Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | June 13th, 2026 | 12:30pm
This tour had just left Friday Harbor and was making the turn to head South when a passenger spotted something splashing around a few hundred yards to the left of us. Everyone moved to the side of the boat and watched the area, when suddenly a Humpback Whale launched straight up into the air! Seeing a Humpback breach is already rare in this region, but just two minutes into the trip??? That's unheard of! This jumping whale was a calf, and their mom "Divot" was staying close by while the youngster played. The calf breached roughly 15 times over the next half hour! Everybody on the boat, including our staff, was absolutely blown away. Eventually, the calf tired itself out and the pair began to travel slowly down San Juan Channel. As hard as it was to say goodbye, we began moving South towards another report of whales. We exited the bottom of San Juan Channel and pointed Southwest. It was a longer trek, but we were rewarded with a family of nine Bigg's Killer Whales! The family is known as the T46Bs, and are led by their matriarch "Raksha". Raksha was travelling with six of her own children, and two of her grandchildren. The water was absolute glass which made for some beautiful looks at this family. After witnessing multiple breath cycles from this group, we departed and pointed back towards Friday Harbor. The ID's and details of the two Humpbacks and nine Killer Whales (11 Whales Total) that we saw are as follows:
BCX1057 "Divot" (F) b. 2003
New Calf b. 2026
T46B "Raksha" (F) b. 1988
T46B2 "Akela" (F) b. 2008
T46B2B "Takaya" (F) b. 2023
T46B3 "Sedna" (F) b. 2011
T46B3A "Munro" (?) b. 2025
T46B4 "Quiver" (M) b. 2025
T46B6 "Sol" (F) b. 2019
T46B7 "Tala" (?) b. 2023
T46B8 "Pi" (?) b. 2026
The calm water made for a very comfortable ride back to San Juan Island. We passed through Cattle Pass back into San Juan Channel, but made a quick pit stop to admire some absolutely massive Steller Sea Lions on a small island called Whale Rocks. Several were sleeping, but many were roughhousing with each other and slipping into the water. We then saw two Bald Eagles perched on a small rock just outside of Friday Harbor, before eventually docking the M/V Osprey to cap off an incredible day. I can confidently say that this trip got off to the hottest start out of all of my trips so far this season!
We had such a great time with this group of passengers and 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/