Anacortes Full Day Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's Killer Whales (T49As)
Harbor Porpoises
Sea Lions
Bald Eagles
Harbor Seals
Brown Pelicans
125 Nautical Miles

May 16, 2025 | 10 AM Full Day Whale Watch

We covered 125 nautical miles today and it was such an epic adventure! The beauty of a 6-7 hour trip is the flexibility to go the distance to find whales, and boy did we go the distance today. Early morning reports of killer whales near Victoria led us west, ultimately leading us to just outside of Sooke, British Columbia. The T49A family (minus A1 &A2) were traveling west. Nat and Neptune were hanging out close together while Nan, Nebula and Charlie II swam side by side. We marveled as they took our breath away with some surprise close passes, and fawned over Charlie’s little underbite.

Just as we were leaving the whales, we noticed some large birds flying nearby. It turned out to be three brown pelicans! This species is an infrequent visitor to our inland sea, so we were delighted to get to cruise east with them. It really turned into an incredible encounter, as this trio came in close to use our slipstream for easier flying. It felt at times like we could have touched these enormous birds!

On the cruise west, we had stopped at Bird Rocks. Dozens of harbor seals were hauled out here atop the rock weed, and glaucous winged gulls, double crested cormorants, Brant’s cormorants and a pair of Canada geese were present. We slowed at Castle Island to watch the playful antics of many pigeon guillemots and listen to a pair of black oyster catchers yell at a juvenile bald eagle. We found more sleepy harbor seals enjoying a nap and watched as turkey vultures soared overhead.

We scanned the various banks in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, stopping at Hein to visit with pelagic cormorants and some Steller sea lions hauled out on a navigational marker. We enjoyed harbor porpoise sightings as we approached Race Rocks, and passed flocks of common murres and rhinoceros auklets.

On the return trip east, we stopped to enjoy Race Rocks. The low tide was incredible!!! Beds of massive mussels lined the coast, with surf grass exposed, gooseneck barnacles and a multitude of other intertidal invertebrates! It was a marine ecologist’s dream. Atop the mussels were harbor seals and sea lions, both California and Stellers present. We also had a close pass by some black oyster catchers and got to see three different bald eagles all in different life stages.

We enjoyed a scenic tour along the Vancouver Island shoreline, passing Takaya’s mural in the Discovery Islands and then crossing Middle Bank back into the States. We slowed at Salmon Bank, scanning thoroughly for whales. No whales to be found, but man were there a lot of birds! We added white-winged scoters and common loons to our list. We also stopped at Whale Rocks and found evidence that the universe might be ending…for some reason all the Stellers were on the eastern island today, rather than their typical western island haul out.

We continued to cruise through Cattle Pass and through San Juans. Waters calmed in the heart of the islands, and we took the scenic route through Peavine Pass and out toward Eagle Bluff. We hugged the northeastern coastline of Cypress, enjoying views of eagles and pacific madronas. We cut east towards Guemes, hugging the shoreline on the backside of the island and ending the day admiring an eagle’s nest and the many sea stars clinging to the steep slopes near Boat Harbor.

It was an incredible adventure spent enjoying the company of the diverse wildlife that calls the Salish Sea home, and we were thrilled to have the extra time today to guarantee orca sightings! We have more orca guarantee trips coming up soon! Our next Full Day 6-7 hour excursion is scheduled for July 16th, and our next Extended Range 10-12 hour tour is set for June 20th.

- Sam