Kelly | October 9th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm
The weather is most certainly turning here in Friday Harbor! There was a slight chill in the air as we departed on the M/V Osprey. We took a left into San Juan Channel and began our search for whales and other wildlife. As we made our way up the channel, we noticed those distinct stubby black dorsal fins began to spout from the water erratically. Of course, belonging to harbor porpoise AKA our squirrels of the sea. We made our first official stop at White Rock and enjoyed looks at these ever so lovable harbor seals scattered about the shoreline. We quickly went back into search mode, with no whale reports in the area were hyperfocus on spotting anything that might be a dorsal fin or exhale. Suddenly, a long black body and sickle shaped fin surfaced off the port side! A minke whale in a rather usual location near boundary pass. We watched this baleen whale surface in a circular motion, clearly feeding on bait fish in the area. On a couple surfaces we were even treated to a glimpse of that straw-like baleen as this whale lunged at the surface. Next, we made our way northwest, slipping momentarily over the border into Canada, only to look back into US territory as we curved around Turn Point Lighthouse. We soon heard word that another boat in our network had found a humpback, just a 10-minute cruise from our current location! We made our way slowly on scene and watched this young humpback move in a very “minke-like” fashion, circling around New Channel in search of bait balls. We ended our trip with a cruise down Speiden Island, so lush with fall shower growth. So many gorgeous looks at white spotted fallow deer grazing along the cliffsides, and large mouflon sheep rams galloping in herds. It was a truly beautiful fall day on the water!