Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's killer whales (T49As & T46Bs)
Gray whale
Steller sea lions
Harbor seals
Bald eagles

July 7, 2026 | 10 AM and 3 PM Whale Watch

The theme of the day today was Spy hops. We started off yesterday morning not sure where the adventure would take us, right off the bat we got to see Gray Whale CRC- 2702 just off of Decatur Island. We got to see some great looks of this whale before continuing on our search. We went North and slowed down along North Pea Pod rock to watch at least 6 Bald Eagles cooperatively share and take turns eating a carcass that was left behind on the shore. Just as we started to pull away, Captain Carl spotted the first killer whales of the day in our area! Turns out it was the T49A family, and they were happy to see us! We got to spend quality time with this pod as the spy hopped and zig zagged. We eventually left the scene when the whales quickly got to Barnes and Clark Island and made our turn back home. We cruised behind Guemes Island and saw 2 Stellar Sea Lions on the cruise home.

Our theme of the day continued this afternoon but with a different pod of whales, spy hops were on repeat this evening! We started our afternoon trip heading to the same whales that we had this morning, the T49A family. We were able to meet up with them just past Lummi Island. They were moving quickly and were changing behavior, distance apart from one another, and direction frequently! Eventually, as they continued to travel away from our home base, we decided to make the turn and see what else we could find. As we made our way towards Bellingham Channel, we got word of the T46Bs being in the area. It wasn't long after our boat got on scene that we realized the T46Bs were on a kill and eating. We saw multiple spy hop celebrations from different members of the group, we even saw some of what they were eating hanging out of their mouths as they came up to celebrate and spy hop! Eventually, it was time to make our turn back towards the dock. It was a beautiful evening with flat calm waters and beautiful lighting for photos! What a great day out exploring the Salish Sea.

-Clare