Levi Vandebunte | M/V Osprey | August 9th, 2026 | 12:30pm
We left the dock with reports of several families of Bigg's Killer Whales moving South towards the San Juan Islands. We pointed North out of Friday Harbor and began our transit to hopefully see them. We made one stop on the way up to admire White Rock which on this day featured tons of Harbor Seals, Cormorants, and Glaucous-Winged Gulls. We then continued North and wrapped around the East Point of Saturna Island. After making the turn we were welcomed by the sight of several black dorsal fins! Earlier in the day these whales had been in two separate groups of five, but then joined together to form one large group of ten whales just before we got there! Seeing a group of ten Bigg's is quite rare, so days like this are always special. The group was made up of the T36 family, which includes four generations of whales! This is quite uncommon to see but is a reminder of how strong the relationships are between these families of whales. Also present were the T100s, which is a family of three that has been absolutely loving the San Juan Islands this summer. This group also included T137A "Jack", who is a 24 year old adult male that has been travelling separately from his family the past few weeks. I assume he will eventually reunite with the rest of the T137s, but for now he is busy being a social butterfly and hanging out with several other families of whales! We watched these ten whales move closely along the coast of Saturna Island, then veer off and begin moving Southeast. The weather and water conditions were absolutely beautiful. It was so calm that it felt like we were on a lake! T100C "Laurel" and T137A "Jack" were enjoying some guy-time and lagging behind the rest of the group a bit. The group was led by what appeared to be most of the T36s, including their one and two year old calves. We spent some amazing time with these whales then eventually departed and began moving back South towards home. Once we returned to the dock we recapped an epic day with so many Killer Whales!
The IDs and details of the ten Killer Whales that we saw are as follows:
Bigg's Killer Whales (10):
T36 "Flapjack" (F) b. <1970
T36B "Tattertip" (F) b. 1998
T36B1 "Bhotia" (F) b. 2009
T36B1A "Maple" (F) b. 2025
T36B2 "Greenfelder" (F) b. 2013
T36B4 "Auk" (?) b. 2024
T100 "Hutchins" (F) b. 1979
T100C "Laurel" (M) b. 2002
T100F "Estrella" (M) b. 2014
T137A "Jack" (M) b. 2002
This group of passengers was full excitment and amazing questions. We thank them for choosing to spend their day 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/