Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | June 2nd, 2026 | 12:30pm
This tour was immediately welcomed with some beautiful weather as we departed from Friday Harbor. We turned right and headed south, and traveled down San Juan Channel and passed by Cattle Point Lighthouse which is located at the southernmost point of San Juan Island. At about the same time, we checked out a group of Steller’s Sea Lions located on a small island called Whale Rocks. There were some absolutely massive males in this group! After some good looks at the largest sea lion species in the world, we continued south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After searching for a bit, we encountered two humpback whales! The pair was surfacing together and showing off their impressive flukes each time they dove! The ID’s and details of the two humpback whales that we saw are as follows:
BCZ0298 “Split Fin” (Male) First sighted in 2006
BCX1675 “Strike” (Female) First sighted in 2015
After several great surfacings from these two, we were about to depart when suddenly they decided to simultaneously breach! Everybody who was looking in front of the boat was treated to the rare spectacle of two massive whales almost completely out of the water! After the pair breached together, each whale did a couple of more on their own. Then they began throwing their flukes in the air for several minutes, as well as slapping them down onto the water together. This all happened with Mt Baker perfectly placed in the background, which made for an absolutely beautiful sight! These types of behaviors are very rarely seen here in the Pacific Northwest. They are much more commonly seen down in Hawaii and Mexico where these whales are known to breed and give birth, but these two individuals must have felt like showing off today! After enjoying these awesome views for several minutes, the whales dove back down beneath the surface. We then left the scene and traveled back north to Friday Harbor. What an amazing day spent on the water in the Salish Sea!
We had such a great time with this group of passengers and thank them for choosing to spend their afternoon with us here at San Juan Safaris!!!
Wanting 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/