Lauren Tschirhart | October 31st, 2026 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30 pm
The 2026 San Juan Safaris whale watching season is officially over. Today was our last public tour of the year, and it did not disappoint! The M/V Sea Lion departed Friday Harbor and headed north. We cruised through the Wasp Islands, eventually making our way into Spring Passage and up into Boundary Pass. Our first stop was to observe a feeding frenzy of birds near Waldron Island. These birds were feeding on a baitball of fish, and sometimes birds can be an indicator that there is a marine mammal below driving the fish to the surface. We scanned around for a bit, but there was no sign of any larger animals, so we continued further north. We passed White Rock and observed a bald eagle perched on the rockface. We eventually crossed the border and made our way into British Columbia. We cruised through Plumper Pass, aiming for an iconic narrow passageway called Georgeson Pass. Georgeson is extremely picturesque and our tours do not often lead us that far north, so it’s always a treat to pass through, even for the crew!
Next we made our way into the Strait of Georgia. We were greeted by incredible views of the Vancouver Skyline and the Canadian North Shore Mountains. We slowly cruised towards another Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) Vessel, who was on scene with a pair of humpback whales! These humpbacks were often surfacing in unison, and we were even lucky enough to see them bring their tail flukes out of the water at the same time! The bottom of their tail flukes are like fingerprints, it’s how we tell them apart from one another. After snapping some photos, and talking with the other boat on scene, we were able to identify both of the whales! These whales are known as BCX1416/ Phi and BCZ0338/ Geometry! What’s super rad is that both of these whales spend their winters in the breeding and calving grounds of Hawai’i and they were both first sighted in 2008! Based on the behavior we were observing, I'd like to think they are friends! Before departing, Captain Gabe made sure we got the “money shot” (which is when whales surface right under Mount Baker). We waved goodbye to these whales, wished them a Happy Halloween, and then headed for home.
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/