Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | September 3rd, 2026 | 12:30pm
We left the dock and turned South on this tour, pointing straight at a distant report of Bigg's Killer Whales. They were quite a ways away when we left, but they were luckily moving towards us. We were hoping that would continue and cut down our travel time. Along the way we did a drive-by of Whale Rocks which is near the bottom of San Juan Island. There were several dozen Steller Sea Lions hauled out on these rocks, many of which were napping or soaking in the sunshine. This may have been the most I have seen at this location all summer, possibly hinting that many of them are coming back from their breeding grounds! From there we continued South into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The whales from the report were still moving towards us which was amazing news. We began scanning once we were 1-2 miles out and saw them! We slowly got onto scene and confirmed that there was 12 Bigg's Killer Whales present, including whales from three different families. We had whales from the T46Bs, T100s, and T123s. I at one point thought that T137A "Jack" may have joined the party, but later reports debunked this as he was seen up near Vancouver. It likely was either T100C "Laurel" or T123A "Stanley" who were both present. I could not confirm this in the moment though because this whale was dramatically leaning to his left with every breath, thus blocking me from getting a clear ID photo of his dorsal fin! There was surface activity throughout the entirety of this encounter, which is not the case for most tours! The whales were lazily moving Northwest, but mostly staying in one area and socializing a TON. There were so many behaviors including rolling, tail slapping, headstands, porpoising, spyhopping, and even two finale full breaches from one of the young T46B calves right before we left! This was truly some easy whale watching, as you could see active Bigg's Killer Whales no matter which direction you looked! We spent some awesome time with these 12 whales before eventually saying goodbye. We all gathered at the back of the boat to get our final looks as we slowly departed. We then travelled back up North towards home, making one stop at Goose Island to admire the many species of wildlife that can be found there. We saw tons of Harbor Seals, Cormorants, Gulls, and a Great Blue Heron! From there we returned back to Friday Harbor and recapped an absolutely epic day out on the Salish Sea. This was truly one of my favorite trips that I've worked all season!
The IDs and details of the 12 Killer Whales that we saw are as follows:
Bigg's Killer Whales (12):
T46B "Raksha" (F) b. 1988
T46B4 "Quiver" (M) b. 2014
T46B6 "Sol" (F) b. 2019
T46B7 "Tala" (?) b. 2023
T46B8 "Pi" (?) b. 2026
T100 "Hutchins" (F) b. 1979
T100C "Laurel" (M) b. 2002
T100F "Estrella" (M) b. 2014
T123 "Sidney" (F) b. 1985
T123A "Stanley" (M) b. 2000
T123C "Lucky" (F) b. 2012
T123D "Darcy" (F) b. 2018
This group of passengers was awesome and had so many great questions. We thank them for joining us this afternoon!
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/