Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Humpback Whales
Bigg's Killer Whales
Sea Lions
Harbor Seals

August 2, 2025 | 9 AM, 1 PM, and 5 PM Whale Watch

With renewed optimism, and mellowing conditions to the south, we set out on our afternoon adventure.

We worked our way towards Bird Rocks, spying rhinoceros auklets and cormorants as we cruised. The islands were playing host to harbor seals and countless birds today! Little glaucous-winged gull chicks were gaining confidence and wandering about the grass, double crested cormorants were nesting at the peak, Brant’s cormorants were huddled closer to the waterline and dozens of Heermann’s gulls were huddled up and snoozing. We also saw some sneaky black turnstones and heard black oyster catchers.

We continued south towards Juan de Fuca from here, grateful to see conditions had calmed considerably, opening up our search radius. Just south of Salmon Bank, three humpback whales were socializing! We were able to ID one as “Hydra” (CRC 15971) from their dorsal fin, another was IDed by a fellow trusted naturalist as the 2022 calf of Alma (CRC 21557), and the third humpback with dark flukes will remain a mystery! These three were socializing and rolling at the surface, at times flicking flukes, trumpeting and kelping! It was so fun to watch this social interaction.

We visited Whale Rocks next, enjoying watching the antics of all the gathered Steller sea lions, though not enjoying the smell as much as the sights… Our return trip included a brief stop with the humpback trio as they neared Colville Island, followed by smooth sailing home to Anacortes.

Double header for our trip this evening! It started with two humpbacks, Hydra and a companion cruising past the Burrow’s Island Lighthouse. They showed their flukes before deeper dives, beautiful waterfalls cascading from their tails with each sounding. Alas, though flukes were shown, we didn’t have an angle needed for IDing our second mystery whale.

We continued south, reaching Eastern Bank where we caught up with the T46s, “Strider” specifically. The rest of the family was about a half a mile ahead, and conditions were building, so we enjoyed the company of Strider and he seemed to find us curious as well! With the dramatic wildfire smoke layer amongst the Olympic peaks, and the setting sun turning the sky an orange hue, it was as if we were living inside the mind of a skilled artist. We’ll have those visuals painted in our minds for a long time to come.

On the way home, we made a stop for a tufted puffin search near Smith! We found one, kicking with its little orange feet and surfing the swell. It was a perfect end to an epic evening of encounters! Those that stayed outside once we picked up speed were rewarded with a couple of bonus TUPU sightings as we left Smith Bank.

-Sam