Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Sunday, August 2, 2026 | 2:00 pm
Every day, every trip, and even every hour is different out there on the water, as our Captain Gabe loves to say. This morning M/V Ketrel went south down San Juan Channel, but this afternoon, we cruised the opposite direction after reports of two entirely different families of Bigg’s killer whales. Just north of President’s Channel, the massive dorsal fins of T037A2/Inky (male, born in 2009) and his mother T037A/Volker (female, born in 1994) appeared in the distance. Then, we heard on the VHF that one of Captain Vaun and I’s favorite families, the T075Bs, were spotted just around the corner, so we told Voler and Inky that we would be back and joined the T075Bs off the south side of Sucia Island. We turned the engines off and marveled at the family of four, as they all surfaced and took a big breath synchronously, lined up in a perfect row with Patos Island in the background.
- T075B / Pebbles — female, born in 1994
- T075B2/Jasper/Fifi — female, born in 2015
- T075B3/Rubble/Kasnikyu — male, born in 2017
- T075B4/Petra — female, born in 2021
At Sentinel Rock, we were spoiled with Harbor seals, black oystercatchers, and even three harlequin ducks. On Spieden Island, we had a rare sighting of a handful of fallow deer decorated in beautiful antlers and white spots. More common sightings we had here were the mouflon sheep, and of course, countless bald eagles.
Check out the photos from today at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/
More information on the Pacific Whale Watch Association: https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/