Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 29th, 2024 | 2:00 pm

Today was the perfect afternoon as Captain Vaun and I headed out on our last trip of the season together. We left Friday Harbor and began traveling north up San Juan Channel to follow up on some reports of whales near Sidney, BC. As we passed Spieden Island, we stopped to look at a few harbor seals hanging out on some small islands before continuing to the Haro Strait. Once we were nearing the Canadian Border, we suddenly saw the dorsal...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 21st, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Today’s Classic Whale Watch was another perfect September day on the water! We left Friday Harbor with reports of some whale activity to the east in Rosario Strait, so began our trip by heading in that direction. After traveling interisland and seeing great views of Shaw and Lopez Islands, we soon slowed down to approach the scene of some killer whales! As we approached, we could see there was a family of five Bigg’s Killer Whales...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 20th, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Nobody could have predicted the crazy trip ahead of us as we left Friday Harbor on our afternoon Classic Whale Watch! We had reports of some killer whales traveling interisland, so we began by heading around Turn Island and stopping to look at some harbor seals before continuing east. We traveled in between Shaw and Lopez Islands, and soon saw a group of boats ahead of us rounding into East Sound of Orcas Island. As we approached the...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 17th, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Our Classic Whale Watch felt like Fall as we left Friday Harbor in overcast and cooler weather, but that certainly didn’t deter us from having a great day on the water! We left the dock and headed north, following up on a report of some killer whales. We traveled up San Juan Channel, following the western side of Orcas Island heading towards Patos Island. After a look at Patos Lighthouse, we rounded the corner and saw a few other...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 13th, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Our afternoon trip left Friday Harbor in a bit of overcast weather, but still determined to find some whales in the region. The nearest reports we had as we were leaving were close to Victoria, BC so we began by heading south down San Juan Channel. We made a stop in Cattle Pass to look at a group of harbor seals hauled out on Goose Island as well as the many seabirds in the area. This was a great starting point to learn about our...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | September 12th, 2024 | 2:00 pm

Today’s Adventure Whale Watch was an amazing, whale filled afternoon through the San Juan Islands. We had heard reports of multiple groups of Bigg’s Killer Whales in the area before leaving the dock, so we left Friday Harbor already excited for what we could find. We began by traveling interisland to the east, looping around Blakely Island to find our first group of whales. We got a quick look at a group of about four Bigg’s traveling...

Maxx | M/V Kestrel | September 11th 2024 | 2:00pm

Killer whales in this region are not tagged and haven’t been since 2013 (except for the occasional use of non-piercing suction cup tagging devices that are deployed every now and again). The devices that are used are almost exclusively used for data collection: determining where whales travel, what depths they’re diving to, what depth within in the water collum they’re typically feeding, and so on. Therefore, we don’t use tagging data to find...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 10th, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Today’s afternoon trip was yet again another beautiful, whale filled day in the Salish Sea! We left Friday Harbor with some reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales far north in Canada, though we were unsure if we would be able to catch up with them if they continued moving north and out of our range. We traveled straight up San Juan Channel, crossed the border into Canada, and continued northwest in between Saturna and Pender Islands, getting...

Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 9th, 2024 | 12:30 pm

Today was a happy Monday aboard the M/V Sea Lion as we set out from Friday Harbor on our Classic Whale Watch. We had reports of a group of whales far in the north, so we headed in that direction up San Juan Channel to reach them. We traveled up the western side of Orcas Island, traveled a bit east, and then north between Sucia and Matia Islands. After a bit more travel north into the Strait of Georgia, we finally reached the scene of...

Maxx | M/V Kestrel | September 8th 2024 | 2:00pm

The T018s and T049s are the most frequent of flyers this summer, hands down. 

T019 “Nootkah” is a mother assumed to be born sometime before 1965. She travels with her sons, 29 year old T019B “Galiano” and T019C “Spouter,” born in 2001. 

They traveled with the T049As, led by mom “Nan” and accompanied by four of her youngest kids T049A3 “Nat,” A4 “Neptune,” A5 “Nebula,” and A6, little “Charlie II.”

The took long dives initially, surfacing in unison for...