Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Fin Whale!!
Gray Whales
Killer Whales
Bald Eagle
Steller Sea Lions
Harbor Seals

April 4, 2026 | 1 PM Whale Watch

What an interesting day this turned into! We’d gotten word from a friend of a group of killer whales sighed entering Bellingham Bay earlier this morning, so we set out to investigate. There’s been quite a bit of whale activity in this area of late, so we were optimistic about our odds of finding cetaceans, even if not the ones initially reported. The north winds were howling, stirring up white caps and knocking down blows quickly, so we knew we’d have to search carefully. As we passed the eastern coastline of Eliza Island, Captain Carl sighted blows against the Lummi shoreline. Elated, we went to investigate.

As we slowly approached the scene, it became clear that a large group of orcas were traveling south down Lummi. The sun glare was intense, and their blows were beautifully illuminated. Upon closer look at our photos, it became clear that these were Southern Resident Killer Whales - an infrequent sight. They would later be reported as J-pod! We slowly moved away as the pod continued on swimming together towards Vendovi Island, when a cacophonous sound came out of nowhere…

It was a fin whale! What were the odds? We proceeded to hang out with this immense being as it slowly zigzagged between Eliza Island and Lummi. One breath, then down for five minutes, testing our whale spotting skills. It honestly seemed to be playing mind games with us, switching up our direction of viewing with nearly every surfacing. But by the end, we managed to capture an ID shot to confirm it is the same fin whale (let’s call them Finley) that’s been sporadically sighted since last summer. Such a treat to find this rare whale in the Salish Sea!

We continued on our whale search and worked our way towards Bellingham Channel. With the Olympic Mountains in sight, we continued south towards calmer seas and more reports of whale activity. We made a stop at Allan Island for a beautifully posed bald eagle, small wildflowers sprouting behind it. We then found harbor seals, cormorants, scooters, and gulls at Williamson Rocks and two large Steller bulls sharing the red can nearby.

As we approached NAS Whidbey, two gray whales emerged. They were feeding in the shallows, and one was incredibly friendly! How lucky we felt to have encountered three unique species of cetaceans on our adventure today!

- Sam