Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's Killer Whales
Harbor Seals
Steller Sea Lions
Turkey Vultures

May 27, 2025 | 12 PM Whale Watch

A hot sunny day and a Bigg's killer whale T-party!! Today was one of those days that you want to be on the water, and it turned into an eventful whale watch.

We started the day with some great wildlife including a belted kingfisher swooping in and catching a fish and a great blue heron hunting in the intertidal zone. We headed out of Guemes Channel and stopped at kelp reef where we found a young Steller sea lion. We continued over to Pointer Island and found a nice bob of harbor seals before continuing into the San Juan islands. We made our way to San Juan channel and joined up with multiple pods of Bigg's orca whales just outside of Friday Harbor!

You will find a list below of the different pods we had today! Following them east at the end of the show we lucked out with some great passes. We headed south after that to Whale Rocks and checked a big group of Steller sea lions. Some were playing in the water, others were napping the day away and the smell was as pungent as ever. We made a big search out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca before circling Lopez Island and slowly cruising by Castle Rock. Here we found some pigeon guillemots and a couple turkey vultures soaring up high. We made our way around Lopez Island after that and back into Rosario Strait. Returning to Cap Sante Marina, we couldn't have asked for a better day watching orca whales!

Bigg's Orca Pods: