Lauren Tschirhart | May 22nd, 2026 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00 pm
Today was my first tour of the season aboard the M/V Kestrel. Our Adventure Whale Watch & Wildlife tour began by exiting Friday Harbor and heading north into San Juan Channel. We cruised into New Channel, on the northeast side of Spieden Island, and scanned for wildlife, but did not spot any critters. We continued on, crossing into Canadian waters, making our first official stop at Mandarte Island. Mandarte Island is home to the largest seabird colony in the Strait of Georgia. The island first became famous for its song sparrow research station. Data collection for these sparrows started in the 1960’s and it is still operational today. Mandarte is also home to many Double-Crested Cormorants, Pelagic Cormorants, and Glaucous-winged Gulls.
Next we made our way over the top of Sidney Island to catch up on a report of some Bigg’s Killer Whales. The group was made up of four whales from the T060 matriline, who were traveling with a new to me whale, T069D2. When we first got on scene, these whales were spread out all along Sidney Channel. We could clearly see T060C/ Yelnats in the distance, who was the easiest whale to spot in the group, as he was the only fully grown adult male present. A group of three whales popped up much closer to our vessel, so we decided to hone in on them. We got awesome looks at this group as they zigged and zagged around. I always contemplate what the whales are doing when they’re all spread out like this. Was there a family argument? Was it a hunting strategy? Did they just need some time apart? It’s fun to imagine what’s going on underneath the surface.
Eventually we said goodbye to these whales and slowly made our way out of the area. We cruised back in U.S. waters and then made another wildlife stop, this time at Sentinel rock to look at some rock sausages, a.k.a. Harbor Seals. On our way back to the dock we cruised the southern coastline of Spieden Island, viewing several bald eagles along the way. What a perfect first day back on my favorite boat in our fleet!