Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | June 6th, 2025 | 12:30 PM
Today was another beautiful day on the water for our afternoon Classic Whale Watch. We left Friday Harbor and began traveling east between Lopez and Shaw Islands in search of wildlife. We had some reports of killer whales further east, so we cruised interisland, through Peavine Pass and towards Lummi Island. As we got into Rosario Strait, we got to see a cool marine layer of fog over the water, but luckily this didn’t impede our visibility. We got to see a few Stellar’s Sea Lions resting on a buoy, along with cormorants and other birds on the surface of the water. Eventually, we got closer to Lummi and saw a few boats in the distance that were with a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales. Through photo ID, we knew that this was one of our favorite matrilines the T123s! This family of four was slowly traveling south along Lummi and towards Bellingham Bay. While we were watching them, we saw a couple of small splashes at the surface and got a surprise spyhop from one of the younger siblings! After that, the group began taking some longer dives and continued their travels into Bellingham Bay so it was time for us to begin making our way back towards Friday Harbor. We waved goodbye to our whales and enjoyed a beautiful cruise back to San Juan Island to end the perfect Friday afternoon in the Salish Sea.