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 Adventures

Home
United States
Friday Harbor, WA
Western Prince Whale Watching Adventures

We offer whale watching and wildlife tours in the San Juan Islands, north of Seattle, Washington. We http://orcawhalewatch.com
(352)

We run whale watching and wildlife tours in the San Juan Islands, north of Seattle, Washington. We focus on offering high quality, intimate tours, guided by dedicated local naturalists.

08/10/2026

July 23, 2026 PM - Today we started with a stop to see our somewhat rare visitor to the inland waters of Washington, a Sea Otter. We do not know how long he will stay but today it looked like he was finding lots of good food. From there we headed east, Captain Bethany had plan so off we went. As we crossed into Rosario Strait we found a Steller Sea Lion warming up on the green channel marker. We took a wide loop across Rosario looking for animals, eventually we circled back around to the Pea Pod Rocks where we found loads of Harbor Seals hauled out on the shoreline. Meanwhile, Captain Bethany had been keeping tabs on the 2 Bigg’s Killer Whales that had been spotted in that area. We started our encounter along the southeast Orcas Island shoreline. The whales continued south to the gorgeous undeveloped area of Blakely Island. The two whales are brothers, 20 year old T77C - Neftali and T77E - Misneach who is 10. They have been traveling separately from their mother and sister this summer. They were surfacing high, sometimes upside down, and stopping to investigate possible animals to hunt. While we were watching a Bald Eagle took off from a nearby rocky islet. There were lots of big smiles as we headed back to Friday Harbor.

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

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram:

08/09/2026

July 23, 2026 AM - This afternoon we started with a stop to see our new visitor to the islands, a Sea Otter. He was all wrapped up in the Bull Kelp and looked like he was ready to take a snooze. We were lucky today and had 2 Bigg’s Killer Whales close by. It was supposed to be a fairly windy afternoon so having them inter island in somewhat protected waters was great. The whales were entering East Sound which is a body of water that practically cuts Orcas Island in half. Just after we started our encounter the whales started zigzagging all over the place and gave us some very nice looks. The two whales are brothers, 20 year old T77C - Neftali and T77E - Misneach who is 10. They have been traveling separately from their mother and sister this summer. They were spending a lot of time on the surface and continued heading north up the sound. We left them as they were getting close to the famous Rosario mansion that was built my Seattle ship builder, Robert Moran. Next our plan was to head to Spieden Island to look for wildlife but the weather was getting rather dramatic and we headed south to avoid some of the worst of it. We searched around Turn Island, before heading back to the dock after another successful trip!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/the-77-brothers/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram:

08/08/2026

July 16, 2026 AM - Soon after leaving the dock, we got word of a group of Bigg’s Killer Whales to the east. With some wind and rain in the forecast, this was one of the best locations we could have asked for. Along the way, we found a couple of Bald Eagles on Decatur Island. When we started our encounter, we were delighted to see members of 3 different family groups. They had been hunting a Steller Sea Lion but seemed to have lost interest and started traveling north towards James Island. We got to see some nice activity from some of the younger whales; the moms were hanging together, and we had 1 adult male and 2 teenage boys that are getting really big. The whales we saw were the T123’s, which included 41-year-old Sidney, 26-year-old Stanley, 14-year-old Lucky, and 8-year-old D’Arcy; 3 of the T37A’s, including 32-year-old Volker, 19-year-old Inyo, 17-year-old Inky; the T37B’s, including 28-year-old Harald, her 14-year-old son Lance, and 4-year-old daughter Slice! Eventually, it was time to go. On our way back to the dock, it started to rain, but guess what? We got to meet one more Orca family of 6. The T109A’s had just come by Friday Harbor! What a day! Oh wait, we saw a harbor seal swimming right by our dock! Sweet!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/sea-lion-hunt/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram:

