Lauren Tschirhart | August 31st, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm
Today we softly said goodbye to Summer. It’s the last day of August and the Burr months are right around the corner. This time of year is always sad knowing our season is winding down, but one thing that is absolutely not winding down is the whale action! We departed Friday Harbor with news that a T-Party had formed near Salmon Bank in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This party was made up of T036/ Flapjack and the T036B’s, T137A/ Jack, T049A2/ Jude and T065A3/ Amir. Sadly Amir and Jude a.k.a. The Butcher Boys had broken off before we got there.
As we cruised south in San Juan Channel, we made a quick stop at Goose Island to view some Harbor Seals, Glaucous-Winged Gulls and both Pelagic and Double-Crested cormorants. We got beautiful views of Cattle Point Lighthouse as we rounded the south east corner of San Juan and made our way into Salmon Bank. When we first arrived on scene, the whales were all split up. T137A/ Jack was off by himself, and the T036’s were split into two separate groups. As we started to get these whales dialed in, the whales started dialing in themselves as all seven started joining back up. These whales hugged the San Juan Island shoreline as they made their way northwest. It’s always fun when you have a big boy, as well as a baby in the group, as it really allows you to appreciate how massive the males are. T137A/ Jack, a 24 year-old male, made lil T036B1A/ Maple, a one year-old female look so teeny tiny.
It was definitely social hour for these whales, as we got to see a bit of splashing around, a few tail flukes and T036B/ Tattertip even gave us a spyhop! After our incredible encounter with these Apex predators, we slowly made our way off scene and started heading back east. We made a final stop at Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass. What was exciting about our encounter at Whale Rocks today was there may have been more sea lions in the water than hauled out on the rocks! Tons of Stellar Sea Lions were found foraging in the kelp bed. We waved goodbye to these hungry sea lions and made our way back to Friday Harbor.