Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, May 24, 2025 | 2:00 PM
Our Adventure began with a cruise out of Friday Harbor, heading north in San Juan Channel. Our first stop was to White Rock to observe a slew of harbor seals. Harbor seals make up around 70% of the Coastal Bigg’s (or Transient) Killer Whales diet. These seals are extremely abundant in the Salish Sea, which is one reason why our Bigg’s Killer Whale sightings have been increasing over the past several years! Harbor seals are not only extremely important to the food chain… They are also extremely cute. We left White Rock and crossed Boundary Pass, heading towards Saturna Island. We were following up on a report of a Humpback whale mom and calf pair. This pair was none other than Big Mama and her 2025 calf. Big Mama is a legendary North Pacific Humpback whale who comes to the Salish Sea annually. Big Mama spends her winters in the breeding and calving grounds of Maui. This spring, she returned to the Salish Sea with her eighth known calf! We got great looks at this duo as they traveled down the Saturna shoreline. We got word that another species of whale was found not far from us, so we waved goodbye to mama and baby and headed east. We made our way into Rosario Strait and started seeing exhalations in the distance. We were about to be on scene with 4 Bigg’s Killer Whales, known as the T123’s. We were greeted by gorgeous views of these whales surfacing right in front of Mount Baker. A picture-perfect moment. The T123’s are just as legendary as Big Mama in this region. They are one of the Bigg’s Killer Whale matrilines that we encounter the most! We watched as these four whales zigged and zagged north towards the city of Vancouver. It is always a treat to see two different species of whale in the same trip. We couldn’t have asked for a better day on the water.