles were accompanied by some rock sausages (Harbor seals) hauling out and raking in the rays.
Then, just around the corner of Waldron Island, we were greeted by a matriarch of a Bigg’s killer whale family and two of her children:
T100 “Hutchins” – female, born around 1979
- T100C “Laurel” – male, born in 2002
- T100F “Estrella” – female, born in 2014
This family displayed a spectacular show full of tail slaps and spyhops. As Hutchins and her kids began circumnavigating a small island, we observed 30-40 Harbor seals, the Bigg’s killer whales’ favorite snack, vigilantly hiding with their heads above water in the corner of a cove.
Just when it couldn’t get any better, we spotted two humpback whales! BCX1057 “Divot” (female, born around 2003) was gracefully travelling with her new calf who was born within the last year.
And the adventure did not even end there…on Spieden Island, we had our eyes glued to the brown landscape where we found a handful of fallow deer originally from Europe, several more bald eagles, and a Belted kingfisher, one of my personal favorite seabirds!
Thanks to all who joined us this afternoon; we hope you had as much fun as Captain and I did!
Want more information about the Pacific Whale Watch Association? See https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/
Want to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/