Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | June 22nd, 2026 | 1:30 pm
The Salish Sea has been full of so many whales in beautiful conditions, I cannot get enough of these dreamy days on the water. Today was another exciting trip, as we found a famous family of Bigg’s Killer Whales that I had not seen before!
We left Friday Harbor and immediately found a bald eagle on the shoreline. This was an excellent start getting to see this beautiful animal sit nearby. We continued north, traveling through the Wasp Islands and Spring Passage until turning up into President’s Channel. We saw some distant harbor seals and a few harbor porpoise as we transited towards the outer islands. Once we were north enough, we could finally see Mt. Baker and to the east which looked extra stunning in the sunshine. As we got closer towards Patos, we slowed down because we had found our group of Bigg’s Killer Whales! This group of 5 was the T02Cs, descendents of the famous T02 matriline which was captured in Pedder Bay in 1970. T02 and one of her relatives escaped the net pen after 7 months and had three calves over the following years, one of them being T02C “Tasu”, the matriarch we saw today! This history is important to understand and talk about, since this capture era greatly affected certain Bigg’s families and our endangered Southern Residents. It was amazing to see one of these families thriving now, that is only here because their mom/grandma escaped over 50 years ago. Another famous whale in this matriline was T02C2 Tumbo, the male known for having scoliosis that was last seen in 2020. I love that we know so much about these orca families over the years and get to share these tidbits with our passengers to really appreciate these whales on an individual level.
We watched this family travel south for quite some time. They led us back into President’s Channel, slowly making their way to the Orcas Island shoreline. The youngest member, T02C6 Yukon born in 2025, was especially cute as each time they surfaced we could so much of the little face! It was also a great comparison with the extra large T02C1 Rocky, the 24 year old oldest son. They may have been hunting for a snack as they changed directions a few times and intersected, eventually slowing down circling in one spot for a few minutes. Among all this whale time, we noticed we were in the midst of tons of jellyfish, known as a smack of jellies! This only distracted us briefly from the whales, until we enjoyed our last looks at them with our engines shut off to hear their exhalations at the surface. I really enjoyed this encounter, especially due to their family history. We continued our way south, spotting many more harbor porpoise along the way and stopping at White Rock to see harbor seals and another bald eagle. Feeling extra lucky today that we get to share our waters with so many beautiful animals.. Can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings!
Want 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/