Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | October 25th, 2026 | 12:30 pm
Today was full of surprises as we searched around the Salish Sea for all sorts of wildlife. By the time we were leaving the dock, there were no reports in our area yet so we joined the search heading north. Outside the harbor we spotted a Stellar Sea Lion swimming along the shoreline, which turned out to be an excellent omen for the rest of our day! We explored up San Juan Channel and along some of the Wasp Islands, before turning more towards New Channel when Captain Gabe spotted a large exhalation in the distance.. We found a Humpback Whale! This individual was taking short and shallow dives, so we waited patiently to see if we could get a good fluke ID photo. Our whale gave us a beautiful fluking dive in New Channel, signaling a deeper dive and showing us a black and white tail. Using our photo ID book, we identified this to be a whale named Aerie, BCY0983! Aerie was first sighted in BC waters in 2016, and has been seen around the Salish Sea many times since as well as in Hawaii this past winter. While unconfirmed if male or female, linking Aerie to a breeding ground is an exciting addition to our data. Happy Whale is a great resource for using photo ID to keep track of where these migratory animals go and any changes over time. We watched Aerie meander through New Channel, continuing west. Eventually we departed Aerie, to explore a bit of Haro Strait and then into Spieden Channel. We continued to see Aerie surfacing in the distance, and made our way towards Sentinel Rock where two bald eagles were sitting side by side, along with a harbor seal. Once we turned to the Spieden shoreline, we found more eagles, a few harbor seals, Moufflon Sheep, Fallow Deer, and a few Sika Deer towards the eastern side. There were so many rams out pursuing females, I had never seen this behavior on the hillside before. We neared Green Point and found numerous Stellar’s Sea Lions swimming in the water; what a successful Spieden wildlife search!
We began to point south to San Juan Channel, beginning our travel back towards Friday Harbor, but suddenly Captain Gabe turned northeast… We had a shore report of possible Bigg’s Killer Whales near the Orcas Island shoreline up President’s Channel! Since we weren’t far away, we hoped to find this report and get some looks at this other species of whale. We made our way to the area, and lucky for us we found a family of 3 Bigg’s Killer Whales! Being the first boat on scene, we had another opportunity for photo ID this family, and they were actually some I am quite familiar with. The new orange-hued baby alongside a female with a very distinct dorsal fin and another younger whale meant that we had found the T36A1s! This new baby was born within the last month, and I had last seen this family a few weeks ago with some other relatives. The mom, T36A1 “Tierna”, has such a distinct dorsal and was obvious as the only adult in the trio. She travels with her 2022 calf “Drift” and now her new baby, so I can’t wait to see if they continue to travel as a trio or meet up with other relatives again. We stayed as long as we could before having to turn back south, enjoying views of this cute family traveling. Every day we never know where our day will take us, but this trip was full of surprises the whole way. Even in the windy weather, we had such a beautiful day with so many species out on the water.
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/