Kelly | M/V Osprey | August 10th, 2026 | 1:30pm
We began our journey north in San Jaun Channel, cruising quickly into Spieden Channel and enjoying fantastic looks at both Mount Baker and Turtleback Mountain along the way. We cruised over the top of San Juan Island, eventually making our way into a bigger body of water known as the Haro Strait. As we approached the Canadian border we began to spot exhales in the distance, two adult male orcas known as:
- T060D/Onca — male, born in 2004
- T060E/Lynx — male, born in 2008
These two brothers are known to travel together separate from mom and their siblings. This is different from the typical matriarchal structure, but not completely unusual. In your average Biggs killer whale family, mom begins to have offspring until the family gets too big (around 6-7 whales on average) typically the oldest female will branch off with her own offspring at that point. However, just like with humans, every family is different. For unknown reasons, these brothers split off from mom and usually prefer to travel separately, meeting up with mom and family on occasion. We watched these two circle around the Canadian border in an inconsistent dive pattern, perhaps searching for some harbor porpoise snacks? Their massive 6ft fins occasions surfacing side by side in unison, appearing to morph together like one big mega fin!
After great looks at the 60’s we circled back into Spieden Channel and enjoyed fantastic looks at harbor seals, bald eagles and non-native mouflon sheep.