08/07/2026

July 9, 2026 PM - We headed out on a sunny afternoon. We had a report of whales, but they were moving away from us. We left the dock and headed north. Our first stop was a White Rock wildlife refuge to check out the harbor seals. The pupping season has definitely started. From there, we headed northeast and caught up with the whales as they were passing between Patos and Sucia Islands. We had beautiful conditions and a beautiful location to encounter 6 members of the T46B matriline. This family has been extremely productive with the matriarch recently giving birth to her 7th surviving calf and her 3 oldest daughters all having calves of their own. It appears that in the past 1-2 weeks, another of her daughters with a calf has dispersed and taken her 7-year-old sister with her. Today we had 28-year-old T46B named Raksha with her 18-year-old daughter, Akela, 13-year-old son Quiver, 3-year-old calf, Tala, 5-month-old calf Pi, and 3-year-old granddaughter Takaya! The whales were zigging and zagging as they slowly headed east. We had come a long way, and it was time to head back to Friday Harbor. What a beautiful afternoon on the water.

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

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram:

08/06/2026

July 9, 2026 AM - What a day! We got off to a great start finding a sea otter all wrapped up in the bull kelp just south of Friday Harbor. Just a few hundred yards away, we found harbor seals hauled out on the rocks and a bald eagle perched in a tree. From there, we headed north to look for exotic game animals on Spieden Island. We found some mouflon sheep grazing on the grassy slopes. We knew we had whales nearby, so we also got to spend a little time cruising between the Cactus Islands. There we found a bald eagle feeding on something red and stringy. Several other eagles swooped in to try and get a bite. As we continued on, we found several harbor seals swimming around in the kelp. The lighting was beautiful, and we found the cutest mom pup pair swimming around together. Next, we headed east towards Waldron Island and encountered 6 members of the T46B matriline. This family has been extremely productive with the matriarch recently giving birth to her 7th surviving calf and her 3 oldest daughters all having calves of their own. It appears that in the past 1-2 weeks, another of her daughters with a calf has dispersed and taken her 7-year-old sister with her. Today we had 28-year-old T46B named Raksha with her 18-year-old daughter, Akela, 13-year-old son Quiver, 3-year-old calf, Tala, 5-month-old calf Pi, and 3-year-old granddaughter Takaya! The whales were zigging and zagging, then grouped up and swam along the Waldron shoreline. Wow, what a day!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/abundant-wildlife/
Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram:

08/05/2026

July 2, 2026 PM - We headed south on the afternoon trip. Our first stop was to check out the Steller Sea Lions on Whale Rocks. Next it was on to see the a family group of Bigg’s Killer Whales, the T65B’s. We encountered them as they were heading south a couple miles off shore of Whidbey Island. We saw the T65B’s, which included the 33-year-old mother named Chunk, her 15-year-old son, Birdsall, 6-year-old son, Corvus, and the youngest, who is 3, named Rook. They had been on a pretty steady course but then started changing directions and started heading towards Smith Island. It is always cool to see the nick at the base of Chunk’s dorsal fin and the scratch patterns across all of their saddle patches. Eventually it was time to say goodbye to the whales so we headed over to Smith Island. There were lots of birds and we found a Sea Otter hanging out in the Bull Kelp. This makes it 2 Sea Otters in the inland water of Washington State which is actually really rare. We hope that they decide to stay! The tower standing next to the abandoned building was built as a replacement when the 140 year old light house fell into the sea due to erosion in 1998. It is now used as a weather station, an automated navigational aid and a Bald Eagles nest. Today we got to see both the adults perched on the tower and the chick in the nest! After a great NW kind of day on the water, we headed back to Friday Harbor!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this tour at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/northwest-day-on-the-water/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram:

08/04/2026

July 2, 2026 AM - It was a bit wet out there today, but the wildlife did not seem to mind at all. We started our trip with a rare for our area sighting of a Sea Otter! To our delight, this Sea Otter has been spending a lot of time near Friday Harbor this summer. It had wrapped itself up in the Bull Kelp and appeared to be sleeping. While we were there, a bald eagle flew in and landed on the navigational marker that warns boaters of the rocks it is mounted on. Check out those talons! From there, we headed south to check out the Steller Sea Lions on Whale Rocks in Cattle Pass. As we headed around the south end of Lopez in search of a humpback whale, a report came in of Bigg’s Killer Whales. Captain JB figured out the timing, and we decided to head straight to the Orcas. We began our encounter near Cypress Island. We saw the T65B’s, which included the 33-year-old mother named Chunk, her 15-year-old son, Birdsall, 6-year-old son, Corvus, and the youngest, who is 3 now, named Rook. They had been on a pretty steady course but then started changing directions, and we got some really nice looks at these magnificent animals. In one photo, if you look closely, you will see a harbor seal with just its head above water watching the Orcas go by! Luckily for the seal, the whales did not seem to notice. It was a lucky day for all of us as well!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/wet-and-wild-with-the-65bs/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram:

