Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | August 4th, 2026 | 12:30pm
We were able to leave the dock a few minutes early today, which is always a nice start. We turned right out of Friday Harbor and began moving South down San Juan Channel. We made an early stop at a nearby kelp bed to watch an adorable Sea Otter that likes to spend time there. He is not always there, but today he was right at the edge of the kelp, with some wrapped around his stomach to keep from floating away in the currents. I always enjoy getting to view this species that is quite rare to these Salish Sea waters. We then moved further South towards a report of Bigg's Killer Whales. Conveniently, these whales were moving towards us and we got our first looks right at the bottom of San Juan Channel. The two whales were a pair of siblings known as T77C "Neftali" and T77E "Misneach". Neftali is a 20 year old adult male, and his dorsal fin is nearly six feet tall! Misneach is quite a bit smaller at 10 years old, but will grow much more over the next few years. Misneach's gender is currently unknown, which is somewhat rare for a whale of that age! We watched the duo move North while very close to the shore of Lopez Island. They at one point crossed paths with two Steller Sea Lions which are on the menu for Bigg's Killer Whales, but can sometimes take hours to successful hunt. The whales seemed to opt out of that tall order, and continued travelling at a brisk pace. Not long after that though, the whales suddenly began changing directions rapidly. This can be a telltale sign of a hunt beginning. Our hunch was correct once we noticed some splashing and quick pursuits, then a Harbor Seal head popping up in the water between the two. This unlucky seal had found themselves in the path of the ocean's apex predator, and it seemingly was lunch time. These two whales made quick work of this seal, but did exhert quite a bit of effort for a few minutes. We saw tons of splashing at this time as they chased this seal in quite shallow water. Once the job was finished, the siblings began to eat their freshly caught meal. They performed lots of arch dives and direction changes as they shared the seal. After eating for a few minutes, the whales appeared to be feeling rather playful after filling their stomachs. While our engines were turned off, Misneach suddenly popped up on the other side of the boat and spyhopped! This is when a whale fully sticks their head up out of the water vertically. Then just a few moments later, the younger sibling was back on the other side of our boat throwing their tail flukes up into the air, then immediatly surfacing backwards as they lifted their face above the water. This is the closest thing that I've seen to "whale gymnastics"! A few minutes later we began to depart this playful duo, and as we were leaving we watched them begin to interact with some crab pots in the distance! They were dragging them down and letting them float back up. This playful behavior has become more popular with these whales, and is always interesting to see in person. After fully departing, we made a stop at nearby Goose Island to view several species including Harbor Seals, Pelagic Cormorants, and Double-Crested Cormorants. Then a Great Blue Heron flew right past the front of our boat! We then popped over to nearby Whale Rocks, where several dozen Steller Sea Lions were resting and playing out of the water. This is the biggest Sea Lion species in the entire world, and I'm always amazed by their size. After leaving these massive pinnipeds, we began our journey back home up San Juan Channel. We arrived to the dock and recapped an unbelievable trip. It's hard to even put this experience into words!
The IDs and details of the two Killer Whales that we saw are as follows:
Bigg's Killer Whales (2):
T77C "Neftali" (M) b. 2006
T77E "Misneach" (?) b. 2016
This group of passengers was full excitment and amazing questions. 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/