Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's Killer Whales (T18s, T49As)
Humpback Whale
Puffins
Sea Lions

August 21, 2025 | 1 PM Whale Watch

The action just kept coming today, and we were able to spend time with two seperate families of Bigg's killer whales and a humpback whale!! We began our journey pointed south towards Smith Island. Here, we came across a few tufted puffins bobbing and diving in the calm waters just past the bull kelp forests. Just west of Smith, we met up with the famous T18s, a family group of Bigg's killer whales led by one of the oldest matriarchs in the population, T19 Mooyah, who is estimated to be in her 60s. Traveling with her were her two massive adult sons, 30 year old T19B Galliano and 24 year old T19C Spouter. This fam was spread out, investigating the strait as they cruised west. We hung out Galiano while his mother and younger brother surfaced about 600 yards north of us. Galiano has a very unique dorsal fin (wide and teetering to the left) which marks him as an incredibly famous whale in this area, so it was an absolute treat to get to spend some time with him!

After saying goodbye to Mooyah and her boys we crept up to Long Island (near Lopez, not New York) and met up with a humpback whale! This whale did not show us their flukes for an ID match, but we theorized this might be Victory, a whale that has been hanging in the area for the last few days. After getting a few great surface cycles with this whale, we scooted up through Cattle Pass, making a brief stop at Whale Rocks to check out some Steller sea lions.

The flood tide ripped through Cattle and pushed us quickly along, shooting us out into Griffin Bay where we caught up with the T49As! This larger family is led by Matriarch T49A Nan. Her two oldest sons, T49A1 Noah and T49A2 Jude, were off on side quests, but the rest of the group appeared to be present. This included Nan's 14 year old son T49A3 Nat, her 11 year old son T49A4 Neptune, her 8 year old daughter Nebula, and her newest calf T49A6 Charlie II born in 2022. It was so fun to see Nat's dorsal fin beginning to grow taller as he reaches his teenage years. In the next few years, his dorsal will continue to sprout until he resembles his older brothers, Noah and Jude! After such an action packed day, we cruised back up through the islands and out Thatcher Pass, headed for home. What a phenomenal afternoon exploring around the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the San Juans!

-Amy

Days that allow us to spend time with multiple family groups of killer whales are rare. These animals are highly nomadic, and are always on the move. Typically, in order to get multiple family groups, we'll have to travel further and search longer. If you've been itching to potentially see multiple pods of Bigg's killer whales, as well as humpbacks, minkes, and a long list of other marine life that calls the Salish Sea home, check out our 6-7 hour full day tour departing September 19th.

We'll spend hours on the water searching hard for anything and everything we can, and wrap up the day with a gorgeous sunset over the islands. This is the ultimate deal for seasoned photographers and first time whale watchers alike. Enjoy the comfort of the Island Explorer 5 and our full onboard lunch and dinner menu all while experiencing the Salish Sea like never before. We'll see you out there!