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Western Prince Whale Watching Adventures

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Western Prince Whale Watching Adventures

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

10/08/2026

September 8, 2026– We covered lots of water today! We started out by heading north to Sentinel Island where we found a haul out of some adorable harbor seals! After a nice look at them snoozing, we made a long run up north to find two of our favorite killer whale families, the T49A’s and the T19’s! The T19’s stayed tucked into shore, while the T49A’s stayed out in Captain Passage with us. We cruised alongside them as they traveled the Prevost Island shoreline for a nice chunk of time before we eventually had to wish the whale and head towards home. On the way home, we stopped to see some mouflon sheep on Spieden Island, plus a bald eagle at Point Caution on San Juan Island.

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

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

10/07/2026

September 7, 2026– Captain Ivan started our morning taking us north to Green Point on Spieden Island, where we were able to find a few Steller sea lions! This seemed to be our good luck charm for the day, as we continued up through the Cactus Islands and found a haul out of some harbor seals! After a beautiful cruise through this area, we heard of a report of animals to the west of us so we hit the road. On the north end of Waldron Island, we met up with one of our favorite families, the T49As, a family of 6 whales! They showed off a number of cool behaviors, like logging and even a spyhop from mom T49A, “Nan”! We cruised the shoreline with the family for a nice chunk of time, before we had to head back toward home. We made one last stop at Turn Reef to see Alfredo the sea otter before we returned to the dock.

CHeck out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/whale-sightings-in-the-san-juans/

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

10/06/2026

Photographer and Naturalist: Kate Allhusen - Instagram - Website: www.KateAllhusen.com
Instagram: 6, 2026– Our women weekend closed with quite a red carpet walk! On this trip, Captain Bethany started the morning with one of my favorite stops, a trip to Turn Island to see Alfredo the sea otter! After a nice visit with him, we continued south down San Juan Channel to Deadman’s Island to see a bald eagle, then over to whale rocks where we saw a haul out of Steller sea lions. We then pushed out west to search Salmon Bank, and found a minke whale! I was particularly excited about this, as it was only my second time seeing a minke whale this season! We got some spectacular looks as it lunge fed on a bait ball and circled the boat. We then pushed back north to meet with an interesting trio of killer whales as they came through Cattle Pass. This trio consisted of some star-studded names: T63 “Chainsaw” and his mom T65 “Whidbey”, plus T137A “Jack”! It was so interesting to two of our most recognizable boys of the region swimming alongside each other as they cruised south. While we were on scene, we even got a look at a local research organization collecting breath samples by flying a drone through the blows!

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

10/04/2026

September 17, 2026 3 PM - We had a fabulous afternoon with the T65B’s near Clark and Barnes Islands off the NE side of Orcas Island. But first we stopped to check out a Sea Otter wrapped up in the kelp at Turn Rock. The whales we encountered were the T65Bs which includes Chunk, the 33 year old mother and her 3 offspring, 15 year old Birdsall, 7 year old Corvus and 3 year old Rook. They were traveling together at first, then they split up and started hunting around a group of small rocky islets. Eventually they cruised along the east side of Clark with several tail slaps and upside down surfacing. While we were watching them I caught a Parasitic Jaeger chasing a Bonaparte Gull, which eventually gave up a fish it had caught. Next Captain JB took us to Clemens Reef where we had about a dozen Steller Sea Lions soaking up the late afternoon sun. A beautiful afternoon with September whales and September light!

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

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

10/03/2026

September 17, 2026 11AM - It was a gorgeous day with lots of wildlife in the hood. We started with our new visitor, a Sea Otter. It was chowing down on what looked like a scallop. Just a few miles from there in Griffin Bay we encountered the T19’s. This family group of Bigg's Killer Whale included Nootka, the 61 year old mother and her 2 sons, 31 year old Galiano and 25 year old Spouter. Galiano popped up in the middle of a few bait balls sending all of the gulls into flight. They eventually they headed out through Cattle Pass heading south west. Soon after we said goodbye to the Orcas we found one Minke Whale, possibly two. The second Minke surfaced quite close making this a 2 whale species day. Our last stop before heading home was at whale rocks where we checked out the Steller Sea Lions. What a day!

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

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

10/02/2026

September 10, 2026 - 3:00PM - We left the dock on a beautiful sunny afternoon with a report of Orcas to the north. Captain JB decided to head to the whales first. We started our encounter with a family group of 6 - Bigg’s Killer whales along the Stuart Island shoreline. The matriline was the T35A’s which included 3 generations of whales with two new calves born this year. We had 28 year old Pearl who was traveling with her 4 offspring, 16 year old Opal, 13 year old Topaz, 8 year old Garnet, her new calf that was born in 2026 and her grand calf, Opals first calf, that was also born in 2026! They were zigzagging their way north and we had some great looks some with the Turn Point Lighthouse as the backdrop. Eventually it was time to go look for other wildlife. Captain JB took us along the Spieden Island Shoreline where we saw the exotic game animals. Fallow Deer, Sitka Deer and Mouflon Sheep were all spotted and we had the most magnificent Mouflon Ram with an impressive set of horns lazing in the grass. We also had a few Harbor Seals and Bald Eagles to round out another amazing trip.

