Olivia Esqueda | May 17th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30pm

Another wonderful Sunday in the Salish Sea! We started our trip by heading north through San Juan Channel, spotting Harbor Porpoise just south of Flattop Island. Curving west into Spieden Channel, we continued west aiming towards the north Haro Strait and eventually aimed south around Battleship Island. 

After passing even more Harbor Porpoise, we came across a male Humpback Whale ID’d as BCX1795 “Scuttle” foraging close to shore just south of...

Lauren Tschirhart | May 11th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30 pm

Today was my first day back to work after spending a winter in Hawai’i, and what a welcome back it was! I couldn’t have asked for a better start to my sixth season here with San Juan Safaris. Our tour started with a behind the scenes debate on which way to go. We already knew of two different groups of Bigg’s killer whales in the area, one north of Friday Harbor, and one south. It’s always incredible when there are options before we even...

Kelly Klein | May 13th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30pm 

We took a left outside Friday Harbor and pointed north in San Juan Channel. Almost instantaneously, we were treated to a bald eagle sitting high in the evergreens as we cruised toward the nearest whale report. A quick 15 minute transit and we were on scene with 6 orcas identified as the T49a's, consisting of:

• 049A/Nan — female, born in 1986
• T049A3/Nat — male, born in 2011
• T049A4/Neptune — male, born in 2014
• T049A5/Nebula — female, born in 2017
• T049A6...

Olivia Esqueda | May 10th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30pm 

This Sunday truly ended up being the most wonderful Mother’s Day Trip. The weather brightened up after a chilly week, and it was warm out there in San Juan Channel. And on top of that, we had Bigg’s Killer Whales found in San Juan Channel swimming towards Friday Harbor shortly before we left the dock. This meant we never had the chance to pick up speed before we came across them! 

The T049A’s have been hanging around a lot in the last few...

Olivia Esqueda | May 4th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 1:30pm

Setting off for our second trip of the day, we went north towards Spieden Channel where we looked at Stellers’ Sea Lions, Bald Eagles, and Mouflon Sheep. Shortly after, we rejoined with the T049A’s [Transient Orcas/ Bigg’s Killer Whales] that we had found earlier that morning. This time, they had recently hunted and were prey sharing beneath the water in Spieden Channel, not far from a Harbor Seal haul out. With bits of their food floating to...

Olivia Esqueda | May 4th, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 9:00am

This morning, we were the first vessel off the dock. It was warm, there were calm seas, and mountain views. With hot coffee in hand, this felt like a wonderful way to start the day in the Salish Sea. We set off north up San Juan Channel, curved through Spring Passage, and headed into President’s Channel because there were some rumors from an early morning water taxi of sightings north of Orcas Island and heading towards East Point on Saturna...

Abby | M/V Osprey | May 2nd, 2026 | 12:30pm

Summer feels like it is finally here! It was a beautiful day to be on the boat. We turned right out of Friday Harbor and started heading south in San Juan Channel. Our goal was to reach Whale Rocks which is off the shore of Cattle Point on San Juan Island. We weren't entirely sure where we wanted to go today, so we made the decision as we got closer to the report. Once we reached the south end of San Juan Island, we decided to turn right, heading...

Olivia Esqueda | May 3rd, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 12:30pm

Today was an extra special day because we were able to share our trip with the San Juan Island community. We set up a trip with Island Rec to get locals out on the water, and it is always such a joy! It was one of those trips where things seemed to “T” up perfectly- beautiful, warm weather, calm seas, sunny skies, crisp mountain views, and lots of wildlife right near home! 

Heading south, we came across multiple Bald Eagles right away in...

Kelly | M/V Osprey | April 27th, 2026 | 1:30pm 

It was a fruitful day for whale reports here the in the Salish Sea, with multiple sightings to investigate in our general radius! Not to mention it was naturalist Abby's birthday! We do believe in birthday luck here at San Juan Safaris... To start our journey we took a right outside Friday Harbor and made our way south in San Juan Channel. As we maneuvered into Cattle Pass, a humpback whale came into view! We watched this graceful giant come up for...

Olivia Esqueda | April 23rd, 2026 | M/V Osprey | 11:00am

What a fun midday trip to kick off the end of the year with the Friday Harbor Sophomore class! Taking a break from their state testing, we had them out on our vessel for a field trip right on their home turf. 

Traveling inter-island, we aimed for Eastsound (the middle of the horseshoe on Orcas Island) where we had an early morning report of the same whales we saw the day before all of way over by Victoria, B.C. On the way, we passed heaps of...