Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | June 29th, 2025 | 2:00 pm
San Juan Summer weather was finally back today and the sunny, warm, clear conditions provided the perfect backdrop for our amazing afternoon on the water. There has been lots of whale activity around the islands this week, and today was no exception. Before leaving the dock we knew there were a number of whale reports to the north, so we began heading that way. We spotted some harbor seals on a small island on our way up San Juan Channel, but while watching them along the shoreline we noticed some thrashing in the water up ahead. Upon further investigation, we discovered a sea lion eating a salmon in the water! We got a few looks at this fun surprise guest before the sea lion disappeared beneath the surface. We saw a few more harbor seals and a pair of bald eagles before continuing on.
Soon we neared East Point on Saturna Island, and were excited to find the famous humpback Big Mama and her 2025 calf! We got amazing looks at the pair as they slowly meandered around the area, and even got to see the baby show off some adorable fluking dives. Big Mama continued taking deeper dives with the baby following close by, and Mount Baker was the perfect background for our time admiring this duo. As they continued moving north, we decided to head back south to catch up with a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales reported near Patos Island. We quickly located these whales, and were excited to find it was one of my favorite families the T123s! I had not seen this family for a few weeks, so it was great to catch up with these familiar dorsals. The family of four was traveling quite fast towards some rougher water, and we noticed a number of harbor porpoises swimming in the current. The whales continued swimming quickly and became more erratic in the current, so we assumed they were on a porpoise hunt! They continued moving erratically, trending north, so we followed along to see what would happen next. We got fantastic looks at all of them as they swam parallel to us, especially T123A Stanley as he stands out so much from the rest. As they continued moving unpredictably, we soon decided to turn back south once again to begin our journey back to Friday Harbor. We enjoyed a beautiful cruise along Orcas Island on our way back, excited to enjoy the warm weather for the rest of the evening.