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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, 1 Spring Street Suite A, Friday Harbor, WA (2024)

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

09/17/2024

August 22, 2024 PM - We headed south in great conditions - flat calm seas and beautiful defused lighting! We actually had a couple of options for Orcas which is always a bonus. Captain JB was communicating with other boats and we decided to head to Canada to see the T49A’s. This is a family of Biggs Killer Whales. It includes Nan, the 38 year old mother, and her 6 offspring. For the past few weeks the 2 older sons, Noah and Jude, have not been with the rest of the family so I was excited to see 23 year old Noah’s huge dorsal fin as we approached. Just after we got there the whales changed direction unexpectedly and started heading NE across Haro Strait towards San Juan Island. It was pretty obvious that 13 year old Nat had missed his big brother and was surfacing next to him for the duration of our encounter. We also got some great looks at little 2 year old Smoosh Face with his cute under bite and 4 teeth that stick out. We also had 10 year old Neptune and, the only female kiddo, 7 year old Nebula tucked in with the group. After hitting the San Juan Island shoreline at Lime Kiln State Park we followed them a little longer then went off to see what else we could find. On Spieden island we found both an immature and a mature Bald Eagle, several Harbor Seals and exotic Big Horned sheep, the Mouflons, that live there. What a day!

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

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

09/15/2024

August 22, 2024 AM – Our first stop today was at Whale Rocks to see the dozens of Steller Sea Lions that were hauled out there. Next we were off to hopefully catch up to a group of Orcas that was near the edge of our range and traveling farther away. We we lucked out when a second group of Orcas was found closer and heading in the right direction! We were all thrilled. The conditions were calm and there was a nice defused light. We were able to spend an hour with 4 of the 6 members of the T60 matrilline. Those whales included Panthera, the ~44 year old mother who was traveling with her oldest living son, 23 year old Yelnats, and her 2 youngest 12 year old Tigris and 5 year old Unica. They were zig zagging their way towards San Juan Island. We left the whales near Hein Bank and then did a little searching for other animals on our way back to Friday Harbor!

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

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

09/13/2024

August 23, 2024 – What a beautiful, foggy morning in the San Juan Islands! It was just enough fog that we had lovely mist in the trees and moody vibes but not enough that it inhibited our trip. We had a report of some killer whales just across Haro Strait on the Canadian side. The whales were identified as a family of four known as the T60s. This family had been traveling but as we arrived on scene, they had just found a harbor seal that they were hunting. We got several huge lunges from the two younger whales and mom when suddenly, the big male T60C “Leo” erupted out of the water and grabbed the seal in his mouth, finishing the hunt. The whales were then back on the move, traveling along the shoreline. They eventually passed by another harbor seal haul out and there were several moments where the whales surfaced right next to some very nervous seals. As a final incredible moment of this encounter with the T60s, we had some beautiful looks as the whales cruised by us and we even got spyhop from the youngest whale, T60F “Uncia”.

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

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

09/11/2024

August 19, 2024 – We had an incredible encounter with a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales known as the T75Bs as they cruised along the shoreline of Matia Island. There are four whales in this family, consisting of mom T75B “Pebbles” and her three kids ranging in age from nine to three. They passed several harbor seal haul outs along the shore before tucking into the small harbor on Matia Island. The family started doing some big lunges, indicating they had found something to hunt and eventually started to exhibit more active behaviors at the surface! At one point, one of the whales surfaced with some intestines draped over their back! Suddenly, T75B2 “Jasper” breached twice! Amazing! Such a treat to get to watch these killer whales hunting and celebrating their successful meal.

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/orca-hunting-and-breaching/

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

09/09/2024

August 16, 2024 – With the overcast skies and the colder temperatures, it felt like a classic Pacific Northwest kind of day. We headed out of Friday Harbor to the south and stopped at Whale Rocks to check out the Steller Sea Lions up on the rocks. We continued out into the Straits of Juan de Fuca towards a report of some Bigg’s Killer Whales that were spotted to the west. It was a little rocky with the wind picking up but we had some incredible looks at the family of five whales known as the T49As. They seemed to be zigging and zagging through the waves and abruptly turned north to tuck in along the shoreline of San Juan Island. We left the family just as they passed by the iconic Lime Kiln Lighthouse. We continued north and stopped by Spieden Island to check out several harbor seals and an eagle perched high in a dead tree before completing a full circumnavigation of San Juan Island!

