Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 20th, 2026 | 1:30 pm
Today’s classic tour took us through many different channels and pathways in our search for whales, including into Canada! We began by heading north and searching along Spieden Channel and the upper Haro. Our first seal stop was along Sentinel Rock, where we saw some seal pups resting with their mothers on the shoreline. These pups only stay with mom for about 6 weeks, so this is a critical time for them to learn and put on weight. We continued on towards Stuart Island, passing Turn Point lighthouse before officially entering Canadian waters. From here, we soon spotted the exhalations of 2 humpback whales traveling together near South Pender. Lucky for us, this pair was taking short 3-5 minute dives and giving us nice looks at their flukes. Through photo ID, we were able to confirm that these are whales known as Zephyr (CRC-15970) and Scratchy (CRC-16455), both part of the Hawaii breeding grounds. Zephyr is the 2011 calf of Divot, making her part of the famed Big Mama matriline! We got to see many beautiful fluking dives from these whales, and even got to hear some of their powerful exhalations as we sat with our engines off. After one last dive, we began to leave these whales to their feeding and continued on to search for any other whales and wildlife we could find.
We headed in the direction of John’s Island and passed a number of harbor porpoise along the way. Many more seals were resting among the shallow rocky areas along John’s Pass and the Cactus Islands. Once we made it to the Spieden shoreline in New Channel, we began to spot many bald eagles in the tree tops. As we got closer, we noticed one feasting on a carcass on the shoreline! Bald eagles are mainly scavengers, so it was amazing to see their skills at work on the deer. Many other eagles were in the shadows of the trees, perhaps waiting for their turn… We continued along to see some Sika deer on the hillside as well as Moufflon sheep. What an amazing “Safari Island” day! Before turning back into San Juan Channel we took a detour to scan along President’s Channel and around Jones Island, but no other whales to be found. We returned to Friday Harbor shortly after, wrapping up our wildlife filled afternoon.
Want 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/