Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | August 13th, 2026 | 2:00pm
Some days we are lucky enough to have Killer Whales within sight of San Juan Island, and this was one of those days! The T19 family of Bigg's Killer Whales were just a few minutes outside of Friday Harbor. This family is led by their mother/matriarch "Nootka" who is one of the oldest living whales in the entire population. She was joined by her two adult sons "Galiano" and "Spouter" who are both absolutely HUGE. Many people believe that Galiano is the biggest whale in the Bigg's Killer Whale population. We encountered them just around the top of Shaw Island moving East. We were watching the whale off of our right side as we arrived, then they went down for a longer dive. We continued our slow speed and course when they suddenly popped up off of our left side! They had swam all the way across the passage to the other shoreline. It's always so cool when we are able to hear the breaths of these whales before we actually see them. We then watched them go up into West Sound which cuts into Orcas Island. They appeared to begin resting while up there, slowly surfacing and taking lazier breaths than before. Galiano had slightly split up from the other two. Then, Galiano suddenly started FLYING across West Sound towards his mother and brother. Nootka did a surprise spyhop, where she popped her entire head up out of the water. We speculated that Nootka and Spouter and either spotted or grabbed a prey item, and Galiano was excited to join in on the hunt. The three whales then went down for a dive several hundred yards from us. Their direction was not clear, so our captain turned our engine off and we floated motionless until we were able to see them again. After a few minutes of waiting, we suddenly saw fluke prints appear off of the front of our boat. Then one of the big brothers stuck part of their fluke up above the water as they swam by. All three whales were swimming at near full speed in pursuit of something. It is always so impressive to see these powerful animals exert that much effort. We then got a few more looks at these amazing creatures before eventually departing. We then went down San Juan Channel to seek out some other species. We stopped at Whale Rocks which is just off of Cattle Point at the bottom of San Juan Island. There were tons of Steller Sea Lions there! These are the biggest sea lions in the world, and can grow to over 2,000 pounds when fully grown! We then went through a lazy river near the bottom of Lopez Island and spotted several Harbor Seals and a Bald Eagle! From there we travelled back up San Juan Channel and returned home to Friday Harbor. What an amazing afternoon on the Salish Sea!
The IDs and details of the three Killer Whales that we saw are as follows:
Bigg's Killer Whales (3):
T19 "Nootka" (F) b. <1965
T19B "Galiano" (M) b. 1995
T19C "Spouter" (M) b. 2001
This group of passengers was a joy to be out on the water with. We thank them 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/