Lauren | M/V Osprey | Friday, July 11th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Today was one of those rare days where we were on scene with whales within the first 10 minutes of our tour! During our whale watch and wildlife tours, if we can get there and back within four hours, and the seas are cooperating, we will go anywhere in the Salish Sea. We have seen whales in every inch of this ecosystem, we are almost never viewing whales in the same place day after day. Every whale encounter is unique, you truly never know...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Thursday, July 10th, 2025 | 12:30 PM 

Today we had a bittersweet encounter with T075/Kidney and 3 other members of her family. T075/Kidney is usually seen traveling as a duo with her 34 year-old son T075A/Stone, but today she was also traveling with her daughter T075C/Bam-Bam and her grandcalf T075C3/Flint. Earlier this month, T075C/Bam-Bam was seen traveling for the first time without her newest calf in tow T075C4/Slate. Slate was born in 2023, and it would be extremely...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Tuesday, July 8th, 2025 | 2:00 PM 

Today was my first day back to work after a five day Fourth of July vacation, and what a brilliant welcome back it was! Our Adventure Whale Watch & Wildlife tour had an incredible encounter with the Bigg’s Killer Whale family the T046B’s. The M/V Kestrel departed Friday Harbor and headed north into San Juan Channel. We made our way into President‘s Channel, between Orcas and Waldron, making a pit stop at Parker Reef to view some harbor...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, June 28th, 2025 | 2:00 pm

Today we were spoiled for choice. Before even leaving the dock we knew of at least four different groups of Bigg’s Killer Whales within our range. They were spread out, each group in a different waterway, but all at an achievable distance. We don’t often have such an abundance of choices, it was hard to choose where to go. Well not too hard… Our first stop was an obvious choice, as the T123’s were found right outside of Friday Harbor in...

Logan | June 26th, 2025 | M/V Kestrel | 2:00pm

Despite clouds and rain, our adventure was not dampened. After gearing up in suits and onboarding the M/V Kestrel, our party found quite a few Harbor Porpoise on our first jaunt Southward. Then we ventured further—encountering Harbor Seals hauled out on Goose Island on our merry way. Reaching Whale Rocks, we spotted some large and elegant Steller’s Sea lions on top of the exposed-out crop. Despite wanting to spend forever looking at these beautiful...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Thursday, June 26th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Our first stop today on our Classic Whale Watch and Wildlife tour was to Goose Island, to observe a slew of harbor seals and several different bird species. Today we had an insanely low tide, -3.1 to be exact. We have a massive tidal flux here in the San Juans, at times up to 13 feet! This means that at different times of day there is actually a different amount of islands that make up the Archipelago. At low tide, there are 743 island...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Monday, June 23rd, 2025 | 2:00 PM

The Bigg’s Killer Whale matriline the T049A’s is a group of 7 whales in total, but seeing all 7 traveling together is a rarity. The two eldest boys tend to travel solo, or with other relatives or non-related whales. This family includes:

• T049A/Nan — (F) 1986
  • T049A1/Noah — (M) 2001
  • T049A2/Jude — (M) 2007
  • T049A3/Nat — (M) 2011
  • T049A4/Neptune — (M) 2014
  • T049A5/Nebula — (F) 2017
  • T049A6/Charlie II — (M)  2022

Today was a very special day, because we were...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Saturday, June 21st, 2025 | 2:00 PM

The Coastal Bigg’s population is estimated to have around 380 to 400 individuals. Of these individuals, we see about 150 of them pretty frequently in the inter-islands of the Salish Sea. The rest of the population spends most of their time in southeast Alaska or on the west coast of Vancouver Island. As time goes on, some families change up their habits and will start frequenting different regions. My first season working with San Juan...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | Friday, June 20th, 2025 | 2:00 PM

Our Friday Adventure Whale Watch and Wildlife tour was about as exciting as they come. Captain Eric and I were jazzed when we got word that the T065B’s and the T075B’s were found not far from the Friday Harbor dock. These two young families have been swimming around the Salish Sea together the past several days. 

The M/V Kestrel headed north and made our first stop at Sentinel Rock in Spieden Channel. Sentinel Rock is one of our favorite...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | Thursday, June 19th, 2025 | 12:30 PM

Although Bigg’s Killer Whales usually just travel in their individual matrilines (mom and immediate offspring). We will occasionally see multiple groups gathering together for mating and socialization. These groupings can last a few hours, a few days, and sometimes even a few weeks. For the last several days, the T065B’s and the T075B’s have been seen traveling together. These two moms, who are both in their early 30’s have been traveling...