Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | June 20th, 2026 |10:00 am and 2:00 pm
Our morning adventure tours are always my favorite, as we get to be part of the first group of boats searching for whales. We departed Friday Harbor with some rumors of killer whales in the Canadian Gulf Islands, so we began by heading north to check it out. We cruised up San Juan Channel, made our way west into Spieden Channel, and stopped at Sentinel to see some harbor seals. Looking out across the Haro, there was some fog obscuring the view of some of the more distant Canadian islands and a bit of wind… but we continued on into the waves to keep searching. While our transit north from here was a bit splashy, we had so much fun in the sea spray! Once we made it around Pender, the conditions eased a bit and we continued into Jorgensen pass to make it to the Strait of Georgia. Another boat had picked up the report not too far from here, so we zoomed east along the north side of Saturna. It was such beautiful conditions up here, especially compared to the wind we encountered earlier, and this made it much easier to spot the black dorsal fins ahead of us! A group of Bigg’s Killer Whales were in the area, and as we got closer we saw that there were two different families spread out. One family had been identified as the T123s (one of my favorites!), and there were another 3 to 4 still unidentified. As we got on scene, the unknown group was making their way towards the T123s, and soon they were all grouped up together. While they changed directions a few times, they soon began to have a little party together! Lots of surface activity ensued – breaches, tail slaps, half spy hops… so many little whales hanging out together! The other group ended up being the T46B1s and T46C, and the young whales (including a 2025 baby) were definitely the stars of the show. We followed along this social group as they moved towards East Point, and eventually we departed when they made some more direction changes. We made our way back to Friday Harbor, excited about all the fun memories we made with the whales. And Captain Vaun and I were excited to get back out on the water for our afternoon trip!
For our 2pm tour, Captain Vaun had a multi-chapter wildlife plan. Since we had already been out with some whales, we were confident we could find them again. But as we always say, every hour is different on the water and there were already lots of changes! Chapter 1: We departed the harbor and went north, making our way towards Waldron Island. Here we found a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales; the T100s had been found hanging around the area once again! We’ve seen this family quite a bit near Waldron in the last weeks, and today they were the most excited I had seen as we saw some splashing and little breaches right as we got on scene! It appeared to be 12 year old Estrella splashing around as mom and big brother traveled close by. We enjoyed some great looks at this trio as they meandered towards Waldron, and once they slowed on their surface activity we wondered what they were up to. Eventually, we departed the scene and made for White Rock (Chapter 2) to see some harbor seals and sea birds. From here, we traveled south back into San Juan Channel, scanning for other wildlife… and once again found the T123s! These whales had traveled about 30 miles since we saw them this morning, and at some point the 46B1s had left them as it was just the family of 4 together now. They were making their way south along San Juan Island, and right before Friday Harbor they moved offshore and passed us mid channel. We got to hear their exhalations, the most magical sound in the world. We followed along a bit longer as they continued south, and it was interesting when T123A Stanley split off from the other 3 for a bit. It’s hard to say what these whales were up to as they remained split for some time, and continued south in San Juan Channel. We departed from here and made our way back to the harbor, ending our perfect three chapter wildlife trip. Not every day lets us plan multiple wildlife stops, so this was an extra exciting adventure day on the water!
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/