Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Saturday, September, 14 2026 | 1:30 pm
Fall is so close you can taste it, especially this afternoon. The air is chillier, the sky grayer, town quieter. However, the magic of the Salish Sea persists, and the killer whales certainly don’t mind the cold.
M/V Osprey departed the dock at Friday Harbor at 1:30pm today, and within minutes we were at our first wildlife stop! Not only was my favorite seabird perched upon the kelp forest by Turn Rock, but the marine mammal with the densest fur in the entire animal kingdom was floating atop an underwater world of bull kelp. After cruising south down San Juan Channel, we oooed and ahhhed at the 2400 pound Steller sea lions napping atop Whale Rocks, and got a very special hello from a curious male who showed off his not so pretty teeth. Next, we headed east and wrapped around the south side of lopez towards a report of marine mammal-eating Bigg’s killer whales. With Deception pass in the distance, Captain Gabe announced that he spotted some blows…in fact, six of them!! It was a matriline known as the T60s, with a fifth mystery whale, who we believe was the matriarch Panthera’s niece/nephew.
- T060/Panthera — female, estimated to be born in 1980
- T060C/Yelnats — male, born in 2001
- T060F/Tigris — female, born in 2012
- T060G/Uncia — female, born in 2019
- T059A4 — born in 2017 (?)
- **unconfirmed ID; Panthera is this individual’s aunts, and the rest of her group are its cousins!
This group of five was primarily spread out in two groups of two on our port side, with the larger male having an independent side-quest on our starboard.
We hope everyone onboard left with a new whale fun fact and memory out here in the San Juans!
Check out the photos from today at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/
More information on the Pacific Whale Watch Association: https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/