Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Minke Whales
Bald Eagles
Steller Sea Lions
Harbor Seals

July 25, 2025 | 9 AM, 1 PM, and 5 PM Whale Watch

We started off the dock heading through Guemes Channel and then heading inner island. Before entering Thatcher Pass, we got great looks of a mature Bald Eagle on top of the navigation marker. We continued on our way through Thatcher and got to see an incredible view of the inner islands before turning in Upright channel. We made a turn towards Canada and searched out far into the straights working along side the other boats in the area. After coming up short in the North, we made our way back down around the outer islands. We stopped at white rock and saw some harbor seals thermoregulating out on the rocks, along with some stellar sea lions on top the navigation marker.

What an afternoon! With weather reports clearing up from yesterday to today down in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, we decided to turn outside of Guemes Channel and head towards the south end of Lopez Island traveling quickly through Rosario, then slowing down to see what wildlife we could find on the south end of Lopez island and Castle rock. We lucked out! We saw bald eagles, dozens of pigeon guillemots, harbor seals in and out of the water, and two turkey vultures snacking on carcass they found along the south end of Lopez. We picked up speed and went to check out some of the shallow banks in the area with lots of bird activity. The last bank we searched was Salmon bank, and right before we left our crew was able to spot our first whales of the day in the whole area, we thought for sure one minke whale but maybe even more were popping up. But turns out we had at least 3 with us! Not only did we get multiple views of the minke whales, we also saw them skim feeding at the surface. Our passengers were excited to see some whale action after that search! We celebrated and then went on our way back towards the dock, as our trip time had come to an end!

With different weather reports coming in from all over the Salish Sea, we decided it was our best odds to head down south to continue our search for the day. We turned south into Rosario and were pleasantly surprised to see the ocean had died down since the afternoon, giving us miles of clear visibility in calm waters. We stopped at a navigation buoy to view some stellar sea lions cuddling on top of the marker. Then our search continued as we scanned a large chunk of water while slowing down near and around the shallow banks that were full of bird activity. All though the crew and passengers searched hard, we were not able to spot any whales on this evenings trip. We made our turn home and decided to search closer to shore and to see if we could get some evening luck! We turned toward Cattle Pass and checked out the dozens of stellar sea lions hanging out on top of Whale rocks. The sea lions were playing king of the hill! We saw multiple duos trying to battle for spots on the rocks and plenty swimming in the water as well. Next, we went to the south end of Lopez again and were able to see a belted kingfisher, seals, and lots of bull kelp on or around Castle rock. Before making our way back to Guemes Channel we made a stop at Bird rocks and to view a bald eagle on our back into Guemes Channel.

Looking forward to our guests being able to use their fluke passes out with us again, as they were all enthusiastically searching throughout the whole tour for us! You never know what can happen over night!

Whale wishes,

Clare