Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | September 20th, 2026 | 12:30 pm
For our naturalist Aly’s last day of the season, we were lucky to find one of our favorite families of Bigg’s Killer Whales after traveling through some foggy areas of the San Juans. We departed Friday Harbor with some rumors of these whales in Rosario Strait, but there was some dense fog we had to get through, and more fog in Rosario that the whales could end up disappearing into.. We headed east, definitely feeling the spooky Fall vibes today. Looking out the windows, it was hard to tell where we were at times with all the fog! We made it to Peavine Pass with better visibility, and looking out into Rosario there were some windows of blue skies and even Mount Baker in the distance! The fog continued to clear, and right in this area we soon saw some dorsal fins.. It was the T123s! This is one of my favorite matrilines to see, and I hadn’t seen them myself since the start of the season. Matriarch T123 “Sidney” and her three kids were a bit spread out at first, but soon all 4 were together. T123A Stanley is always impressive to look at, and with Mount Baker behind them this was such an amazing sight! We watched them continue to meander southeast, wondering where they were heading to next. Eventually we had to start to turn back to the west, so we waved goodbye to this beautiful family and went back into search mode. We spotted some Stellar’s Sea Lions on a red channel marker nearby, so we stopped for some looks at these pinnipeds and then continued back towards Peavine Pass. There were some great seal haul outs nearby, so we looked at a second species of pinniped, and the number one food of Bigg’s Killer Whales, and then continued our travels to Friday Harbor. This was such a beautiful day on the water, and the perfect way to say farewell to Aly for the season!
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/