Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Friday, July 24, 2026 | 12:30 pm
Our crew got M/V Osprey off the dock at Friday Harbor at 12:30pm this afternoon. After heading north up San Juan Channel, we waved hello to a small group of Harbor porpoise gracefully raising their chocolate-chip shaped dorsal fins above the surface of the water. Shortly after exiting President’s Channel, Captain Gabe announced that he spotted three black dorsal fins in the distance just west from Patos Island. Here are the IDs, names, genders, and birth years of the family we shared the beautiful afternoon with:
- T100/Hutchins — female, born around 1979
- T100C/Laurel — male, born in 2002
- T100F/Estrella — (?) born in 2014
We let these toothed whales continue on with their day past the Gulf Islands and turned south towards home. At White Rock, we observed a haulout of the most prominent item on the menu for those marine-mammal-eating killer whales we had just left: the Harbor seal!
Sunshine, minimal winds, and the largest species of dolphin on Earth. What a great Friday afternoon. However, I must confess that one of the highlights of the day for me was a Chimera (ratfish) swimming beneath a layer of glimmering schooling fish off our bow back at the dock.
Check out the photos we took onboard today! https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/
More information on the Pacific Whale Watch Association: https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/