Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, June 14th, 2025 | 2:00 PM
During our afternoon trip on Kestrel, we got to cruise around the Canadian Gulf Islands and spend time with two different families of Bigg’s Killer Whales! We left Friday Harbor and headed north up San Juan Channel. Shortly after crossing the Canadian border, we stopped near Saturna Island to view a group of harbor seals resting on a small island. We then continued northwest to catch up with a group of whales that had been reported near the Strait of Georgia. We had a lot of water to cover, so we enjoyed a beautiful trek through the Gulf Islands and Active Pass until we reached the edge of Galiano Island and found a family of four Bigg’s Killer Whales. This turned out to be the T75Bs, a family that we have seen quite often over the past month! We were incredibly lucky to get some close views of this family as they surfaced close to our boat. We got to sit with the engine off and listen to their beautiful exhalations, and look at their unique markings. The family was slowly traveling northwest along Galiano, and after they swam past our bow we decided to slowly make our way out of the area. We had gotten a call on the radio that a different group of killer whales had been found a bit south of us, so we decided to go for a double matriline day and go search for this new family.
We traveled back through Active Pass, and soon enough caught up with another family of four Bigg’s Killer Whales. It was very exciting to see a full grown male in this group, and we got to help verify the identity of these individuals as we were one of the first boats on scene with them. After getting some looks at the dorsal fins, this family turned out to be the T73As. I had never seen this matriline before, so it was exciting to see some new dorsals and match them with our photo ID book. The four whales were spread out in the area, so we spent time with each set of two as they slowly traveled north. After a while, it was time to begin our journey back to San Juan Island, so we watched the whales surface a few more times in the distance before picking up speed and cruising all the way back into the US and eventually Friday Harbor.