Olivia Ellman | M/V Osprey | July 22nd, 2025 | 12:30 PM
We didn’t have to travel very far today to find multiple species of whales! Our trip began by heading interisland between Shaw and Lopez Islands, and we quickly caught up with a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales! This familiar family was easy to identify as the T65Bs, and we got great looks at T65B Chunk’s distinct dorsal and her three kids. I am always amazed at how large her 14 year old son Birdsall is; as a sprouting male, he definitely still has some growing to do so I can’t wait to see how large he gets in the next few years. This is one of my favorite families to watch since it gives a great example of a matriline and the different sizes of each individual. We had fantastic looks at these whales as they swam west across the channel, in between Shaw and Orcas. They continued moving west, and eventually we had to begin leaving the scene to search for other wildlife.
We continued our afternoon heading south in San Juan Channel, hoping to find baleen whales in Salmon Bank. As we drove through Cattle Pass, we saw many different types of sea birds and stopped by Goose Island to view some harbor seals. Once we made it past Cattle Point, we made our way towards the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Salmon Bank. There was lots of bird activity, and the glassy waters made it the perfect spotting conditions for Minke whales. As we scanned around the bait balls, we suddenly saw the distinct dorsal fin of one of these elusive baleen whales. While Minkes are known for being quite elusive (hence the name Slinky Minke), we were excited to see that there were two different minke whales in the area and got some great looks as they surfaced. Soon it was time to leave these whales behind and begin traveling back towards Friday Harbor. We had time to stop by Whale Rocks to see some Stellar’s Sea Lions, and then had some bonus harbor porpoise along our way back up San Juan Channel. What another amazing, wildlife-filled afternoon!