Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's killer whales (T109As, T37As)
Steller sea lions
Harbor seals
Harbor porpoises
Bald eagles

August 22, 2026 | 8 AM and 1 PM Whale Watch

8 AM

What an exciting morning with Bigg's killer whales right off the bat! Cruising out into a misty gray Rosario Strait, we kept a sharp lookout for some orcas spotted in Guemes Channel about an hour prior. Scouting along Cypress Island, our deckhand Eric spotted blows near Deepwater Bay! We soon realized we had stumbled upon none other than the T109As, led by matriarch Frio!

We marveled at the size of T109A4 Garrett's dorsal fin, Frio's 14 year old son. Her other kiddos were also present, including little T109A8 Weiss, born in 2024, who was still sticking close by mom's side. We hung with this family as they crossed Rosario Strait, then turned off to investigate Pointer Island. Here, we spotted a few harbor seals, cormorants, and lots of gulls.

Then, we pushed south towards James Island to search a bit more. We spotted a bald eagle in the trees, and turned back to spend more time with Frio and her squad as they entered Thatcher Pass. Such a lovely morning and so much time spent with these gorgeous whales!

1 PM

This afternoon, we turned up Rosario Strait and scooted along the shoreline of Blakely Island. We stopped at a small exposed rock to view some harbor seals and black oystercatchers just outside of Peavine Pass before continuing north to Obstruction Pass. From there, we cruised along the shoreline of Orcas Island into East Sound.

Just up the sound, we spotted two jet black dorsal fins: one small, one large. These Bigg's killer whales turned out to be the lovely mother-son duo, T37A Volker and T37A2 Inky! The rest of the T37A family is on vacation right now, and we were missing T37A1 Inyo, T37A3 Spinnaker, and T37A4 Crinkle. Wherever they are, we hope they're having fun and not getting into too much trouble without any parental supervision! At 17 years old, Inky has a slightly different outlook on life, and has chosen to stick close to mom while his siblings are off on side quests. We got some absolutely stunning looks as these two surfaced close to shore, traveling north.

When we reached the back of the sound, we waved goodbye to this pair and cruised off to see what else we could find. Back in Rosario Strait, we visited Bird rocks, where we spotted harbor seals, gulls, cormorants, and three Steller sea lions hauled out on the grass above the rocks! After our wildlife stop here, we turned back east for Guemes channel. As we got back to the dock, the sun broke through the clouds as well— such a lovely afternoon!

-Amy