Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's Killer Whales (T34As, T37s, T49As)
Humpback Whale (HW-MN0510828)
Steller Sea Lions
Harbor Seals

October 26, 2025 | 12 PM Whale Watch

We can’t think of a more fitting end to our October whale watches that spending a spooky afternoon with several pods of Bigg’s killer whales and winning front row seats to a rather gruesome harbor seal hunt.

We were truly spoiled by whale encounters today, with three separate sightings that included two species and fifteen whales! It started near White Rock, where the T49As (minus A2) were in hunting mode. It was really special to see big brother Noah (T49A2) back with the pod, his immense dorsal towering above his siblings. Following a deeper dive, the whole family surprised us by surfacing off the bow, two harbor seals between the six Bigg’s. It was a little hard to watch the two seals disappear beneath the waves after several bouts of circling and corralling by the killer whales. These predators are efficient, and soon enough a slick formed at the surface and gulls flocked in to pick up any leavings.

We worked west from there, cruising along the back side of Spieden where bird mills were forming up, eagles joining the frenzy. As we rounded the southern side, herds of mouflon sheep, sika deer and fallow deer came into view. We also sighted several more eagles amongst them. While our focus was on the exotic life, visiting crew member Juna sighted a humpback off the starboard side! This little whale turned out to be HW-MN0510828, a humpback first officially documented in Happy Whale this year around the Salish Sea. This little whale wowed us with several dramatic soundings amongst flocks of Bonaparte’s gulls, and then some lucky passengers witnessed a full breach as we were leaving!

We rounded out the Spieden tour with some immense Steller bulls hauled out near Green Point, then worked our way back through the heart of the San Juan’s via Wasp and Thatcher Passes. As we exited Thatcher, a fellow whale watching boat sighted fins north of James Island. We slowed to scan with them, and sure enough the T34s & T37s appeared! This four-generation family was spread into three groups. We saw Rocky, Pachamama & Amaru first, this littlest addition to the family born just last year. Trailing them was Harald, Lance and Slice. Two were further off so we can’t confirm with photos, but safe to assume it was likely Grace and Sonder. We were delighted by the whale bonus and epic grand finale to our packed day!

-Sam