Anacortes Whale Watch
Highlights
Humpback Whale (BCZ0180 Monarch)
Sea Lions (spiny dogfish predation)
Harbor Seals
Harbor Porpoise
September 22, 2025 | 12 PM Whale Watch
We chose to point out north today, following distant reports of humpbacks in the strait of Georgia. Passing by Sinclair we paused for a few sea lions resting on a navigational marker then continued north towards the outer islands. Passing Patos island, we left US waters behind us and plunged into BC. Cruising all the way up the gulf islands, just off shore of Campbell bay, we met up with a lovely humpback whale! This humpback had relatively small dive times, about three minutes, which allowed us lots of amazing looks. We even got a fantastic fluke shot which we used to ID this individual as BCZ0180 Monarch. Monarch spends their summers here in the Salish Sea and their winters down south in Mexico, just south of Cabo San Lucas. We spent as much time as we could with this humpback before it was time to turn back towards the south. Crossing by east point, the currents swirled and boiled, whipping up nutrients and allowing for lots of life to congregate. We spotted gulls bobbing in the water looking for baitfish, a harbor seal swimming through the currents, and lots of harbor porpoise darting back and forth. Crossing back by Patos, we got a lovely line up of the Patos island light house and Mt. Baker. Once we'd reached the south end Lummi, we spotted a sudden splashing and slowed for a sea lion predation event! This sea lion had found themselves a spiny dogfish and was having a fun time thrashing it around while gulls looked on in envy, hoping for a scrap or two. What a cool finale to a spectacular adventure!
Amy
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