Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Elle | M/V Osprey | July 18, 2022 |12:30PM

Today we followed reports of Bigg's killer whales up into Canada. We departed Friday Harbor and sped up to Saturna Island, hoping to find them before they left the area. Luckily, these whales got caught up with a hunt between Saturna Island, North Pender Island, and Mayne Island. When we arrived onto the scene, we saw two five-foot-tall black fins. This indicated to us that we were looking at two teenage male orca whales. They have been...

MV Osprey

Helena

7/17/2022

I can’t think of a better Sunday afternoon spent than on MV Osprey here in the Salish Sea! Our adventure began east through Upright Channel, the breeze was light and the sun was poking through the puffy white clouds -- perfect conditions for a day on the water. 

We stopped first to observe some Harbor Seals hauled out on a rocky reef in Lopez Sound. It is pupping season for these pinnipeds so we also had the pleasure of getting looks at some adorable pups...

MV Sea Lion

Helena 

7/16/22

What another great day on MV Sea Lion! We departed the dock at Roche Harbor and traveled south into Speiden Channel. Our first encounter of the tour was with some Harbor Seals hauled out on Center Reef in Speiden Channel. We have nearly 40,000 harbor seals in the Salish Sea and these pinnipeds eat small schooling fish and can dive up to 1,000 feet! They are also the primary food source for the marine mammal-eating ecotype of killer whales, the Bigg’s...

Elle | M/V Osprey | July 16, 2022 |12:30PM

We set out on a cool, cloudy day from Friday Harbor in search of wildlife. We headed down south past Cattle Point on San Juan Island and pulled up to Whale Rocks, off the western tip of Lopez Island. Here we saw a haul out of harbor seals as well as Steller's sea lions. While harbor seals are here year-round, sea lions migrate out of the Salish Sea. It's pretty rare to see them here this late in the summer so we were grateful for the chance...

Elle | M/V Kestrel | July 15, 2022 | 2:00pm

We saw all sorts of wildlife on today’s adventure tour. We followed the interisland ferry route from Friday Harbor between Shaw Island and Lopez Island towards Orcas Island through Upright Channel and Harney Channel. This is where we came across two fifteen-year-old male Orca whales, T65A3 and T49A2 who have been perusing the Salish Sea together for the last few days. The boys even “mugged” our boat when they swam directly underneath us...

We didn’t have to go too far to see amazing wildlife today! We started out of Friday Harbor heading North through San Juan Channel, making our way through Spring Pass in between Jones Island and Orcas Island. We got really great views of a bald eagle resting in an exposed dead tree surrounded by beautiful red Madrona’s. We continued North to search around a known harbor seal haul out spot, hoping to find the top predators that eat them (hint hint). The seals were nestled low on the...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | 6/14/2022 |12:30PM

Captain Erick and I left the dock with a smaller group today. It’s always refreshing to have a boat with only a few folks, as it gives you the perfect opportunity to better connect with your guests. With only 8 passengers aboard, M/V Sea Lion cruised out of Friday Harbor for a quick San Juan Channel crossing right into Upright Channel. We hugged the coast of Lopez Island before puttering around Ram Island into Lopez pass. While in Lopez...

Elle | M/V Osprey | July 14, 2022 |12:30PM

Today our passengers soaked up the sun as we followed the ferry route throuh the San Juan Islands towards a report of some orca whales. We passed between islands and admired the contstruction work of a pair of bald eagles as we passed by a nest on Lopez Island. We were accompanied by plenty of harbor porpoises as we passed between Shaw Island and Lopez. Eventually, we entered the Rosario Strait where we came accross two fifteen-year-old male...

Lauren | M/V Osprey | 6/13/2022 |12:30PM

M/V Osprey left the dock with sunny skies this Wednesday afternoon. We took a right out of Friday Harbor and headed south towards Cattle Pass. We slowed to view a bald eagle and some harbor seals before cruising over to Whale Rocks to see some Steller’s Sea Lions. After leaving the sea lions, we decided to follow up on a report of a humpback whale in Haro Strait. And just like that we went from “Hump Day” to “Humpback Day!”

Born in 2006,...

Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | July 10, 2022 | 10:00am & 2:00pm

10:00am

As we departed from Friday Harbor on today’s adventure tour, we reviewed the many possibilities of wildlife we could spot and some of the tips and tricks in identifying each individual. We memorized the 15-20 foot spout of a Humpback Whale, the bobbing head of a Harbor Seal, and the piercing black dorsal fin of a Killer Whale, all with the hopes of actually spotting one of these animals. 

We traveled northwest...