Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | June 18th, 2026 | 12:30pm
This tour was able to leave the dock a few minutes early, and every minute counted because we immediately turned South and began travelling towards a report of whales down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. On our transit we still took a few moments to admire a perched Bald Eagle, Cattle Point Lighthouse on our right, and a large group of Steller Sea Lions on our left. Our crew knew the general area that these whales had been spotted earlier, but we still expected to be searching. Three of us were up at the helm scanning with binoculars when we suddenly saw a beautiful sight far up in the distance; the large dorsal fin of an adult male Bigg's Killer Whale! We kept eyes on them as we slowly approached, and were able to confirm that this family of three whales was the T100s. This family is led by mother and matriarch "Hutchins". She travels with her son "Laurel", and youngest offspring "Estrella". The ID's and details of these whales are as follows:
T100 "Hutchins" (F) b. 1979
T100C "Laurel" (M) b. 2002
T100F "Estrella" (?) b. 2014
As we were approaching, one of the whales performed a tail-slap, which was then followed by a spyhop from "Laurel"! A spyhop is when a Killer Whale slowly raises their entire face/head out of the water. It is personally my favorite behavior that we see from these whales! These behaviors can sometimes be a sign that a group of whales have successfully grabbed a meal not long ago, and that sure enough was the case today. As we got our first few looks at these whales, I noticed something pink floating at the surface near them. My initial thoughts were correct as we got closer, it was a fully intact pair of Harbor Porpoise lungs! Bigg's Killer Whales are absolutely surgical while sharing their prey. They pick and choose which parts they want to eat, and which parts they don't. When a group of whales take down a Harbor Porpoise, these lungs usually are not on their menu, so it is possible to see them floating like we did afterwards. This certainly is not common though, as I personally have only ever seen this a couple of times firsthand! This was such a cool part of this encounter. We then got some awesome looks at this family as they began to travel after finishing their meal. We were surprised by one more spyhop though, this time from "Hutchins"! The weather and conditions were nothing short of immaculate, leading us to some really special moments with this group. Captain Gabe even turned our engines off a few times so that we were able to hear the whales breathe, which I always love!
We eventually said goodbye to our T100 friends, and began our transit back to Friday Harbor. Along the way, we took a closer look at those Steller Sea Lions from earlier in the trip. Some were sleeping, and others were play-fighting in the water nearby. This huge pinniped species always amazes me! Shortly after that we docked back in Friday Harbor and wrapped up an awesome trip.
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/