January 2026 Summary

The past month we have enjoyed incredibly stable weather which leant itself to off the charts Killer Whale encounters! Normally a winter month like January has several storm systems roll through and disrupt our schedule. But Jan 9th through 31st we didn't have to cancel a single trip due to weather.

In that time span, we operated 16 quests and sighted Killer Whales on 15 of them! On one particular day, 40 Killer Whales were seen.

You may be wondering... is this the peak? What happens now through the rest of 2026?

Well, the weather can't stay nice forever. California winter and spring will revert back to giving us some rain and storms the next month or two. But the Killer Whales are not going to go anywhere. Elephant seals line the beaches of each of the outer islands, and so there is plentiful food resources for the orcas to continue utilizing.

SO MANY PEOPLE email trying to time their trip. I am frankly getting fatigued answering questions about "when is the best time to come see the orcas". Firstly, this question is answered elsewhere on the website. But to elaborate... the orcas can only be seen on a day when the weather is abnormally nice from a wind speed perspective. Weather can only be predicted several days in advance. Therefore, it's impossible to answer if April 10, or Oct 1st, or June 2nd is going to be a good time to see Killer Whales with us. It may very well be blowing 20 knots on any one of those days, and the trip would not go out.

Otherwise, since we operate Killer Whale trips from late August through early June, I promise you that EACH TRIP HAS THE FULL INTENTION OF SEEING KILLER WHALES. Why would we offer a 50% voucher to come out again if we didn't think that every trip we operate has a very good chance of seeing Killer Whales? I can tell you the economics do not line up for us to be issuing these 50% off vouchers on a regular basis. There is no best time to come out that can be known more than 72 hours ahead of time, that is the answer. The Killer Whales are here, and we can find them nearly every time in very nice weather between late August and early June. Final Answer.

Lastly... at the risk of sounding rude.We do not have a business phone at this time, and we will not be phoning you to go over your questions. The website is full of answers, and any questions not addressed on the website can be emailed. When questions are emailed, it often takes days or even weeks to reply. That's because this is mostly a one man show, folks. At this point, there is not enough money in this to hire people to answer emails or phones.

The enthusiasm that our followers on social media have for our trips is very appreciated. But we are a tiny and satellite operation of a much larger whale watching company based in Newport Beach. Killer Whale Quest isn't even close to being our full time job, it's a side project. And likely it will remain a side project because the weather in the Channel Islands does not allow it to be a full time operation.

If you want to come out with us, please thoroughly read the website and book a ticket. It's that simple!