What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm Saturday 9am - 5pm Sunday 9am - 5pm

Western Prince Whale Watching, Friday Harbor, WA (2025)

05/25/2025

May, 5, 2025 - We rarely get such glassy, calm waters like today! We headed north towards a report of some Bigg’s Killer Whales. We started off the encounter with a family known as the T100Bs. There is a young calf in this family that is less than a year old, and we got some adorable looks as the baby popped up next to mom T100B “Freya”. A short distance away was another family of whales known as the T124As. This group has several youngsters as well. Suddenly, the whales started chasing after a harbor porpoise! The hunt didn’t last long, with one of the whales doing a sudden lunge and ramming the porpoise out of the water! The T100Bs rushed in, and then the two families spent some time eating together! We had an incredible backdrop of Pt. Disney on Waldron Island, as the whales were surfacing together!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/killer-whales-hunting-a-harbor-porpoise/

Photographer and Naturalist: Bethany Shimasaki – Instagram .with.Bethany – Website: www.bethshim.com

05/24/2025

May 2, 2025 -Our trip started with a stop at White Rock to check out the harbor seals basking in the sunshine. We headed up into Boundary Pass, spotting several harbor seals as we continued to cruise and search for wildlife. Suddenly, we got a call that a large group of whales had been found north of us in the Strait of Georgia! It turned out to be a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales. We were delighted to identify the iconic dorsal fins of T63 “Chainsaw” and his mother T65 “Whidbey”. They were also traveling with Whidbey’s youngest daughter T65B “Chunk” and grandchildren, a well as another mother T101 “Reef” and her adult son T101B “Lagoon”. We had a beautiful view of the large group of whales that were all surfacing together!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/chainsaw-and-company/

Photographer and Naturalist: Bethany Shimasaki – Instagram .with.Bethany – Website: www.bethshim.com

04/30/2025

April 13, 2025 - 11AM

We headed out to an early report of some whales in Bellingham Bay! It’s not often we have whales in that area. We were able to spot members of the Bigg’s Killer Whale family known as the T137s. This family is made up of mom T137 “Loon” and her three offspring. She was traveling with her daughter T137B “Tempest” while her eldest child, an adult male T137A “Jack” was quite a distance away. While we were watching the killer whales, we suddenly spotted a heart-shaped blow! It was a gray whale! We had some lovely looks at a wonderful gray whale as it fed in the bay. We love a two-whale species day!

Photographer and Naturalist: Bethany Shimasaki – Instagram .with.Bethany – Website: www.bethshim.com

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/springtime-gray-whale-and-killer-whales/

04/29/2025

April 12, 2025 - 11AM

Today truly felt like the perfect spring morning. We started the trip with some incredible looks at the blooming wildflowers on Spieden Island. We spotted a bald eagle along the shoreline and some Mouflon Sheep Rams walking amongst the flowers. We then headed across the border to Canada where we spotted a group of killer whales! It turned out to be the T124As, a family made up of T124A “Kittiwake” and her offspring, including her adult daughter and her grandchildren. They were traveling with a very special visitor to the Salish Sea, T87 “Harbeson”. This male was estimated to have been born in 1962! That makes him 66 years old this year! Male killer whales live for an average of 30-40 years so “Harbeson” has lived to an incredible age!

Photographer and Naturalist: Bethany Shimasaki – Instagram .with.Bethany – Website: www.bethshim.com

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/springtime-whales-and-wildlife/

10/31/2024

September 19, 2024 - We started our wildlife viewing at Spieden Island with a nice stop to check out a few Steller Sea Lions that were hanging out together in the water near Green Point. Next it was off to Canada to see some Orcas! We spent a lovely bit of time with brothers, Onca - T60D a 20 year old male and his younger brother T60E - Lynx who is now 16. These 2 dispersed from their mom and family a couple years ago and are steady traveling partners. They were slowly cruising along just north of the Discovery Islands. The fog had been lingering later than usual that day so we were so happy to find these two had changed course and headed into a sunny area. They are both sporting nice big tall fins that will still get bigger as they reach their maturity in their early 20’s. Lynx is the one with the 2 nicks in his fin and was alway sure to show us his beautiful white eye patch on each surfacing. Eventually it came time to leave. Captain JB had been tracking a new report of a Humpback Whale that was spotted nearer to Friday Harbor so off we went. We found the Humpback that had been identified as BCY1157. We stayed as long as we could and finally got a beautiful fluke up dive with Spieden Island as the back drop. A beautiful ending to another great day on the water.

