Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Humpback Whales (Split Fluke & Gretzky)
Bigg's Killer Whales (T60s)
Steller Sea Lions
Harbor Seals
Bald Eagles
Mouflon Sheep

March 21, 2026 | 1 PM Whale Watch

We headed out of Cap Sante with blue skies all around and the sun shining for the first time in a while. Searching down Rosario Strait we made our way over to Bird Rocks and found a nice bob of harbor seals as well as a few Harlequin ducks and a juvenile bald eagle.

We continued north from there into the heart of the San Juan Islands before carving our way down San Juan Channel where we found at least 5-6 eagles fishing among a large group of gulls. We then ventured through Cattle Pass and over to False Bay to join BCX1068 "Split Fluke" and MMX0099 "Gretzky." These are two humpback whales that have been coming to the Salish sea for many years. We got some great looks and even got some views of their flukes as the dove deep on their journey up the coast of San Juan Island.

We waved goodbye and then crossed Haro straight to calmer seas in Banes Channel and followed the T60s pod of Bigg's killer whales as they traveled toward D'Arcy Island. This pod of orcas gave us some great looks and as usual they were missing T60D and E who often travel separately. We got to spend a good chunk of time with these orcas and even had a pass from Yelnats, the mature oldest son of Panthera.

From there we headed back to the states and swung briefly over to Spieden Island where we saw some herds of mouflon sheep and rams before checking out a big haul out of Steller sea lions on the end of the island. We headed back through the islands from there and made our way home!

-Tyson