Levi Vandebunte | M/V Kestrel | July 5th, 2026 | 10:00am
We left the dock in search mode on this beautiful morning. We travelled North up San Juan Channel, and began by checking out Spieden Island which resides just above San Juan. This island has a wild history that resulted in multiple foreign species calling it home. We got some really cool looks at some Mouflon Sheep that were right at the water's edge! While this was happening, we also spotted a Bald Eagle perched in a tree above us. Just as Captain Brian and I were discussing where we should search for whales, another boat shared over the radio that they may have just seen a dorsal fin up against Flattop Island. Conveniently, we were only about half of a mile away from Flattop! We went over there and began scanning. It only took a few minutes for Captain Brian to spot three black dorsal fins rounding the corner of the island. It was the T100s! This family of three Bigg's Killer Whales has been absolutely loving the San Juan Islands this season, and have become especially fond of this specific area (Flattop + Waldron Islands). We watched this family fully circle Flattop one time. This shoreline is absolutely full of Harbor Seals, so there's no mystery why these whales favor this area. Eventually, we said goodbye to this awesome family and continued our searches. We still had plenty of time left in the tour, so we headed Northwest to explore some really cool areas of the region. We turned our engine off and let a tide carry us past a small island where a large group of Harbor Seals were resting. After this, we zoomed up to Turn Point Lighthouse. This is the most Northwest point in the entire continental United States. The water just off of the shoreline here is an astounding 600 feet deep, and there's an awesome cliff jutting out just above this. From there, we began moving South back towards San Juan Island. We decided to make a quick pit-stop just South of Henry Island and get some looks at a Humpback Whale that was travelling North. This was a fifteen year old humpback named "Anvil". She is a very unique humpback as she has migrated from both Hawaii AND Mexico in the past! This is quite uncommon to see. She also showed us a great look at her flukes right when we got there. After a few breath cycles viewing her, we departed and travelled around San Juan Island back to Friday Harbor.
The IDs and details of the four total whales that we saw are as follows:
T100 "Hutchins" (F) b. 1979
T100C "Laurel" (M) b. 2002
T100E "Estrella" (?) b. 2014
BCZ0410 "Anvil" (F) b. 2011
This was an awesome trip with beautiful weather, and we want to thank this group of passengers for choosing to spend their morning with us here at San Juan Safaris!!!
Wanting 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/