Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Humpback whale (CRC-20780 Kiarra)
Bigg's killer whales (T65As, T64Bs)
Gray whale
Steller sea lions
Bald Eagle

June 20, 2026 | 10 AM and 3 PM Whale Watch

This morning we turned south into Rosario Strait and cruised down the coastline of Whidbey island until we reached Admiralty Inlet. Here, captain Carl spotted a blow in the distance and we slowed to check out a humpback whale! This whale, CRC-20780 Kiarra, had previously been documented four times in the Salish Sea, six times in Monteray bay, and four times in Hawaii. Talk about a well traveled whale! We hung with Kiara for as long as we could, getting two beautiful sounding dives in between many shallower dives and frequent surfacings. Unfortunately though, Kiarra was in the mood to travel south, perhaps wanting to check out Seattle on her tour of the Salish Sea, which meant she was getting further away from home. We turned off and cruised up north, spotting a bald eagle soaring against the cliffs of Whidbey. Along our journey, we also got to check out a few steller sea lions resting on a navigational marker. We then made it to Lopez Island where we found our second whale species of the day, a gray whale! This gray whale hung around in a small bay called Shoal Bight and made slow feeding circles. Plumes of mud could be seen kicking up to the surface as this individual dove down to the loose, silty bottom. With time running out and two cetacean species under our belts, we cruised back to the dock and soaked up the sunshine as we rounded the corner back into Cap Sante.

This afternoon we received reports of killer whales up north inside Hale Pass. Wanting to investigate, we poked our heads up that way and soon came on scene with a lovely group-- the T64Bs and T65As! (Minus T65A5 Indy, but no surprise there.) This group was split in a few groups. T65A4 Elli hung back with the T64B family while T65A Artemis pushed south with her youngest daughter T65A6 Callisto. Artemis's two sons, T65A2 Ooxja and T65A3 Amira, were also moving south but on their own solo stealth missions. With this spread, there were whales popping up all around us. We hung with this group as they made their way down to Vendovi and Sinclair, and even got to see Elli and her company prey sharing and being a little social at the surface! Because of how close to home these whales were, we got to spend so much time with them, which is such a treat. At the end of the evening after a very successful day, we pointed back for home and enjoyed the gorgeous evening colors all the way back to the dock.

This evening, we were also in for an extra special bonus. After our guests had departed and as we finished up cleaning the boat, one of our deckhands heard the unmistakable sound of a whale exhalation off our stern. We all ran to the back of the boat to see Artemis, Ooxja, Amira, and Callisto surfacing right off the swim stip-- having themselves a little harbor tour!! We had never seen anything like it, and got to watch in awe as this family slowly cruised back out towards the breakwater. We joked afterwards that the harbor seals must have been stunned to see their usually safe marina infiltrated by their top predator! Encounters like this are insanely rare, but also not necessarily a cause for concern. Our Bigg's are apex predators and also wicked intelligent, and are always looking for new ways to find and catch their food. Most likely, they were doing a bit of exploring and scouting before continuing on for the evening.

Amy