Check out the Whale Report blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/fall-humpbacks-and-killer-whales/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: – Website: www.alisonengle.com

10/30/2024

September 12, 2024 PM - It was a perfect afternoon for a trip out on the Western Explorer II. We left the dock and headed east. We lucked out when just 15 minutes from the dock we had a group of 10 Bigg’s Killer Whales. They were just entering Cayou channel between Shaw and Orcas Islands. We had a group of 8 close together and at first were traveling close to the Orcas shoreline. In this group we had members of 3 different matrilines. The T37A’s lead my the mother who is named Volker and is now 30 years old. She was traveling with 2 of her 4 living offspring. Both are males, Inky who is 15 and Crinkle who is now 11. We also had the T100’s lead my the 45 year old mother who is named Hutchins, she was traveling with 3 of her 4 living offspring. Her adult son, Laurel who is now 22, her second daughter Tharaya who is 15 and her youngest, Estrella, who is 10. We also had T101, Reef, she is estimated to be 55 years old. Her two surviving adult son’s, Rush (31) and Lagoon (33) were off ahead of the group. We did not really see them till the end of our trip when they came by and one of them gave us several big Pec Slaps! Oh boy do these adult males have big pecs! We left them at the south end of West Sound and headed out to see what else we could find. Captain Ivan took us through the beautiful Cactus Islands where we saw some Bald Eagles, a few Harbor Seals and a variety of birds. Next we headed for the South side of Spieden Island were we found some exotic game animals including several of the Mouflon big horned sheep. How can you not love a day like this on the water in the San Juan Islands! Thanks for all of the great questions everyone!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/pec-slapping-orcas/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: – Website: www.alisonengle.com

10/29/2024

September 12, 2024 AM - We left the dock and headed south knowing we might have a bit of fog, but there was a report of 6-8 Orcas down there so off we went. After a great stop with the always active Steller Sea Lions on Whale Rocks we headed east into the fog. Luckily it cleared after about 5 minutes and before we knew it we were with not 6 or 8 Bigg’s Killer Whales but 13! We had a great encounter as they traveled in a tight group along the beautiful backdrop of south Lopez. The group was made up of members from 4 different matrilines and included one mature male, T137A - Jack and one approximately 6 month old calf T36B4! The whales we had were T36(1), T36B’s(4), T124A1(1), T124D’s(3) and the T137’s (4)! But wait there was another group a few miles away! Captain Ivan figured that we had time for a short visit with them before taking a scenic route home. In this group there were members of 3 matrilines for a total of 11 whales! We heard they had started to split up but right when we got on scene they came back together and started breaching and tail slapping! Wow, talk about good timing! It was just a quick flurry of activity from members of the T37A’s and the T100’s. It was fun to see Crinkle catch some air. The T101’s were also in the vicinity, but a bit farther away so we did not get a look at them. But, hey it was an amazing trip with loads of beautiful Orcas and more activity than I had seen in a long time!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/socializing-killer-whales/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: – Website: www.alisonengle.com

10/28/2024

September 5, 2024 PM - It was fun to take off in a completely different direction and to a different group of whales for the afternoon trip. The ones from the morning had moved out of our range but this meant we could go and check out the T19’s. We headed east and went through the middle of the San Juan Islands and then out into Rosario Strait. We did a quick search for other animals then headed for the Orcas. We started our encounter with the T19 matriline right at the tip of Point Lawrence on Orcas Island. We were excited as they rounded the corner and started cruising along the dark beautiful cliffs with their blows being lit by the afternoon sun. It was stunning. The T19’s (Bigg’s Killer Whales) family is made up of the 59 year old mother, Nootka, and her 2 sons, the infamous Galiano who is now 29 and easily identified by his dorsal fin which leans to the left. Both he and his 23 year old brother Spouter and massively big males. They typically have their ~69 year old grandmother with them, Esperanza. She has recently begun to split off from the family on her own for a change and was not present for our encounter. After our beautiful encounter we headed to Spieden Island where we found Harbor Seals, a Bald Eagle and two of the 3 types of exotic game animals that were imported in the late 60’s/early 70’s. The Mouflon - big horned sheep and European Fallow Deer! From there we headed for home!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/killer-whales-in-the-inter-islands/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: – Website: www.alisonengle.com

10/27/2024

September 5, 2024 Am - It was a classically beautiful day in the Salish Sea and we were ready for an adventure. We had a couple of options of where to go and Captain JB decided to head south. Our first stop was to see the Steller Sea Lions hauled out at Whale Rocks. The tide was starting to run and several juvenile Steller’s jumped into the surf and started leaping about. It was so fun for us to watch, but the other Steller’s on the rocks seemed unimpressed and went on with their naps. Next we headed out into the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca SW, we were on our way to Canada. After a 30 minute run we encountered members of two family groups from the Bigg’s Killer Whale population. We had the 3 members of the T37A’s. Those present were Volker the 30 year old mother and 2 of her 5 kiddos, 15 year old Inky, a sprouting male with a big nick in his fin, and 9 year old Crinkle. Crinkle has bent over dorsal with a nick at the tip. We also had 5 of the 7 members of the T49A's Bigg’s Killer Whale family. This family is led by Nan, a 38 year old mother of 6. Her 2 oldest sons, Noah and Jude were not present but the 4 younger offspring were present. They included Nat (13 M), Neptune (10 M), Nebula (7 F) and Smoosh Face (2 M). Little Smoosh Face has a flattened rostrum with a developing underbite that is believed to be from an injury when he was really little. Right as we got there they started to circle and we thought they might be hunting. Sure enough one of the whales surfaced with a seal hanging out of its mouth. It barely broke the surface but you can see the spotted gray fur of the seal between the teeth of the Orca! I saw another seal pop up after this so there is a good chance they got 2. I love it when 2 or more family groups get together. As can be typical the mom’s hang out together and the older boys hang out together and the little ones as well. Before we left Nat did a few big lunges and gave us the Orca/Mt. Baker shot. We got a few tail slaps and a lovely side eye too. We left them with the backdrop of the Elwha River Valley and the Olympic mountains. A beautiful day on the water!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/whales-in-the-beautiful-san-juans

