Anacortes Whale Watch

Highlights

Bigg's killer whales (T99s with T37A4)
Steller sea lions
Harbor seals
Mouflon sheep
Bald eagles

August 30, 2026 | 10 AM and 3 PM Whale Watch

10 AM

This morning's adventure took us far from the docks and into the heart of the San Juan islands. Our first stop was Pointer island to check out a nice group of harbor seals and a whole bunch of cormorants. We continued west from there and made our next stop at Spieden island where we found some big herds of mouflon sheep climbing the steep rocky shores and galloping along the dry grassy hillsides of the island. We also found two bald eagles, one perched in a tree and one down near the waters edge of the island.

We put on an exhaustive search from there until reports came in from the east. We headed back through the islands and north up Rosario strait, finally joining up with the T99's who were joined by a guest whale, T37A4. We cruise with them for a while before waving goodbye and heading south east toward Anacortes. Along the way we stopped at Sinclair island to check out some Steller sea lions on a navigational buoy before we headed back to the dock.

3 PM

We headed north this afternoon up Hale's pass toward Cherry point. As we cruised we spotted lots of harbor porpoise feeding around the area and it wasn't long until we passed Lummi island and joined the T99's and T37A4. As we hung out we watched them go into a bit of stealth mode and then begin to teach some hunting skills to the youngsters in the pod. That didn't last long before it was time to divvy up the food and prey sharing began. Tail slaps and spy hops from Bella were enjoyed by everyone as the animals circled and devoured whatever prey they had taken down. Soon dinner was over and they were once again heading north, and it was time for us to say goodbye. We headed down to the Point Migley marker buoy and found a lone Steller sea lion pretending to be uninterested in our company. We got our looks and continued down the west side of Lummi island stopping at Viti rocks where we found a few harbor seals but didn't stick around long because of the foul smell-- thanks to the local birds resting on the rocks. We swung by Vendovi island to check out a couple bald eagles in the trees before we headed back to Anacortes.

- Tyson