Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Two Gray Whales (CRC-2557 & CRC-2383)
Harbor Seals
Sea Lions
Harbor Seals
Bald Eagles
Harbor Porpoise

May 13, 2025 | 10 AM Whale Watch

A beautiful whale watch with two gray whales! These ocean giants hold a special place in our hearts. Every year, a small subset of the eastern North Pacific gray whale population divert from their migration route to feed in Salish Sea waters. We have personally gotten to know the individuals, and this is the time of year to see them on our tours!

We headed north this morning as we left Cap Sante marina, and searched up toward Bellingham Bay, making our first stop at Viti Rocks. Here we watched a nice group of cormorants and a big bob of harbor seals. We even spotted several purple sea stars clinging to the rocks. We continued north after that toward some early morning reports. Cruising along Lummi Island we found several bald eagles perched in the trees. Shortly after rounding the north end of Lummi Island Captain Carl spotted some blows in the distance.

In no time we were on scene with two large gray whales that were traveling side by side. The first ID came easy, as the gray whale known as CRC-2557 has a unique white pigmentation on its tail flukes. After reaching out to Cascadia, we identified the second gray whale as one we had first seen in 2019. CRC-2383 is a gray whale we haven't seen very often, but it is great to know it's still around. After departing the gray whales we headed over to a channel marked and found a few Steller sea lions hauled out along with a lone, curious, California sea lion. We headed back south after that, along the back side of Cypress Island and spotted a bunch of harbor porpoise fishing outside of Deep water bay. The waters and weather were gorgeous as we headed back into Cap Sante marina! What whales will we encounter on our next trip on Thursday?

-Naturalist Tyson