This isn't your average seal or sea lion. This is a northern fur seal, a somewhat rare visitor to the Salish Sea. Naturalist Sam Wallace of Outer Island Excursions photographed this inquisitive youngster last week near Washington's Dungeness Spit. Look at those long ear flaps!

Happy Hump Day! 🐋 This powerful peduncle belongs to humpback whale BCX1854 "Trooper". Trooper has been visiting the Salish Sea region since at least 2018, and is known to travel to Maui in winter. 📷: @Whale_Sightings

Up, up, and away! Bigg's killer whale T037A2 "Inky" recently took to the skies following a successful porpoise hunt in the Strait of Georgia. 📷: Andrina Lindenaar, @OceanEco

TGIF! It's been a long week, and we could all use something beautiful on our feeds. This excellent shot of BCX0158 "Kappa" breaching near Lighthouse Park in West Vancouver, BC was taken by Julia Adelsheim of @WildWhalesVan. 🐋

Where did the weekend go?!? 😫😭 📷: Mollie Cameron, @sookewhale

Ironically, we received this news during a meeting touting what Government of Canada is doing to help protect Southern Resident killer whales. 🙄 apnews.com/article/alberta-c…

The Bigg's orca population has grown yet again! A new calf was seen swimming beside T36A1 "Tierna" a few days ago. Based on visible fetal folds and a still somewhat smooshed (technical term 😉) dorsal fin, the calf is likely only a week or so old. 📷: Bart Rulon, @psxpress

Where do whales go to get their teeth straightened? The ORCA-dontist. 😅 Okay, okay. That was bad. What's not bad? T49A6 Charlie II's adorable underbite. We love his teeth just the way they are! 📷: April Ryan, @sjiwhalewatch

Earlier this week, the T36s and T137A "Jack" were seen sharing a large prey item for several hours. We've not been able to confirm exactly what they were feeding on, but there's speculation it could have been a minke whale. 😬 📷 : Amanda Colbert, Blue Kingdom Tours

Happy Hump Day! 🐋 Tail slaps are one way humpback whales communicate with each other. Naturalist Katie Read of @Whale_Tours recently captured this "conversation" between BCY1033 "Merlin" (left) and BCY1222 "Hammer" (right).

Just a mom and her baby — her very large, 48-year-old baby. 🥹 Here we see T65 "Whidbey II" and her son, the famous T63 "Chainsaw", cruising the waters near Vancouver, BC. 📷: Stephanie Spencer, @stevestonwhales

Happy Hump Day! 🐋 This lovely lady is BCZ0409 "Stingray". First documented in 2011, Stingray is a confirmed female, and is known to visit Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in winter. She was seen yesterday off Parksville, BC. Welcome back, Stingray! 📷: Andrina Lindenaar, @OceanEco

Jack isn't the only acrobatic orca in town! 25-year old male T60C "Yelnats" got some hangtime near Smith Island last week during what appeared to be a post-hunt celebration. 📷: Sam Murphy, @sanjuanwhales

Today we're hanging out at the 49th Annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival. If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to swing by the Marine Science Stage at 4:00 PM to catch our talk on Humpback Whales of the Salish Sea! 🐋⛵️ For details, visit: woodenboat.org/

Ha! From a distance, this looks like a lunge-feeding humpback with its mouth open, but it's actually two different humpback whales lunging in unison. Happy Hump Day! 🐋 📷: Liam Nelson, @eaglewingtours

Ever feel like you've bitten off more than you can chew? 📷: Lauren Ryan Booth, @FRSClipper Whale Watching

Last week, our post with T137A "Jack" got ~1 million views! This week, humpback BCX2020 "Hitchhiker" wants to remind us that they weigh ~3x as much as Jack, so if you were impressed with his breach, you should really be impressed by this. 😉 📷: Julia Adelsheim, @WildWhalesVan

⚠️ RARE BIRD ALERT ⚠️ A rare Nazca booby (Sula granti) has been spotted near Washington's Smith Island for three days in a row. This juvenile is a long way from home, as Nazca boobies are normally found from Mexico to Peru. 📷: Tony Tilt, @psxpress

If you're tired of seeing pictures of Bigg's killer whale T137A "Jack" breaching, well, sorry not sorry! With moves like these, he deserves the attention. 📷: Alex McIntire, @sjiwhalewatch

We agree with the orcas. The Salish Sea is the place to be this summer! 😎 kuow.org/animals/2026-08-19/…