Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | July 3rd, 2026 | 10:00 am
Captain Brian and I had an amazing adventure filled day on our Kestrel tours… So many whales to see in the Salish Sea! For our morning trip, we were part of the first group of boats out so we joined the search for whales as we left the dock. There had been a few whale rumors in the region, including some killer whales seen from the early morning ferry that some of our passengers were on before our trip! No one had found those whales again in the hours since the sighting, so we headed in that direction to search interisland. On our way, a different group of whales was picked up by some other vessels in Rosario Strait so we zoomed in that direction while continuing to scan all around. We stopped to view some harbor seals after exiting Peavine Pass, and then found about 5 bald eagles and some vultures on the shoreline of Blakely Island. We eventually caught up to the report; a group of 6 Bigg’s Killer Whales that had been identified as members of the T46Bs! They were slowly cruising west in Rosario, and it was wonderful to see the many young whales in this family. I especially love seeing this matriline based on their rich family history… The matriarch, T46 Wake, was a whale that was captured in 1976 and then released, which is now the reason we see so many of this extended T46 matriline in our waters. We watched this family for some time before continuing on to search for any other whales and wildlife in the area.
Soon we began to slow our speed once again as we neared the shoreline of Lopez and Decatur; there was a grey whale! After seeing killer whales, this was quite the contrast as grey whales lack a dorsal fin and are typically by themselves. We got some incredible looks at this individual moving slowly at the surface and taking short dives in the shallow (40 ft) water. Getting to hear this animal’s exhalation was so powerful and humbling.. What a beautiful encounter! After a few breath cycles, we once again began to depart scene to continue our travels. Not too far away there was a humpback whale report, so we went there to bring our whale species up to 3 for this trip; my first whale trifecta trip of the season! This whale ended up being a familiar fluke to me, an individual known as Gretzky. We made our slow approach on scene when we spotted exhalations and a fluking dive from over a mile away, and once we were within 200 yards we just shut off our engines to wait. After some time, we suddenly got a huge surprise as we heard this whale exhale before we saw him! I hadn’t had a jumpscare like this in quite some time, but seeing this whale at a closer distance really made us appreciate the massive size of this species. Gretzky continued traveling away from us, taking a few more fluking dives before we moved on. We continued the rest of the way around Lopez Island, taking San Juan Channel back up to Friday Harbor. This was such a memorable morning trip!
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/