Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | June 5th, 2026 | 2:00 pm
Always trust your gut and follow your intuition, especially when it comes to predicting where whales will be in the Salish Sea (and choosing to come out on an adventure tour with San Juan Safaris).
After departing the dock at Friday Harbor, we made our way down south through San Juan Channel and into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, when two massive splashes off our starboard caught our eyes…it was Split Fin and Strike, two humpback whales! “Split Fin” (BCX0298, Male), and “Strike” (BCX1675, Female) started our tour off with a bang!! We decided to test our luck at finding some more whales and continued our journey south.
The windy transit to Admiralty Inlet was quickly made worthwhile when a passenger spotted a sleek black dorsal fin that turned into eight dorsal fins…it was the T065As and T64Bs (Bigg’s killer whales)! There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of trusting your instincts and finding whales where no other boats were already on scene. The T065A matriline includes: T065A/Artemis — female, born in 1986, T065A2/Ooxjaa — male, born in 2004, T065A3/Amir(a) — male, born in 2007, T065A4/Ellifrit — female, born in 2011, T065A5/Elsie/Indy — male, born in 2014, T065A6/Callisto — female, born in 2018. This family was accompanied by 2 members of the T064Bs.
The day didn’t even end here! On the way back home, we got a few more glances at Split Fin and Strike, the same humpbacks we began our trip with. A humpback whale sandwich of an afternoon! Steller sea lions at Whale Rocks roared their goodbyes to us before we made our way back into Friday Harbor.
Thanks to everyone who helped us find those whales today and for choosing San Juan Safaris!
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/