Kelly Klein | May 20th, 2026 | M/V Sea Lion | 12:30pm
The whales decided to be Canadian today, so that's the direction we pointed on the M/V Sea Lion! We made our way south down San Juan Channel and into Cattle Pass, stopping briefly at Goose Island for looks at both harbor seals and a lone female elephant seal! Elephant seals are an extremely rare sight here in the San Juan's, I've personally only spotted them a handful of times in my 5 seasons on the water. We hastily passed the lighthouse and entered the bigger body of water known as the Strait of Juan De Fuca, eventually slipping across the border and into Canadian water. Slowing our vessel as we approached Trial Island, a group of 4 orcas came into view, identified as the T59's, made up of:
T059 — female, born in 1970
- T059A1 — female, born in 2006
- T059A1A — born in 2023
T059A4 — born in 2017
This group contained three different generations, a great grandma, two of her grand kids and one great grand kid. We watched this family swim toward Discovery Island, zigging and zagging as if they were exploring the area for the first time, and perhaps they were! This is a completely new family for me! One of an increasing number of family groups that previously had not spent much time in the interisland sea. In fact, these whales are so rarely seen, they don't even have established nicknames yet. After making our way back across the Strait of Juan De Fuca, we had some quick looks at Steller sea lions before heading back to Friday Harbor