Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's Killer Whales (T46Bs)
Steller Sea Lion
Tufted Puffins

June 4, 2025 | 12 PM Whale Watch

What an incredible day this turned into! We started off with conflicting feelings, torn between heading north or south to search as nothing had yet been found. Just as we’d settled on heading south, reports came in from the north. We made a U-Turn and aimed in that direction. Two minutes later, reports came in from the south! What to do, what to do… We opted for south! Another U-turn and we were on our way towards Smith Bank.

We stopped at Smith to visit with tufted puffins, rhinoceros auklets, pigeon guillemots, cormorants and more! This National Wildlife Refuge is always bustling with activity, particularly during nesting season. We’d also stopped at a navigational marker on Lawson Reef to say hello to a sleepy Steller sea lion.

We met up with the reports of whales near Eastern Bank. It was the T46Bs, a family of eight Bigg’s killer whales! It was so special to get to visit with this ever-growing family group. There are currently three(!) calves in this family, the youngest of which is just several months old. We delighted in spending one-on-one time with them, as they guided us south towards the Olympic Peninsula.

We enjoyed an adventurous cruise back across the eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca. The swells were rolling in from the Pacific, but the whales were well worth it!

- Sam