Lauren Tschirhart | September 7th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30 pm
Two of our favorite families were sighted close to the harbor today, so we couldn’t wait to get out on the water! The T049A’s were sighted just north of San Juan Channel in Boundary Pass, so we decided to follow up on that report first. As we made our way into Boundary, the T049A’s cruised right past White Rock, a known harbor seal haul out sight. We saw some splashing around and it seemed like they may have grabbed a seal, but we weren’t one hundred percent sure. After witnessing an amazing spy hop from one of the whales, they went down on a bit of a longer dive. We didn’t see them for several minutes when suddenly they surfaced off our bow. What we witnessed next was something most people only have the opportunity to see on National Geographic. Two of the whales surfaced right next to each other, carrying a carcass in their mouths. The carcass was just a pile of blood and guts at that point, but it was incredible to see the family members sharing their food. We witness predation events on our tours semi-frequently, but actually getting to see them with the prey physically in their mouths is quite rare. We couldn’t believe our eyes! We continued observing this family as they headed towards Spieden Channel. We made a quick stop to view some Steller Sea Lions foraging in the kelp bed at Green Point before getting one last look at the T049A’s as they swam further down the channel.
We departed these whales and headed back south in San Juan Channel, as we wanted to catch up with the T019’s who were cruising along the San Juan Island shoreline. We watched this family of three swim right towards the mouth of Friday Harbor! They ultimately just cruised past and decided to hug the north side of Brown Island, but it sure looked like they were going to go in. The T065B’s were sighted hunting a harbor seal just under the Friday Harbor ferry dock the night before. It would have been wild to have back to back whales in the harbor like that! Although, over the past few years, Bigg's Killer Whales have taken up a habit of swimming through Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor on busy holiday weekends! Silly whales. We thanked the T019’s for the bonus whale time and leading us home and then made our way back to the dock!
Want to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/
More information about the Pacific Whale Watch Association: https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/