Aly Liu | M/V Osprey | Wednesday, August 26, 2026 | 12:30 pm
Today was “Notcho” average afternoon. Let’s talk about why!
M/V Osprey departed from Friday Harbor and headed north through San Juan Channel and around Henry Island into Haro Strait. Suddenly, Captain Gabe slowed the vessel to 7 knots, as we were within a half nautical mile of a 15 foot blow that he spotted in the distance. It is always fun being the first to arrive on scene with a whale, as this gives us the opportunity to put our identification skills into practice.
While treated to some great looks at this whale’s fluke before it descended on a deep dive, we were ready to take a clear photo using a telephoto lens. Each individual humpback has a unique coloration on the underside of that tail, allowing us to match our photo with a photo-ID data base. We were hanging out with “Notcho” (BCX1700), a humpback first spotted in British Columbia in 2017, unknown gender, and seen in Hawaii breeding grounds three times!
Just as we were preparing to depart, all eyes were on a floating pale-pink blob. After discovering that it was a deceased harbor seal, we immediately contacted the Marine Mammal Response Program based out of the Whale Museum in Friday Harbor.
To Report a stranded marine mammal in San Juan County, Washington call the hotline: 1 (800) 562-8832 or email: hotline@whalemuseum.org
Once that seal was properly documented and reported, we headed back north into Spieden Channel, where we saw all three species remaining on Spieden Island after its “Safari Island” days back in the late 60s. Mouflon sheep are the most abundant of the three non-native species that were imported here, so it was awesome to see both the sika deer and fallow deer as well! And of course, as we are home to the largest breeding population of bald eagles in the lower 48, we saw a handful of bald eagles perched upon the tops of the trees. Thanks everyone for coming out with us!
Check out the photos from today at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/
More information on the Pacific Whale Watch Association: https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/