Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | July 11th, 2026 | 2:00pm
We left the dock feeling very confident on this trip as their were plenty of whales within our range! We went North and wrapped around the top of San Juan Island before entering Haro Strait which is the large body of water off of the West side of the island. The water was extremely calm which was nice to see, as this area was a bit choppier and rough earlier in the day. There were 11 total Bigg's Killer Whales in this area at this time! We went to one group of seven of them first, and slowly approached them. As we were approaching, we noticed dozens of Harbor Porpoise in every direction! Once we arrived on scene, we saw two separate families travelling together. These were actually two sisters (T37A "Volker" and T37B "Harald") each accompanied by their offspring! Volker was with three of her kiddos, and Harald with both of hers. These two families do not always travel together, so it was really cool to witness this family reunion! After some awesome looks at these seven whales, we moved just a few minutes North to check out another family of Bigg's Killer Whales. This group of four was the T123s, an iconic Salish Sea family. The T123s are led by 41 year-old Mother/Matriarch "Sidney". This family has been here for several weeks straight and we hope that keeps up, as we love these four! We were all especially amazed by T123A "Stanley" and his towering six-foot tall dorsal fin. From there, we went just a few minutes North again to see another species of whale. A humpback and her calf had been spotted near the top of Haro Strait. We watched these two baleen whales come up for multiple breaths, and were even fortunate enough to see each of their flukes come up above the water as they went down for a deep dive! Later on in the day, this mother humpback was identified as BCX1057 "Divot". She is a 20 year-old whale that migrates here each year from her breeding grounds down in Hawaii. While with these whales I told the incredible conservation success story of these Humpbacks in this region, and how a whale named "Big Mama" began bringing these whales back to these waters. This story ended up being especially relevant to this encounter, as "Divot" is the second-born calf of "Big Mama"!!! I smile each and every time I see one of her calves/relatives swimming through these waters. We then departed these whales and made pit stops on the way home to see Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, and all three foreign species that can be found on Spieden Island (Sika Deer, Fallow Deer, and Mouflon Sheep). We then returned to Friday Harbor and ended an amazing trip!
The IDs and details of the 13 total whales that we saw are as follows:
Killer Whales:
T123 "Sidney" (F) b. 1985
T123A "Stanley" (M) b. 2000
T123C "Lucky" (F) b. 2012
T123D "Darcy" (F) b. 2018
T37A "Volker" (F) b. 1994
T37A2 "Inky" (M) b. 2009
T37A3 "Spinnaker" (M) b. 2012
T37A4 "Crinkle" (F) b. 2015
T37B "Harald" (F) b. 1998
T37B1 "Lance" (M) b. 2012
T37B2 "Slice" (F) b. 2022
Humpback Whales:
BCX1057 "Divot" (F) b. 2006
2026 Calf of "Divot"
This was such a fun trip with a wide variety of species. We want to thank this group of passengers for choosing to spend their day with us here at San Juan Safaris!!!
Wanting to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/
More information about the Pacific Whale Watch Association: https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/