Check out the Whale Report blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-orcas/

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

09/07/2024

August 8, 2024 – PM – We left the dock knowing we had a long run if we were going to make it to the whales. So off we went! We had a quick check in along the way, then back up to speed at we headed to Protection Island. Luckily for us they decided to hunt around the island instead of moving along. As we got on scene the T65A’s started patrolling the beach on the SW end of the island. Wow, it was so cool to see those big dorsal fins going back and forth just off the beach. At one point the seals had a bit of a stampede along the beach which not only included a lot of Harbor Seals but an Elephant Seal too. You will notice the really big one higher up on the beach is that Elephant Seal. Most of the seals stayed on the beach, but then mom, 38 year old T65A-Artemis, took run along the tip of the spit and all the seals went into the water! NOOOOOO! We think they may have snagged one, but you can see all of the little seal heads popped up on alert as Artemis cruised back and forth. I love that you can see the Dungeness Spit Lighthouse in the distance. They quickly moved over to the Olympic Peninsula and hooked back up with 17 year old T65A3, Amir, who had been off doing his own thing. It was great to see them all join up. Five of the six family members were present. In addition to Artemis and Amir we had her oldest son, T65A2 – Ooxjaa, her 2 daughters, 13 year old Ellifrit and 6 year old Callisto. Eventually it was time to head back. We fit in one quick stop at Whale Rocks to check out the Steller Sea Lions then back to the dock. What a great encounter and on such a beautiful day!

Check out the Whale Report blog for this trip at ttps://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/killer-whales-hunting-seals/

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

09/05/2024

August 8, 2024 AM – We headed south with the hope of making it to a pod of Orcas that were at the edge of our range. The good news was they were currently getting closer. We made a stop at Whale Rocks to check out the Steller Sea Lions. From there we headed out into the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and headed south to Dungeness Spit on the Olympic Peninsula. There we started our encounter with the Dungeness Spit Lighthouse in the background and one of our favorite families of Bigg’s Killer Whales, the T65A’s. They were a bit spread out hunting in different areas. We spent quite a bit of time watching Amir, T65A3 a 17 year old male. He is getting so big, but will not reach full maturity for a few more years. We think he snagged a Harbor Seal for himself then put on the speed to catch up with the rest. He did a couple of breaches along the way. Our passenger Ethan caught one that was behind the boat on his phone and was gracious enough to share it with every one via my report. Then we decided to try to catch up with the rest of the group which included the mother, T65A – Artemis who is now 38 years old! She was with 3 of her 5 offspring: oldest son, T65A2 – Ooxjaa, her 2 daughters, 13 year old Ellifrit and 6 year old Callisto. Captain JB had seen some action off in the distance and apparently they had killed a Harbor Porpoise and were now feeding. As usual they did leave the lungs behind! What a day!

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

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

09/03/2024

August 5, 2024 – Today’s trip was an exciting one! We headed out into the Salish Sea towards the south of the San Juan Islands. We spotted several Steller Sea Lions hanging out on a reef known as Whale Rocks and a beautiful Bald Eagle on a dead snag along the south end of Lopez Island. We continued and spotted two humpback whales traveling together! The two whales were both younger humpbacks. One was identified as a 2023 calf nicknamed “Thunderbolt” after the marking that looked like a lightning strike on its left fluke and the other a 2022 calf nicknamed “Smirk” because they’re the offspring of a whale named “Smiley”. We were treated to some great looks at the two whales as they were both fluking consistently every dive and surfacing every few minutes! At one point, the two whales surfaced incredibly close to a small island, startling the harbor seals that rested on the rocks! It is incredible to see how many of our young humpbacks are returning year after year.

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

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

09/01/2024

August 4, 2024 – We had an incredibly rare sighting on today’s trip! We had a Gray Whale sighting! Gray Whales are very interesting whales! They make one of the longest migrations of any animal in the world, sometimes upwards of 10,000 miles from the lagoons in Baja California to north of the Arctic Circle! We have a small group of Gray Whales that visit the Salish Sea and spend their time feeding on ghost shrimp in our waters. We sometimes only get one or two sightings of Gray Whales a year so today’s encounter was extra special. This whale was identified as a whale that has been spotted previously in Washington! In 2022, this whale went INTO Friday Harbor! We had some beautiful looks at its flukes as it was lifting them extra high when diving and with the gray patterning, the whale could be seen just under the surface as it traveled along!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/rare-gray-whale-sighting/

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

08/30/2024

August 3, 2024 – We headed out on a beautiful day. We were really lucky to have a report of Orcas near Matia Island. Captain JB was listening to other captains on the radio and decided to head straight there, and oh boy, that was the right decision! We heard that they had been on a kill that was most likely a Steller Sea Lion! We started our encounter with one of the whales doing a huge spy hop. Over the next few minutes there were another 4 or 5 spy hops, tail slaps and lots of backwards surfacing. This is always fun to watch as their dorsal fin comes up before their head so their blow heads off the front of their head. This is typically a sign that they are tearing their prey apart with the help of another whale. Near the end of our encounter, when 2 whales surfaced bellies up, you can see that the little one was dragging a big chunk of meat! We had 8 whales total which included T172, a 35 year old female, T117A, a 32 year old male, his 19 year old sister, T117B and her 1 year old calf. We also had 4 of the 6 members of the T36A’s; the 34 year old mother, her 12 year old daughter, 9 year old son and youngest who is now 3! Well it was eventually time to leave so we headed to the beautiful Cactus Islands where we found lots of Harbor Seals, Pigeon Guillemots and a Bald Eagle! From there we headed for home with lots of smiles after a great afternoon on the water.

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

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