Month: September 2023

September 20, 2023

September 23, 2023 — Leave a comment

Anacortes Whale Watch 

11 AM Highlights 

Humpbacks MMX0084, BCY1124, and a youngster
Breaching young humpback

September 20, 2023 — 11 AM Whale Watch

We headed out into the Salish Sea with stormy clouds moving quickly across the sky. A good wind had us hoping that the rough weather of the last few days was on its way out but we still weren’t sure of it. Heading south in Rosario strait we swung into Castle Rock and spotted a bunch of hauled-out harbor seals, and had a few flyovers from some turkey vultures. We continued west from there on our search and as we passed Salmon Bank a transport called with reports of blows and tail flukes along the south end of McArthur Bank. Just a little ways east of McArthur we found Magpie and Scuttle, humpbacks with some impressive-looking marks on their flukes. Scuttle especially showed many rake marks on their tail flukes suggesting a few different encounters with orca whales. 

We followed them for a while before heading south to search the Eastern bank where many sea birds had been seen feeding. The bank was quiet except for the birds and so we returned to the humpbacks for a brief moment before heading toward home. We hadn’t made it far when a young humpback whale was spotted splashing off our stern. We immediately turned that way and headed over to the whale. While with the whale we realized it was quite small and possibly on its first migration without mom around anymore. We got some great looks and a fluke shot before heading back to the east. As we departed the young humpback breached out of the water, crashing down onto its side with a massive splash. With that, we stuck around a little longer and as we waved goodbye we had one more breach to send us home. We cruised back to Anacortes after that having a very great day on the water.

-Tyson

photos coming soon…

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September 17, 2023

September 18, 2023 — Leave a comment

Anacortes Whale Watch 

11 AM Highlights 

Bigg’s Killer Whales
Steller Sea Lions
Harbor Seals
Black Oyster Catchers

September 17, 2023 — 11 AM Whale Watch

Upon seeing the wind forecast for today, I put out a silent wish to Mother Nature for whales on the northern shore of Orcas Island, the only sheltered waters in the San Juan Islands. Guess what? She delivered! We spent the day in the most sheltered waters throughout the San Juans, cruising with a beautiful pod of Bigg’s killer whales, the T123s.It’d been a while since I’d seen Sidney and her kids, so it was a pleasant surprise when reports of the T60s turned out to be their doppelgängers (Stanley/T123A and Yelnats/T60C earned their inverse nicknames since they look almost identical). We met up with the pod in northern Presidents Channel and they led us up to Sucia. Twice they wowed us with a direction change and close pass, a true treat. The whole encounter took place under the watchful gaze of Kulshan/Baker, a stunning setting for a beautiful afternoon.Our route today took us past Pointer Island where we visited seals, black turnstones, cormorants and gulls. Next up was an inner island route through Wasp Passage then up to the whales. Following our Bigg’s encounter, we cruised the north side of Sucia, stopping at Clements to visit with Stellers, harbor seals, and black oyster catchers. We cruised past Matia and between Barns and Clark then down past the Cone Islands and down the east coast of Guemes. A beautiful route with no backtracking, allowing us to explore as much as possible during our time together!-Sam

photos coming soon…

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September 16, 2023

September 17, 2023 — Leave a comment

Anacortes Whale Watch 

11 AM Highlights 

Humpback Whale
Steller Sea Lions
Harbor Seals
Sea Otter

September 16, 2023 — 11 AM Whale Watch

We lucked into no fog until the very end of our journey, meaning clear seas and the ability to search throughout southern Rosario and then across the northeastern stretch of Juan de Fuca. We stopped at Bird Rocks, visiting with Steller sea lions, harbor seals and pups, many birds, and a grooming sea otter!We continued into Juan de Fuca, where an eagle-eyed passenger found a humpback whale! It looked to be the same little humpback that has been loving to feed around Salmon Bank these past weeks, and it wowed us with a dramatic lunge through a bait ball. All around it were common murres, rhinoceros auklets, cormorants, and gulls.We ventured over to Whale Rocks after our whale time, stopping to drift while watching the drama of the Steller sea lions play out. We opted for a calmer inner island route home since the swell in the strait was building. This took us past Upright Head where Captain Carl found a beautiful mature bald eagle. We had a nice harbor porpoise sighting as we entered Thatcher Pass, then we entered into the thick fog bank that had rolled into Rosario Strait. -Sam


