Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's Killer Whales (T65, T63, T36s)
Humpback Whales

July 2, 2025 | 1 PM Whale Watch

What an epic day we had today!! With reports close by to the north, we turned out of Cap Sante Marina and headed for the back side of Guemes Island. Rounding up by Vendovi, we spotted the impressive dorsal fin of T63, Chainsaw! This iconic male was traveling with his mother T65 Whidbey by his side. Hanging out with this mother and son pair were the T36's, led by T36 Flapjack. When we first arrived on scene, we witnessed Flapjack's grand daughter T36B1 Bhotia launch across the surface with a harbor porpoise locked in her jaws. Also present was Bhotia's new calf Maple, born just last year and still looking as cute as ever. We witnessed some moonwalking behavior-- where members of the Bigg's killer whale population will surface in reverse-- indicating that they were most likely feeding on the porpoise Bhodia had just flung around. Once this group had finished up lunch, they moved south gradually together. We cruised along with them until we reached Bellingham Channel, when more reports came in from just north of us. Deciding to say goodbye to these orcas for now, we turned and headed towards Cypress Island. Here, we acquired two mature humpback whales keeping each other company. We got to see several beautiful surfacings and deep arching flukes as these giants took their deep dives. With word from other captains that the orcas from earlier were still in the area, we decided to finish off the day meeting back up with them. Just off Burrows Island, we reacquired Chainsaw and Whidbey, as well as Flapjack and her family. These whales decided to seek a little bit of shelter from the wind chop coming in from the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the inside of Burrows Island, where the surface conditions were far more pleasant and the wind was cut by Allen Island. Here, T65 and T63 split from the T36's and continued south. We chose to keep hanging out with the T36s as they began hunting again close to the shoreline of Burrows Island. In the flat calm of the lee of the island, we watched as a plume of blood bloomed from the deep-- signaling these expert hunters had found themselves another meal. Talk about a carnage filled day. It's rare to see one episode of active predation in a trip, let alone two! We also witnessed more moonwalking and even an exaggerated spy hop from one member of the family, checking out the surface and celebrating the hunt! With our time up, we cruised the short journey home down Guemes Channel and back to the dock. This was one of the most whale-packed days I've had in a long time. We saw not one but two species of whales and so many different behaviors. It was so amazing to be able to watch these groups change their mood up so many times, from hunting, to feeding, to socializing, to traveling, to hunting once again!

-Amy