Kelly | M/V Kestrel | August 22nd, 2026 | 2pm
We left Friday Harbor and followed along the ferry route across the channel and into the heart of the San Juan’s. Taking a hard left we made our way into Eastsound and pointed steady north. Whales were reported deep into the sound, almost all the way to the town of Eastsound itself. We soon spotted a large dorsal fin in the distance! This was a pair of whales from the T37A’s identified as:
- T037A/Volker — female, born in 1994
- T037A2/Inky — male, born in 2009
We watched this mother and son make a U-turn at east sounds dead end, eventually pointing south in the narrow sound. Eastsound is a particularly scenic place to watch wildlife, you are surrounded by but steep lush forests on each side. After great looks at this killer duo, we made our way for Turn Rocks. This rocky kelpy area has been hosting an adorable sea otter for over a month now. Today was no exception, we watched this adorable furry animal float on its back, occasionally twisting and turning. For the finale, we turned down into San Juan Channel, catching incredible looks at a killer whale family known as the T109A’s made up of:
- T109A/Frio/Runaway — female, born in 1990
- T109A4/Garrett— male, born in 2012
- T109A5/Argyle — born in 2014
- T109A6/Riley — female, born in 2018
- T109A7/Wieland — male, born in 2021
- T109A8/Weiss — born in 2025
That’s mom and her 5 children! We were treated to gorgeous looks at this family at this surfaced glinting in the sunlight just off San Juan Island eastern shoreline.