Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's killer whales (T109As)
Minke whale
Steller sea lions
Harbor seals & pups
Bald eagles

July 18, 2026 | 8 AM, 1 PM and 5 PM Whale Watch

8 AM

A lovely misty morning greeted us as we departed from the dock and headed towards a fresh search for wildlife. A young harbor seal pup popped up next to the boat as we exited the marina, with mom close behind. With all the water in the Salish Sea yet to be explored, we pointed south to see what was in store. We slowed at Colville Island, as the sun slowly began peeking from behind the clouds. Lounging harbor seals welcomed us as we cruised by, and a bald eagle stood on the point of the island, surveying our vessel with sharp eyes. We pushed further south to Hein Bank, where we quickly noticed several energetic bait balls forming at the surface. Watching and waiting, we inched towards the activity, when suddenly every bird leapt from the surface into the air! A speedy, torpedo-shaped dorsal fin broke through the surface, and we confirmed it was a minke whale! This slinky minke was true to its name throughout our encounter, surfacing several times far from where we anticipated. After spending some time with this feeding whale busting through bait balls, we said goodbye and pushed north towards whale rocks. We heard them before we saw them! Dozens of male stellar sea lions were stretched across the rocks, loudly grunting and declaring superiority over their neighbor. Several swam in the water below, and others later jumped in to join them. On our journey home, we cruised by castle island, and were greeted by noisy pigeon guillemots flitting around near the water’s surface and crash landing in the waves. Around the last corner, a mom and pup harbor seal pair emerged, and they stayed at the surface as we slowly inched past. Our journey home was sunny with clear blue skies, and it was calm sail back into Cap Sante Marina. -Juna

1 PM

What a beautiful afternoon! With few reports coming off the dock, we were feeling hopeful to find whales somewhere that hadn't been searched yet! We were going to head inner island when we got word that there were killer whales, but they were a good distance away. Captain Carl made the call to head that way and go for it! We had to head straight there to make sure we got to see them and when we did we were so happy we made that long journey into Canada to see the very active T109A pod. There were 6 whales (including a calf) with them!! We got to see them spy hop, tail slap, and be active on the surface. Eventually, since we went almost to Victoria, we had to make the turn to head back home. Along the way back, we saw two sleep stellar sea lions on a navigation marker in Rosario Straight. It was an awesome afternoon filled with lots of activity! -Clare

5 PM

In the words of Mamma Mia… “what a night!!”
We had thought the whales we had seen in the afternoon were heading out of our range and fast, but the second we heard they slowed down… we had to go back for more with our new group! We made another long journey through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and into Haro Strait all the way to the Chapain Islands in Canada. Right away, the T109A pod was splashing, tail slapping, and clearly hunting. We got to see what they were chasing down and corralling.. an unlucky harbor seal or two! The big male, Garret, was playing in the seaweed and bull kelp and was even dragging it along his dorsal fin at times! The whales were in such an interesting area.. very shallow, lots of small rocks and islands making it an adventure to keep track and of them in the bay. Luckily they were rolling on their backs and belly's, splashing and hunting, which gave us good direction where to look! Eventually the whales went down on a deep dive and went far away fast so we had to depart and continue our search elsewhere. On our way home we got to see bald eagles, stellar sea lions and a BEAUTIFUL view of Mt Baker and Mt Erie over Rosario Strait. Calling this evening beautiful doesn't do it justice. -Clare