Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | June 8th, 2026 | 1:00pm
This tour left Friday Harbor in some rainy conditions, but braving the elements certainly paid off for this group! We saw a plethora of wildlife throughout this trip, and the excitement began just minutes after leaving the harbor. After we began traveling East, we quickly spotted a Bald Eagle perched on the top of a small rocky island. Conveniently, there was a Humpback Whale surfacing nearby which made our next transit very short. "Gretzky" the nine year old Humpback gave us some beautiful looks at their flukes as they dove down beneath the surface. At one point, we were even able to turn our engine off and listen to this whale's powerful exhalations echo over the water. From there, we continued further up Rosario Strait in search of other species. We ended up stumbling across an extremely well-known and beloved family of Bigg's Killer Whales; the T123s! This family is made up of 41 year old "Sidney" and her three children. Her firstborn "Stanley" is absolutely massive and happens to be one of the biggest adult males in the entire Bigg's population! The ID’s and details of the five total whales that we saw are as follows:
BCX1800 "Gretzky" (?) b. 2017
T123 "Sidney" (F) b. 1985
T123A "Stanley" (M) b. 2000
T123C "Lucky" (F) b. 2012
T123D "Darcy" (F) b. 2018
The T123s were moving South down Rosario Strait, and the water conditions were quite calm which made for some amazing viewing. We had one especially awesome pass by these whales while our engine was turned off that left me speechless. After a good amount of time spent with this family, we departed and continued South in search of more wildlife. We almost immediately found a Steller Sea Lion resting on a buoy, as well as over a dozen Rhinoceros Auklets floating in the water nearby! These are one of my personal favorite species of bird that can be found in the Salish Sea, and our passengers had some great chances to check them out using binoculars as we floated by. After this, we rounded the South side of Lopez Island and admired the breathtaking views that this section of the San Juans features. As we approached Cattle Pass, we checked out Cattle Point Lighthouse, which resides at the southernmost point of San Juan Island. We also got some great looks at a larger group of those Steller Sea Lions on a small island called Whale Rocks. It truly is amazing how high they are able to climb onto those rock formations. From there we traveled up San Juan Channel, and were surprised with a Sea Otter resting in a nearby kelp bed. This species is not a common sight in this region, as they typically prefer to stay closer to the outer coasts of the Pacific Ocean. We watched this individual groom their fur, which happens to be the densest in the entire animal kingdom! From there, we docked back in Friday Harbor and said our goodbyes to cap off an absolutely incredible Adventure Tour!
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/