Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 24th, 2025 | 12:30 PM
We had a boat full of determined passengers today as our search for whales brought us south across a rocky Strait of Juan de Fuca. The closest whale sightings when we left the dock were near Victoria, BC, so we began our trip heading south in San Juan Channel. We found some harbor seals and many sea birds near Goose Island, and the extreme low tides exposed a lot more land for the seals to haul out on. As we traveled through Cattle Pass, we got our first glimpses at some stronger currents, preparing us for the journey ahead. We continued southwest towards Vancouver Island, and as we crossed over many of the shallower banks, we experienced more rough conditions. Some of our more intrepid passengers stayed on the bow getting splashed along the way, and despite the rockier waters, spirits remained high as we approached the Canadian border.
Once we got through the worst of the transit, we eventually saw boats ahead of us that were watching a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales! There were estimated to be 10 individuals in the area, and through photo identification we learned that this was the T65B and T36A matrilines. I have really enjoyed seeing the T65Bs pop up in different locations every day this week, and it was a fun surprise to find them traveling with another family today. The largest in the group was the sprouting male T65B1 Birdsall, and we were also excited to identify T36A1 Tierna with her calf since they don’t always travel with the rest of the 36As. We enjoyed watching these whales as long as we were able to before we had to begin traveling back to San Juan Island. Our ride back across the border was much smoother on the return, so we were excited to continue searching for more wildlife on the way back. We approached Cattle Pass again and made a stop at Whale Rocks to view Stellar’s Sea Lions. As usual, there were many sea lions hanging out on the small island, and we enjoyed this final stop before continuing up San Juan Channel to Friday Harbor. Even with the bumpy conditions today, we still found lots of wildlife and had a great time on the water!