May 10, 2026 – We headed north after hearing a report of orcas eastbound in Spieden Channel. The two groups split with one group heading to Flattop Island (T86A1’s, T86A3 and T100E) and the other heading east (T124A with her two youngest offspring, T124A6 and T124A7). We sailed through the Wasp Islands anticipating meeting the southerly group further north; however they flipped and came down San Juan Channel. We changed sail plan for a beam reach to meet them near Mineral Pt. After our first view alongside the San Juan shoreline they flipped direction again and headed for Jones Island at speed. Meanwhile the northerly group flipped and also headed towards Jones Island. The two groups passed each other underwater without no visible interaction. The T124A’s continued towards President Channel and we switched to sail with the T86A group towards Yellow Island. As they continued south we left them to have a shore excursion on the Nature Conserancy’s Yellow Island. The wildflowers were still looking good with continued blooms of great camas, death camas, chocolate lily, Indian paintbrush, Indian parsley, broadleaf stonecrop, prickly pear cactus, and more. After hiking around the island pulling anchor and returning to sail we met more orcas, the T49A’s (minus T49A1 and T49A2) at Shirt Tail Reef. We left them as they approached Jones Island and we came about for our return to Friday Harbor.
Encountering 3 separate groups of Orcas plus a visit to Yellow Island
- Baleen whale trifecta! Gray, humpback and minke whale!
- Double dose of Orcas! Hunting on Salmon Bank and southbound by Friday Harbor