Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Gray Whales
Steller Sea Lions
Harbor Seals
Bald Eagles
Great Blue Heron

March 7, 2026 | 1 PM Whale Watch

Storms were subsiding as we headed out into the Salish Sea today. Our first stop was at Bird Rocks where we found Steller sea lions who gave us looks before disappearing into the sea. On the rocks, harbor seals were laying out warming up and dozens of harlequin ducks and black turnstones zoomed all over the place. A juvenile bald eagle sat high on the rocks watching everything unfold.

We continued south from there and started to search waters that no other boat today had explored. Soon we found ourselves passing Deception Pass and heading down the shores of Whidbey Island. Just as we were preparing to head out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Captain Carl spotted a gray whale feeding in the shallow waters!

We swung in and got some great looks as the whale was going on big feeding runs. While on scene, our deckhand Eric spotted another whale offshore and so we went to investigate. This whale was on the move south and gave us a wonderful sounding of its flukes as it left. We got one last look at our first whale after that and said farewell to these migratory visitors.

We swung into Williamson Rocks on the way home and found another big bob of seals and a lone mature bald eagle perched stoically at the highest peak of the island. As we continued home from there, we got great looks at the Burrows Island Lighthouse and saw dozens of harbor porpoise on our way back to the dock!

-Tyson