Lauren Tschirhart | May 23rd, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm
I cannot begin to express how excited I was leaving the dock today. It felt like a Memorial Weekend Miracle! All six members of the T065A’s were spotted traveling together in Rosario Strait. The T065A's were my first ever favorite family. They were around quite a bit the summer of 2021, my first year living on San Juan, and they totally stole my heart. Back then, it wasn’t as rare to see the entire family group together. All the boys in the family, especially T065A5/ Indy, who dispersed at a particularly young age, have been known to spend time apart from their mom and sisters.. But in the last several years, seeing T065A3/ Amir or T065A5/ Indy with the family has been kinda like spotting a unicorn. It just doesn’t happen, and if it does… you best believe that sighting report is being questioned and examined by industry professionals multiple times over. Amir and Indy have even been given the nickname The Lost Boys.
We began our tour by exiting Friday Harbor, crossing San Juan Channel and making our way into Upright. We cruised our way between Shaw and Lopez, getting beautiful views of Mount Baker along the way. We eventually made our way into Obstruction Pass and then into Rosario Strait. We got a quick look at some hauled out harbor seals before continuing towards Cypress Island. Cypress is one of my favorite islands in the San Juans because of the picturesque landmark known as Eagle Cliff. As we made our way closer to Cypress, we started to see some dorsal fins in the distance. Not only were we greeted by the T065A matriline, but there were also members of the T064B’s traveling with them. The T064B’s are made up of:
- T064B/Amabilidad — female, born in 2002
- T064B1/Peaches — female, born in 2013
- T064B1A — born in 2024
- T064B2/Pelosi — born in 2019
- T064B1/Peaches — female, born in 2013
T064B2/ Pelosi was not traveling with the group. What was exciting was seeing three generations of whales traveling together! The new 2024 calf was stealing the hearts of our passengers on board. I was over the moon to see Ooxjaa, Amir and Indy all surface next to one another in the back of the group. All three of their distinct and iconic dorsal fins shot up in close proximity to one another. I was over the moon to witness these brothers bonding. I was feeling especially lucky because after leaving scene and making our way back towards Friday Harbor, we got word that both Amir and Indy had split off and left the family. This reunion may have been brief, but it was beautiful nonetheless, and I feel immensely grateful that we got to witness it.
Want to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/