Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | July 8, 2026 | 12:30 pm
Just moments after leaving the dock at Friday Harbor, a 15-foot blow was seen in the helm off of Canoe Island. Then, a tail fluke descended beneath the Salish Sea. Not only is this fluke beautiful, but it also allows us to match the unique coloration pattern to our photo-identification system; hello humpback whale “Kiarra Kelly” (BCX2473)! This baleen whale is relatively young (first seen in 2022) and is named “Kiarra Kelly” (BCX2473), traveling around 6,000 miles every year between Hawaii and Alaska/British Columbia. Kiarra Kelly fluked on his/her first breath at the surface every time when we first arrived on scene, spoiling us with many looks at the ocean water rolling off the caudal fin like a waterfall. The humpback swam through a shallow channel between Canoe and Shaw Islands, which is only 4 feet at low tide, so we met him/her on the other side to get some incredible last looks.
Before we knew it, it was time to continue our journey up and around Shaw to the west through Cayou Channel. We found multiple haul-out sights of Harbor seals, AKA rock sausages, soaking up the sun and giving their bodies and organs much-needed rest on the rocky reefs. Next, we cruised north across President’s Channel, finding Harbor porpoise and multiple pairs of bald eagles along the way!
We concluded our tour by circumnavigating Spieden Island, home to three non-native hoofed animals, and found many Mouflon sheep originally from the island of Corsica off the coast of France.
Kiarra Kelly really started off the tour with a bang, a tough act to follow! We hope everyone enjoyed the magic of the San Juans, and hope to see you again.
Want more information about the Pacific Whale Watch Association? See https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/
Want to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/