08/03/2026

June 25, 2026 PM - We headed south on a gray rainy day, little did we know we would have a “Triple Play." We had a report of a small family group of Bigg’s Killer Whales down that way and off we went. Our first stop was at Whale Rocks to check out the Steller Sea Lions. Next we headed off into the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca headed for Orcas. But, hey you never know what might happen out there. On our way we spotted a large blow and veered off to our left. We quickly came upon a Humpback whale. Captain Ivan got us in a great position for a fluke up dive and we identified the humpback as Gretzky. This whale was first documented in the Salish Sea in 2017 so is at least 9 years old!. After a couple of good looks we continued on to see the Orcas. As we were approaching we saw a whale flying out of the water at high speed. It was a Minke whale and was being chased my 3 orcas, which are the top predators. Minke whales are fast and after about 10 minutes the Orcas gave up. The Minke was cruising at about 15 miles per hour! We stopped following the Minke and had a nice encounter with the T37B’s which included the 28 year old mother, Harald, her 14 year old son, Lance and 4 year old daughter Slice. They were zigging and zagging and Lance checked us out at one point. Eventually it was time to head back and the rain was really starting to come down. We made one last stop for a Bald Eagle before getting back to the dock. Wow, a Triple Play on a gray day you just never know what might happen!!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/minke-chase/

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram:

08/02/2026

June 25, 2026 AM- We had a blustery day with a chance of rain but everyone was game to go out and see what we could find. Luckily for us just as we were pulling out of the harbor a report came in that we had Orcas to the north. Captain Ivan headed that way and it was not long before we came upon 2 family groups of Bigg’s Killer Whales. As we came on scene we could see that the whales were being very active in the waves. We had some spy hops, tail slaps and lots of tactile behaviors. The whales we had were The T65B’s which included Chunk the 33 year old mother, her 2 son’s, 15 year old Birdsall and 6 year old Corvus and her youngest calf 3 year old Rook. They were socializing with 16 year old T124A4, Sabio and her 2 calves, 4 year old Strix and 2 year old Sabine! My big spy hop photo in front of Pt. Disney on Waldron Island is blurry, but I included it anyways. Eventually it was time to leave the whales. Captain Ivan quickly got us into calmer waters and we headed south to check out the Steller Sea Lions at Whale Rocks after seeing a couple of Bald Eagles on the way.

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

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle - Instagram: - Website: www.AlisonEngle.com - Instagram: - Facebook: Western Prince Whale Watching Adventures

07/25/2026

July 5, 2026– Everyday is a great day here in the San Juan Islands, and today certainly did not disappoint! We made our first stop at Turn Reef to see our newest neighbor, Alfredo the sea otter, who was all wrapped up in bull kelp! We continued north over the top of San Juan Island and dipped into Haro Strait, where we had a beautiful encounter with the humpback whale BCZ0410, “Anvil”! She treated us to a beautiful look at her almost all white fluke, but eventually we had to turn and continue our search. We made a stop at Sentinel Reef to look at harbor seals, then headed to a group of killer whales just to the east of us! We made the run over to Waldron Island, where we met up with the 3 whales in the T100 matriline: T100 “Hutchins”, T100C “Laurel”, and T100E “Estrella”

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/holiday-weekend-whales-2/

Photographer and Naturalist: Kate Allhusen - Instagram - Website: www.KateAllhusen.com
Instagram:

Address

1 Spring Street Suite A
Friday Harbor, WA
98250

Opening Hours

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

Website

https://orcawhalewatch.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Western Prince Whale Watching Adventures posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Western Prince Whale Watching Adventures:

Want your business to be the top-listed Travel Agency in Friday Harbor?