Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's Killer Whales (T18s)
Harbor Seals
Bald Eagles
Mouflon Sheep

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

A heavy fog blanketed the Salish Sea this morning as we headed out on our search. We sailed up behind Guemes Channel and found small pockets of clear visibility before being swallowed back up by fog in Rosario Strait. Continuing onward into the Strait of Georgia we began to see the fog burn off and visibility return, giving us more hope for a successful search. We scanned the waters all the way up to Tumbo Island before getting a call from some colleagues of whales not far from us. We headed down Boundary Pass to Spieden Channel and joined the T19's at Sentinel Island. They were circling the island and scouting for breakfast which gave us a beautiful back drop. After enjoying time With Nootka, Galiano, and Spouter we headed down Spieden Island and enjoyed spotting herds of mouflon sheep before heading back to Anacortes.

We headed out on what seemed like almost a new day with all the fog of the morning gone from the Salish Sea. A great blue heron was hunting outside of the marina and a few harbor seals were seen swimming in Guemes Channel. We headed west through Thatcher Pass and made our way quickly to the west toward reports of orcas heading into Canada. The weather was beautiful and eventually as we reached Imrie Island we joined up with the T19's. They were circling the island and scouting for seals, with Galiano's massive dorsal fin rising out of the water just a little ways from a big bob of harbor seals. They circled the small rocky island for sometime before pushing off shore seeming to not wish to waste time flushing seals off the rocks. We waved goodbye to the orcas and headed back to the east. After we returned to the US, we cruised down Spieden Island and found a couple mouflon sheep on the rocky shores feeding on algae and a bald eagle perched on a small tree on the edge of the island. From there we enjoyed a beautiful cruise back through the San Juan Islands to Anacortes.

As we left Cap Sante we spotted a few great blue herons feeding in the shallows just outside of the marina. We headed west and cruised through Thatcher pass and Pole Pass. In Pole Pass we watched an adult bald eagle swoop down and snag a small fish before landing back in a madrona tree to eat it. We then continued west and made our way over to Imrie Island once again where the T19's has continued to scout and hunt harbor seals. After sometime we followed them further north from the small island before finally waving goodbye to Nootka and her two huge sons Galiano and Spouter. We cruised along Spieden Island on our return to Anacortes. With the cool evening air settling in we saw many sitka and follow deer as well as many herds of mouflon sheep. There were even a few adult bald eagles in different trees along the island. As we cruised home we got some gorgeous views of Koma Kulshan near Upright head before heading back in to Cap Sante marina.

-Tyson