Welcome to the Whale Report Blog

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 06/04//2022 2:00pm

The weathermen lied to us…it was scheduled to be pouring rain during our tour but as we gathered our guests and headed out to sea, the sun was shining brightly.

Heading north through the San Juan Channel and around the northern point of San Juan Island, we stopped by a little island filled with harbor seals! The “rock sausages” flopped around and played in the water. Shortly after, we made it to the Haro Straight where we found a humpback...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 6.3.2022 | 2:00 PM

Grey skies and wet exposure suits were in our future today as M/V Kestrel left the dock for our Adventure Whale Watch & Wildlife Tour. Despite the rain, I was in fantastic spirits after captain Eric told me where we were going… One of my favorite Bigg’s killer whale families, the T065A’s were spotted in the Strait of Juan de Fuca! This curious bunch is always a delight to observe. This family of six was reported to be traveling alongside...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | June 2nd, 2022 | 2:00pm
Today marked the first truly “warm” day on San Juan Island for the year 2022! Not ideal for standing around in our extra warm exposure suits… but delightful once we picked up speed and started cruising in our high-speed vessel.
First stop on this tour was a humpback just south of Saturna Island. The unmistakable 15–20-foot blow in the distance indicated the cetacean’s exact location. Guests were delighted to watch this impressive animal...

Maxx K. | M/V Osprey | 06/01/2022 | 12:30pm

    Humpback whales are just the coolest. Here in the Salish Sea we have a “Humpback Highway” of sorts; these massive 45 tonne animals will travel in through the Juan De Fuca and will often then take a hard left up and through the Haro Strait, through Boundary Pass and often again up and around towards the north. What truly blows my mind the most is that these animals will make this trek year after year, taking the same specific turns...

Lauren | M/V Kestrel | 6.1.2022 | 10:00 AM

Captain Eric and I were off the dock at 10:00 am today with our boat only half full… A post Memorial Day lull if you will? With an entire boat to themselves, our eight passengers still packed into the front of M/V Kestrel. The front of our zodiac proves to be the bumpiest spot during the ride. It seemed we had true adventures seekers on our hands, and we were excited to show them around the Salish Sea!

Our first stop was at Flattop Island to...

Kelly | M/V Kestrel | 5/30/22 | 2:00pm |
It was overcast and a bit foggy as we suited up in our exposure suits and prepared for our Adventure tour on the M/V Kestrel! This exciting tour operates on our smallest and fastest vessel in the fleet, a zodiac style ridged inflatable that allows us to zip around the islands and maximize our chance of wildlife sightings during this 3–4-hour excursion.
As we slowly puttered out of Friday Harbor, almost instantly we were greeted by a perched...

Lauren | M/V Sea Lion | 5.29.2022 | 5:30 PM

It is finally sunset season here at San Juan Safaris and I couldn’t be more excited! Sunset trips are my absolute favorite... Nothing beats watching whales with a setting sky as your backdrop. Memorial Day weekend went out with a bang with a visit from a frequent Bigg’s Killer Whale family, the T075B’s!

As we left Friday Harbor on M/V Sea Lion, we weren’t sure what our 5:30 pm trip was going to bring. The whale reports from earlier in the...

Jordan | M/V Kestrel | 05/29/2022 2:00pm

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! Today was such a special day out in the Salish Sea.

Captain Eric and I greeted out guests and headed out of Friday Harbor towards the north. We cruised past Orcas Island and Waldron Island then across into Canadian waters.

As we saw the city of Vancouver in the distance, we spotted the Orca whales! Swimming speedily through the deep green waters, 9 Transient (Bigg’s) orca whales seemed to be headed towards Saturna...

Haleigh | M/V Sea Lion | May 29, 2022 | 12:30 pm

The island has been filling up with visitors as Memorial Day rings in the start of the summer season! Our classic whale watch was no disappointment for those coming to view some of the stand-out species found in our waters. 

Early reports had us off the dock headed straight towards the outer islands (Patos, Sucia, Matia, Clark and Barne). With gusts of winds up to 12 knots, our vessel trudged through wavy waters spraying the port...

Haleigh | M/V Kestrel | May 28, 2022 | 2:00 pm

One of our mantras for each of our tours is that every day is different, and every hour is different, meaning you can find wildlife anywhere and at any time. For today’s tour, this held up to be true given we had multiple families of Bigg’s Killer Whales traveling through San Juan Channel. 

The first was a family of four, the T123’s. The matriarch, Sidney, was followed along by her three offspring, T123A Stanley, T123C Lucky, and...