Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | August 21st, 2026 | 2:00pm
This tour began with several different whale reports scattered around the San Juan Islands. We chose to point Northwest and head towards Waldron Island. The water was incredibly calm, and a bit of fog was moving in which made it feel like a very "pacific northwest" kind of whale watch. We arrived to the top of Waldron and slowly approached a group of five Bigg's Killer Whales. It was the T36As, and it was my first time seeing this family so far this season! They are led by their mother and matriarch "Leland", who was joined by three of her offspring, and one grandchild! "Leland" is a 36 year old grandmother, which is certainly on the younger side for these whales! We watched the whales peacefully move North. I suspect that they were resting at this time, and were zig-zagging quite a bit. Their surfacings were slow, making it very easy to see the details of each dorsal fin as they came up for breaths. Eventually, we said goodbye as they moved North past Eastpoint on Saturna Island. We were only halfway through out trip, and there were more whales to see! We moved just a few miles Southwest to the North side of Stuart Island. Here, we encountered another family of Bigg's Killer Whales. This time it was the T49As, one of my favorite families! This group of six is led by their mother/matriarch "Nan", who is known for being an outstanding mother. She was with her five youngest offspring. These whales also seemed quite restful when we arrived, and seemed to be zig-zagging a bit as well. But anyone who has viewed wild Killer Whales before knows that behaviors can change in a matter of seconds, and that's exactly what happened next. Just a few minutes after arriving to these whales, a guest asked me if these Bigg's ever hunt birds on the surface of the water. I responded by saying that it has been seen before, but is not very common and that I had actually never personally seen it before. No more than five minutes after this conversation happened, we watched this family swim over to two Common Murres resting on the surface of the water and kill them both! I could not believe my eyes. Then, the surface behaviors just wouldn't stop. We watched several spyhops, tail flukes in the air, rolling, and splashing at the surface. The whales stopped and began milling in one area as they were feeding on/playing with the dead birds. Then, they suddenly decided to begin moving again. They swam past our stern and gave us some AMAZING looks. The highlight of which was T49A4 "Neptune" slightly raising his head higher than usual while grabbing a breath and showing off the dead bird still in his mouth. We could not believe our eyes! This was a once in a lifetime kind of encounter, and one that I personally will never forget. After than incredible finale, we began moving South back down San Juan Channel. We returned to Friday Harbor and recapped the craziness that we had just witnessed. What an awesome day!
The IDs and details of the 11 Killer Whales that we saw are as follows:
Bigg's Killer Whales (11):
T36A "Leland" (F) b. 1990
T36A2 "Kailas" (F) b. 2012
T36A2A "Rogue" (?) b. 2025
T36A3 "Storm" (M) b. 2015
T36A5 "Squall" (M) b. 2021
T49A "Nan" (F) b. 1986
T49A3 "Nat" (M) b. 2011
T49A4 "Neptune" (M) b. 2014
T49A5 "Nebula" (F) b. 2017
T49A6 "Charlie ll" (M) b. 2022
T49A7 "Nimbus" (?) b. 2026
This group of passengers was amazing and I enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them. We thank them for joining us out on the water!
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/