Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | June 23rd, 2026 | 12:30pm
This tour went North out of Friday Harbor towards a report of Killer Whales. We were even able to leave the dock a few minutes early which is always a nice start to a trip. After a beautiful transit through San Juan and President's Channels, we approached the T100 family at the very bottom of the Strait of Georgia. This family has been absolutely loving the San Juans this season, and they are quickly becoming one of our favorite matrilines! This family is led by mother/matriarch "Hutchins". She travels with two of her four living offspring, adult male "Laurel" and the younger "Estrella". Everybody screamed with excitement as Laurel's massive six-foot tall dorsal fin cut through the surface of the water for the first time. We watched these whales as they passed by beautiful Mount Baker, then by the impressive Vancouver skyline. We then viewed them pass very closely to a buoy that several Steller Sea Lions were resting on. The sea lions wisely chose to stay out of the water during these few minutes. The ID's and details of the three whales that we saw are as follows:
T100 "Hutchins" (F) b. 1979
T100C "Laurel" (M) b. 2002
T100F "Estrella" (?) b. 2014
After some awesome quality time spent with this family, we eventually departed. We quickly passed by that buoy holding those Steller Sea Lions to get a better look at them. These are amazing creatures that we always enjoy viewing here in the San Juans. On the way home we passed by a few Harbor Porpoises. These cetaceans are extremely quick and shy, so a few lucky passengers were excited that they got to see them for a brief moment! After this, we returned back to Friday Harbor and docked the M/V Osprey before saying goodbye to this great group of guests!
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/