Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's killer whales (T75Bs)
Humpback whale
Great Blue Herons
Bald eagles
Stellar sea lions

July 31, 2026 | 8 AM and 1 PM Whale Watch

8 AM

The Island Explorer 5 wins the gold star this morning! We set off on a hunt before any other boats this morning and we were determined to find the first whales of the day. We started our search behind Guemes Island and then headed towards Lummi and Sinclair Island. We stopped at Huckleberry Island along the way because we saw 7 Great Blue Herons in the tree tops along with a Bald Eagle! We also saw Stellar Sea Lions on the navigation marker taking a snooze. We then decided to turn and head inner Island towards Cattle Pass. We went through the pass and scanned Salmon Bank and Middle Bank hard! We eventually found a lone Humpback Whale that got curious with us and showed us a fluke three times! This was the first whale found of the day! We were able to ID this whale as CRC-2930. We eventually had to depart the scene on the West Side of San Juan Island and made our way towards South end of Lopez Island. We thought our wild life viewing when all of a sudden Captain Carl spotted a black dorsal fin cruising barely above the surface chasing after something. We waited to confirm but quickly realized we had four Orcas in the area! Turns out it was the T75B pod. We got to see them chasing something away from the shoreline pointing into the Strait of Juan de Fuca before we really had to go and head back to the dock. What a lucky start to our day!! -Clare

1 PM

What a wonderful afternoon we had! We left the dock with knowledge of some whales close to home. We were fortunate enough to have calm waters and some nice warm sun rays beaming down on us as we did a slow cruise up the backside of Guemes Island, stopping at Huckleberry Island to see a mature Bald Eagle. We continued in our cruise all the way up to Bellingham Bay. Just as we approached Fairhaven, we spotted our first whales of the afternoon. We got to see the T36 family of Orcas cruising right along the shoreline! They were tail slapping as we arrived and then ducked in close to the Alaska State ferry terminal as they continued their cruise into the Bay. We got to spend some quality time with these Orcas before making our turn. We got to stop and see Harbor Seals and Stellar Sea Lions along the cruise home. The stellar was fishing right off of our port side and had to fight off lots of gulls from trying to take its fish! It was a warm, sunny evening with a wonderful display of lots of wildlife the Salish Sea has to offer. -Clare