Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | May 29th, 2026 | 2:00pm
This trip truly put the word “adventure” in our Adventure Tour! We took the M/V Kestrel up San Juan Channel and headed West while wrapping around the top of San Juan Island. Our first stop was to view a group of Bald Eagles and Turkey Vultures feeding on a Steller’s Sea Lion carcass located on Speiden Island. This is not a common sight, and the Bald Eagles were especially active throughout this! We then crossed Haro Strait in rather windy conditions and were rewarded with some amazing looks at eight Bigg’s Killer Whales! Members of the T65As and T64Bs were making their way South through some large waves. The towering, nearly six-foot tall dorsal fins of brothers T65A2 “Ooxjaa” and T65A3 “Amir” were especially impressive. Seeing a fan-favorite family (T65As) and a rarely seen family (T64Bs) together is truly the best of both worlds! The ID’s and details of the eight whales that we saw are as follows:
T64Bs (3):
T64B “Amabilidad” (F) b. 2002
T64B1 “Peaches (F) b. 2013
T64B1A (Unnamed) b. 2024
T65As (5):
T65A “Artemis” (F) b. 1986
T65A2 “Ooxjaa” (M) b. 2004
T65A3 “Amir” (M) b. 2007
T65A4 “Ellifrit” (F) b. 2011
T65A6 “Callisto” (F) b. 2018
After some awesome time spent with these whales, we departed and headed back East across Haro Strait. We wrapped around the top of Speiden this time to check out the beautiful green North side of the island. We then stopped at White Rock which is a popular haul-out spot for Harbor Seals, and saw several laying out on the rocks taking in the sunlight! There was also a Bald Eagle perched on the highest point of these rocks. After leaving our pinniped friends, we went south down San Juan Channel and passed just by Friday Harbor to check out a nearby kelp bed that has lately been home to a Sea Otter. Sadly, the otter was not present today, but we still got some great views of neighboring islands while searching.
We had such a great time with this group and thank them for choosing to spend their afternoon out on the water with us here at San Juan Safaris!!!