Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/19/2021 | 9:30am

    Captain Brian and I started our morning without a ton of direction. However, a loose report of a few orca heading towards the US border from Canada a few hours prior was enough to send us left through the San Juan Channel, northbound. And I am glad we did! 

    Almost as soon as we arrived at the Cactus Islands north of Spieden we received reports of Orca less than a mile away off John’s Island.

    We weren’t sure who we were looking...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | June 18, 2021 | 12:30pm

Today’s wildlife viewing was quite exceptional. We departed from Friday Harbor heading East on an inter-island excursion. We navigated the channels of the Salish Sea with Koma Kulshan (aka Mount Baker) off of our port and Tahoma (aka Mount Rainier) a mound in the distance at 150 miles away! 

Nearing the port of Anacortes, our captain Gabe spotted the exhales of distant orcas about ½ mile off shore. The killer whales were swimming in...

Maxx K. | M/V Osprey | 06/17/2021 | 5:30pm

After an insane early afternoon tour the crew onboard Osprey were ecstatic for a sunset tour. We had just left a group of 21 Killer whales on the west side of San Juan Island. They were heading north but also straddling the US/Canadian border so we had all of our fingers and toes crossed that they might stay within US waters and we could have a second opportunity to observe them. 

    Bigg’s killer whales typically keep to smaller group...

Abby | Kestrel | 6/17/2021

We zoomed north through San Juan Channel with whale reports looming on the west side of the island. Once we arrived just north of Lime Kiln State Park, there they were. 21 Bigg’s killer whales! Neither myself nor our captain Gabe have ever seen this many Bigg’s killer whales traveling as a group.

There was a lot of tail slapping activity on the surface of the water as they traveled. We were all very happy to see that they had stayed on the American side of...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | June 16, 2021 | 5:30pm

Sunset is my favorite time of day. We depated from the harbor and into the warm, golden sunlight reflecting on the calm waters in San Juan Channel. Guests spotted the shiny, chocolate chip-shaped dorsal fins of harbor porpoise gliding through the surface as we traveled northbound along San Juan Island and into Haro Strait. As we approached the Northern tip of Stuart Island, we recognized the distant dorsal fins of reported orcas! We...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/16/2021 | 2:00pm

    We had a full boat today as we set out of Friday Harbor, heading northbound gourds murmurings of orca on the west side of the island. Almost immediately as we turned left into the San Juan Channel we spotted a Bald Eagle, perched atop a tree on our left. From where we sat just above the water, the eagle seemed small though we know in reality that this was a massive bird. Mature bald eagles can reach over three feet tall when sanding...

Maxx K. | M/V Kestrel | 06/16/2021 | 2:00pm

Today was yet again, another prime example of how unpredictable and serendipitous a whale watch can be out here on the Salish sea. Kestrel left Friday harbor heading north. We weaved between Jones Island and veering right to pass between Orcas and Waldron following reports of a humpback just north of Sucia island. 

We stopped only once to observe a shoal of harbor porpoises as they slowly circumnavigated us. After a few moments we continued...

Haleigh | M/V Osprey | 06/08/2021 | 12:30pm

Today’s trip was spectacular! We departed North out of Friday Harbor through San Juan Channel. We traveled into President Channel where we spotted vessels gathered near the Canadian Border and Patos Island. The currents were flowing and rippling due to active upwelling - the process of nutrient-rich, cold water being pushed from the seafloor up towards the surface. The Salish Sea is full of phytoplankton and nutrients that support the...

Abby | Kestrel | 6/4/2021

We had a long journey northward through the Strait of Georgia, right next to the Canadian border. The sky was cloudy and orca vibes fluttered among the sparkling blue-green waters of the Salish Sea. When we arrived at the last known location of some unidentified Bigg’s killer whales, we saw three blows on our port side. One on the starboard. Holy orcamole (like guacamole, get it?), one at our 12 o’clock! We were smack dab in the middle of an orca soup. They...

Abby | Osprey | 6/3/2021

We sprinted out of Friday Harbor, southbound. Wind was as high as the hype since orcas were spotted just south of Lopez Island. I passed through guests, smiles gracefully scattered along the railings, awaiting black fins cutting through the water.

There they were. Our not-so-transient transients (AKA Bigg’s killer whales):

• Jan T134, Female, Born <1959
• Scott T132, Male, Born <1969
• Plus, three other unidentified Bigg’s killer whales in this group.

All five orcas were porpoising along through the five-foot swells as we clung to the railings in shock and awe. Squeals rang through the boat’s atmosphere and children laughed at the size of the swells, yelling, “it looks like we’re flying through the air!” Indeed, we were flying through endorphins as we watched Scott (T132) in all his massive glory, swimming like a missile through each wave, as if going through a glass portal upon every dive.

Orcas swam into the hearts of all on board today as we chatted about the beautiful views and the major ecological changes we are going through in the Salish Sea. We saw some tasty “rock sausages,” or harbor seals, a favorite snack of Scott, Jan, and the other three orcas. We arrived back into the harbor, forever changed.