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...

Maxx | M/V Sea Lion | September 6th 2024 | 12:30pm

Today’s whale watch was nothing short of spectacular: two families of Bigg’s Killer Whales were actively making their way down the San Juan Channel as we began our tour so we made our way up to them in no time. Both the T018s and T049As have taken a liking to the region lately and are without a doubt my most frequently spotted whales of the 2024 season.

From our understanding, these families are unrelated, yet they traveled in this moment as one...

Maxx | M/V Kestrel | September 5th 2024 | 2:00pm

September is without a doubt my favorite month to transit through the Salish sea; the lighting is perfect, town has mellowed out a bit, and certain frequent flier whales make their way back to the region for a visit. 

The T018s seem to love the shoulder season here. With a range anywhere from SE Alaska straight down to Northern California, Bigg’s killer whales could theoretically be seen all throughout the year in this region. However, they don’t...

Maxx | M/V Kestrel | August 31st 2024 | 2:00pm

Kestrel’s second tour of the day was incredible. The family of three Bigg’s Killer whales, the T018s, continued thy journey around Lopez and had now made their way up to Orcas islands eastern coastline. We found them by the Peapod islands and were almost immediately greeted with a spy hop (when a whale propels its face vertically out of the water) as birds buzzed around them. I only assume that this family was once again, feeding.

The T018s are...

Maxx | M/V Kestrel | August 31st 2024 | 10:00am

A loose rumor of whales ignited our tour today- s share based report as we left the harbor claimed a small family had been spotted over Salmon bank, south of San Juan Island. We have a heading. 

Kestrel flew south through the San Juan Channel, stopping only briefly at Goose Island to admire a small haul out of Harbor seals and of course all the incredible pelagic birds that call this tiny island home. Double Crested cormorants sunned themselves atop...

Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | August 09, 2021 | 2:00pm

For our afternoon adventure tour, we departed from Friday Harbor ready to find some wildlife and enjoy the beautiful day! We traveled inter island in pursuit of a reported group of killer whales traveling in Rosario strait. The calm, glassy waters reflected the puffy white clouds overhead, providing perfect conditions for sighting animals.

By the time we reached Rosario Strait, a reported group of Bigg’s Killer Whales was just...

On our Saturday trip we were delighted to finally see a couple members of the Southern Resident Community back around the San Juan Islands! Strangely, however, it was just K20, Spock, and her offspring, K38, Comet.K Pod members are rarely seen travelling for so long without the rest of their pod.

So, today when we yet again saw K20 & K38 travelling as a duo, people are left scratching their heads as to the whereabouts of the rest of K Pod. Luckily, though, seeing orcas is always...