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September 12, 2023

September 13, 2023 — Leave a comment

Anacortes Whale Watch 

11 AM Highlights 

Humpback whale
Tufted puffins
Sea otters

September 12, 2023 — 11 AM Whale Watch

Light rains finally showered the area this morning as we prepared the boat for the coming adventure. We headed out into the Salish Sea and immediately headed down Guemes Channel toward reports of a northbound humpback whale. After cruising through Thatcher we passed it just a few short minutes before Captain Carl found the whale we were looking for. We cruised along with the humpback toward Frost Island and got some great looks at the whale with a few close surfacings. The whale was pointed towards Spencer’s spit when it decided to change direction and pop up not fear off of our stern. We followed it up to Flower Island where we saw some turkey vultures and a raven with the whale swimming right underneath them. It was awesome to be seeing so much life in the area. 

After that we waved goodbye to the humpback and headed down Lopez Sound and out into Rosario Strait. We slowed down at Colville Island and spotted dozens of harbor seals hauled out of the water before heading further south, searching the area for more exotic creatures. Just north of Smith Island, we found two tufted puffins, one in breeding plumage and one non breeding. We continued on with our search to Minor Island before cruising back to the north. Stopping at Lawson Reef we found a few Steller sea lions hauled out in a marker buoy before we continued up to Bird Rocks. Searching the rocks we found our resident sea otter among dozens of harbor seals and a couple of Steller sea lions. We continued our search up toward Cypress island and into Bellingham channel before cruising back down Guemes channel passed dozens of harbor porpoises before heading into Anacortes.~Tyson





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September 11, 2023

September 12, 2023 — Leave a comment

Anacortes Whale Watch 

11 AM Highlights 

Blue skies
Bald eagles
Sea otter
T18’s orcas
T75B’s orcas
Humpback BCZ0345 Victory
Minke whale

September 11, 2023 — 11 AM Whale Watch

Leaving Cap Sante marina we immediately began seeing wildlife and had a belted king fisher perched on top of a fishing boat. We began our adventure expecting heavy fog to the west, but as we reached the end of Guemes channel, the fog had already begun to clear. We cruised out to Bird Rocks and after circling it and taking in views of Steller sea lions, harbor seals, and a multitude of birds we spotted a sea otter rolling in the water. We headed south after that to Castle Rock and the southern shores of Lopez Island. Castle Rock had a few more harbor seals and just a little further away we found an adult bald eagle perched on Swirl Rock. 

We continued west to Salmon Bank where Captain Shane found us a humpback whale. After a lot of zigging and zagging, we did get a fluke shot and determined the individual was BCZ0345 Victory. While we watched Victory, a minke whale surfaced in the distance and gave us a few looks before we powered up and continued our journey. Just past Discovery Island in the chain islets we joined the T75B’S and the T18’S for a unique Bigg’s killer whale encounter. 

On our way home to Anacortes, we stopped at Whale Rocks where tons of Steller sea lions were hauled out. We continued back toward Castle Rock and found another, or possibly the same, adult bald eagle on Swirl rocks. It has barely moved in the last few hours. We then swung into Blind Island and found a great blue heron before cruising inside Castle Rock and heading up Rosario Strait back to Anacortes.

-Tyson


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September 9, 2023

September 10, 2023 — Leave a comment

Anacortes Whale Watch

11 AM Highlights 

Bigg’s Killer Whales

Steller Sea lion 
Puffins
Harbor Seals 
Bald Eagles

September 9, 2023 — 11 AM Whale Watch

Report coming soon…

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