Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

15-20 Humpbacks
Bigg's killer whales (T49As)
Harbor Seals
Bald Eagles

July 3, 2025 | 1 PM and 5 PM Whale Watch

We’re off to humpback land! A magical place that shifts with the tides and prey availability, but today it lay just beyond Dungeness Spit. From the looks of it, there were somewhere between 15-20 humpbacks in the area, and we confirmed IDs of five of them with the help of Happy Whale:

CRC-21104
CRC-17360 “Hornet”
CRC-15724 “Bullwinkle”
CRC-21049
CRC-18676 “Exclamation”

Watching them socialize, catch their breath after deep foraging dives, and show some mutual curiosity was such a treat! We even watched some Dall’s porpoise zooming back and forth around the humpbacks! Such a fun trip.

We also visited with some very photogenic harbor seals at Colville Island, and a mature bald eagle. With the growing Juan de Fuca swell, these seals were displaying their best mermaid possess as the surf crashed around them. We definitely got a taste of the westerlies that have been prevailing in Juan de Fuca this week, but it was worth it for the epic humpback encounter we shared.

We began our journey heading north towards Lummi Island. Just north of Lummi, we briefly stopped at a channel marker to watch some Steller sea lions compete for the best spot on the marker. After viewing the bickering pinnipeds, we continued on to the Belle Chain Islands. There we saw many harbor seals hauled out on the rocks, including a newborn pup! Several Bald Eagles were also observed feeding on what was left of a marine mammal carcass.

We continued deeper into Canada through Gorgeson Pass and were fortunate enough to meet up with a pod of Bigg's killer whales on the other side. The family were the T49As, and we watched them travel as a family under the canopy of Arbutus trees that lined the coast. We made our way home via Navy Channel and then on through the inner San Juan Islands with beautiful golden hour lighting illuminating the landscape.

-Eric & Sam