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: – Website: www.alisonengle.com

09/23/2024

August 27, 2024 – We headed north towards a report of several families of Bigg’s Killer Whales! There were two families traveling along the northern shoreline of Orcas Island and another two families further north of Barnes Island. We decided to head to the further north group which ended up being the T137s and T36s. T36 “Flapjack” was the oldest female in the group and she was traveling with her presumed daughter T137 “Loon” and grandchildren while her youngest daughter T36B “Tattertip” and her kids were over a mile away. Suddenly, the T36B family started porpoising to catch up with the rest of the whales and we got several surfacings with the whole family together before they drifted apart again. We got some great looks at the large male in the group T137A “Jack”.

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/killer-whales-in-the-san-juans-2/

Photographer and Naturalist: Bethany Shimasaki – Instagram .with.Bethany – Website: www.bethshim.com

09/21/2024

August 29, 2024 PM – Well it is not every day that you can leave the dock and be with Orcas within 10 minutes, but today was one of those lucky days. We left Friday Harbor crossed the channel to Shaw Island and started our encounter with 5 members of the T49A’s Bigg’s Killer Whale family. This family is led by Nan, a 38 year old mother of 6. Her 2 oldest sons, Noah and Jude were not present but the 4 younger offspring were present. They included Nat (13 M), Neptune (10 M), Nebula (7 F) and Smoosh Face (2 M). Little Smoosh Face was surfacing nice and high out of the water so we could all get a look at his flattened rostrum with a developing underbite that is believed to from an injury when he was really little. They cruised along the Shaw Island shoreline and then eventually started to cross over to Lopez. It was time for us to look for other wildlife so we took off to the South. We stopped at Whale Rocks to check out the Steller Sea Lions warming up in the late afternoon sun then it was on to search for humpbacks. We had a report of 3 out past Hein Bank. It was a beautiful cruise in flat calm seas with lots of marine birds, Harbor Seals and a few porpoise popping up along the way, but no Humpbacks. Lucky for us another one had be spotted, guess where??? Right outside of Friday Harbor. We ended our trip with a beautiful encounter with the Humpback Whale known as “Two Spot.” He did several fluke up dives while we were with him and we all got to see the beautiful white underside of his fluke with the 2 spots!

Check out the Whale Report blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/orcas-and-humpbacks-by-friday-harbor/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: – Website: www.alisonengle.com

09/19/2024

August 29, 2024 Am - Well this trip started with a King Fisher foraging in one of our favorite places, the beautiful Cactus Islands, and it ended with Killer Whales hunting in the same spot in the Cactus Island. Seeing Orcas in this area, let alone this spot has been on my bucket list for at least 10 years! It was so exciting to have the stars line up and share it with our wonderful customers. We first hooked up with 5 members of the T49A's Bigg’s Killer Whale family at the south west tip of Stuart Island. It was great to see Nan (38 F) and 4 of her 6 offspring including Nat (13 M), Neptune (10 M), Nebula (7 F) and Smoosh Face (2 M). Little Smoosh Face was surfacing nice and high out of the water so we could all get a look at his flattened rostrum with a developing underbite that is believed to from an injury when he was really little. The whales were on the hunt for our entire encounter. We believe they must have gotten at least one harbor seal as they hunted the Kelp/reefs all the way from Stuart Island, then along John’s Island and into the Cactus Islands. The yummy dark green water, kelp and cool rock formations made for some awesome photographs with the whales backlit blows. Just before moving on they made one last patrol along a rocky reef with several nervous harbor seals keeping an eye on Nat’s big dorsal fin. On the way home we got to see some Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals and Exotic game animals on Spieden Island. What a day!!

Check out the Whale Report blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/orcas-cruising-the-shoreline/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: – Website: www.alisonengle.com

Western Prince Whale Watching

05/25/2025

05/24/2025

04/30/2025

04/29/2025

10/31/2024

10/30/2024

10/29/2024

10/28/2024

10/27/2024

09/23/2024

09/21/2024

09/19/2024

Address

Opening Hours

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm