Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, July 18, 2026 | 10:00 AM
Sometimes being one of the first boats out on the water provides you with the opportunity to be the boat to find whales out in the Salish Sea. Today was one of those days. M/V Kestrel departing Friday Harbor and headed north up San Juan Channel, stopping to float and scan for wildlife in several channels.
We were cruising at full speed around the northeast corner of Stuart Island, headed towards a wildlife hotspot in Canadian waters, when a passenger near the bow confidently pointed in the distance. Captain Vaun slowed the vessel, and sure enough, a big black sail emerged from the water just off Stuart Island. Woohoos and applause erupted. Based on the shapes of the dorsal fins and numbers of males and females, we were able to identify who we had discovered:
- 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
We enjoyed floating with this family as they milled about, when all of a sudden, a blow about twice as tall appeared on the opposite side of the boat….we were surrounded. Two whales of an entirely different family of cetacean joined us; two humpbacks known as “Divot” and Divot’s calf made their way around the northern side of Stuart. Divot is the daughter of one of the most iconic humpback whales in the Salish Sea, Big Mama!
Shoutout to our epic passenger Courtney from Salt Lake City who spotted those killer whales :) A true hero!
Want more information about the Pacific Whale Watch Association? See https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/
Want to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/