Levi Vandebunte | M/V Sea Lion | July 12th, 2026 | 5:30pm
This tour broke a personal record for me, which was the quickest transit to see whales all season. We quite literally left the dock, and within one minute saw Bigg's Killer Whales passing by Friday Harbor! The group was made up of two families, the T100s and T101s. Each family consists of three whales, a mother with two of her children. The T100s are led by mother/matriarch "Hutchins", and the T101s are led by mother/matriarch "Reef". While this cannot be fully confirmed, researchers actually believe that "Reef" may be the mother of "Hutchins", which would make this a huge family reunion! We spent some amazing quality time with these whales as they travelled down San Juan Channel. The two huge sons in the T101 family stayed a bit further from us cruising along the shores of Shaw and Lopez Island, and the other four whales present were over by us on the other side of the Channel. With the beautiful weather, water conditions, and lighting, each and every surfacing from these whales was nothing short of magical. We travelled down to the bottom of San Juan Island with these whales, saying goodbye just as they passed by Cattle Point Lighthouse and entered the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We then went over to a nearby island called Whale Rocks and got some awesome looks at some huge Steller Sea Lions resting on them. From there we cruised a bit further East and spotted a Bald Eagle perched in the trees of Lopez Island. We began moving North back towards home, and wrapped up the trip with a quick visit of an adorable Sea Otter! This little guy has been known to hangout in a kelp bed just off of Turn Island, and thankfully for us he was present this evening! We watched him snack on a sea urchin and do plenty of rolls and flips while resting in the kelp. It was an absolutely perfect ending to this beautiful tour.
The IDs and details of the six Bigg's Killer Whales that we saw are as follows:
T100 "Hutchins" (F) b. 1979
T100C "Laurel" (M) b. 2002
T100F "Estrella" (?) b. 2014
T101 "Reef" (F) b. 1969
T101A "Rush" (M) b. 1993
T101B "Lagoon" (M) b. 1997
We had so much fun getting to know this group of passengers and thank them for choosing to spend their evening 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/