Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | June 4th, 2026 | 12:30 pm
Most of our passengers take the ferry from Anacortes to visit us in Friday Harbor, but it’s not every day that our search for whales takes us to Anacortes instead! We departed Friday Harbor and headed east, following up on some killer whale reports in that direction. We scanned this interisland route, admiring the shorelines and getting to see many of the small channels that wind together in our beautiful Salish Sea. As we crossed Rosario, we got a bit splashy as the winds and waves picked up.. But we soon neared the shoreline of the mainland and the water settled a bit. Once we passed the Anacortes ferry dock, we soon saw some black dorsals heading up the coast. A family of Bigg’s Killer Whales was traveling here, and it was a matriline I know pretty well! The T99s are one of the families I know on sight, mainly due to T99B Holly’s distinctive dorsal fin. I searched all the dorsals during each surfacing, and sure enough she was right in the mix with her mother and siblings. While we were getting on scene, we saw a harbor seal pop up near our boat! Perhaps a lucky escape from the large predators swimming nearby?
The whales seemed to be in travel mode, with T99C Barakat traveling further offshore than the rest at first. However, they soon all grouped up and we got to see some bursts of activity as they circled and splashed at the surface for a few moments. Once the activity settled down, they began spreading out again as they continued moving north. We got some last looks before departing, and heading back into the waves of Rosario. Some harbor porpoise escorted us through the last bit across San Juan Channel, and we returned to the harbor after another successful day finding whales.