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

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

10/01/2026

September 10, 2026 11:00AM - Today Captain JB had a plan but after our first two stops, one to see a beautiful Bald Eagle perched on a navigational marker on Turn Rock and second the see the Steller Sea Lions at Whale Rocks he changed course. A new report of whales had come in that were even closer and in an area where we sometimes find Tufted Puffins. Off we went after about 20 minutes we started our encounter south of Smith Island with members of the T60 Bigg’s Killer Whale family. We had the mother, 46 year old Panthera, her oldest son, 25 year old Yelnats, 14 year old Tigris and 7 year old Uncia. They were traveling with mystery whale that was later identified as T59A4 who was born in 2017. they were swimming in the kelp and one did a nice spy hop. Soon after they grouped up and headed south. Eventually it was time to go, so we headed over to the banks around Smith Island and were able to locate at least 3 Tufted Puffins. This was a life bird for some of our passengers! We had time for one more brief look at the T65B’s, another family of 4 killer whales on the way back to Friday Harbor. What a great start to the day!

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

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

09/30/2026

September 3, 2026 PM - Today we ended up circumnavigating San Juan Island. Our first stop was to check out our new visitor, a Sea Otter. It was looking as cute as ever all wrapped up in a Bull Kelp blanket. We continued south with a stop to see the Steller Sea Lions at Whale Rocks. The seas had settled down after this mornings wind so Captain JB decided to head out to a group of whales that had been spotted earlier that day. The Bigg’s Killer Whales were members of 3 different family groups. We had at least 6 members of the T46B’s which included the 38 year old mother Raksha, her /second oldest daughter, 3 other offspring and 1 of her 5 grand kiddos! We also had 3 members of the T100’s, Hutchins, Laurel & Estrella and the 4 members of the T123’s, Sidney, Stanley, Lucky and D’Arcy. After a beautiful encounter with a few spy hops a tail wave and an unexpected close pass from Laurel and Stanley we headed for home. But wait, there was one more group of whales to visit along the way. As cruised through Spieden Channel we slowed down for just a few minutes to get a glimpse of the 6 members of the T49As! Okay, now we really had to get back to the dock. What a day!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/san-juan-island-circumnavigation/

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

09/29/2026

September 3, 2026 AM - This morning we left the dock and decided to go and see if our somewhat rare visitor to the San Juan Island, a Sea Otter, was nearby. We found it preening in the Bull Kelp near Turn Island. From there Captain JB decided to go north as report the south end were big seas and the whales previously spotted from shore could not be located. We stopped by Green Point on Spieden Island. We had a Bald Eagle perched in a tree on shore. We thought we would poke around in the Cactus Islands, but as soon as we sped up Captain JB got a report of whales to the NW. As we headed in that direction a second group was found. We started our encounter with the T19’s near Beaver Point on Salt Spring Island. This family group is made up of Nootka the 61 year old mother and her 2 grown sons, Galiano who is 31 and Spouter who is 25. Both of the males are massive!!! They were spread out with Galiano and Nootka closer to shore. We watched them from a distance, while getting some really nice looks as Spouter who was traveling farther offshore. Also some Harbor Seals that were hauled out on some rocks. Eventually it was time to head back as we had come a long ways. As we were leaving we spotted a few harbor porpoise surfacing near by. We made a quick stop to check out the Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart Island. While we were there 3 young Steller Sea Lions popped up in the current. Another successful trip!

Check out the Whale Report Blog for this trip at https://orcawhalewatch.com/blog/t19s-at-salt-spring-island/

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

09/28/2026

August 27, 2026 AM - We headed south today with our first stop at Whale Rocks to check out the Steller Sea Lions. Several of them there taking a snooze while their bodies were thermoregulating. One impressive Steller came up out of the water and showed us just how mobile these animals are on land. Next it was off to Canada in search of 2 Bigg’s Killer Whales. They had been hunting around the Discovery Islands. As we approached the 2 males we were looking for had been lost but another 19 year old male named Jude had just been found. Jude is also known as T49A2 and has dispersed from his family group of 8 whales total. He was traveling along the Vancouver Island shoreline. All of a sudden he popped up near us and started hunting. He made a weird looking surface behavior which is when we think he killed his prey. We guessed it was a harbor seal, but by the time we saw the prey in his mouth it was mostly just pink meat! If you look closely at the pictures you will see the pink color just under the surface in his bow wave. Jude has a curled over fin too which makes him easy to identify. We decide to leave Jude as the other 2 whales had been located. We headed east and picked up T60 D & E. They are brothers that are 18 and 22 years old and have also dispersed from their mother and 3 other siblings. They were changing directions often. As we started to leave several passengers saw one of them do a big breach in the distance. We made one more quick stop near Kelp Reef where we spotted a Humpback Whale. From there it was back to the dock after another successful trip!

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

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

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