Anacortes Whale Watch  Highlights: Bigg's killer whales (T65A's) Harbor seals  Steller sea lions  Bald eagles  April 14, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch With early morning reports far to the north and far to the south we had a heavy coin to flip and a big choice to make. Cruising out of Guemes Channel we turned south and made our way to Williamson Rocks. We stopped for a bit to enjoy all the wildlife that was out on this breezy morning. An adult bald eagle was perched atop the island and lots of harbor seals were on the rocks below. Just beyond the wildlife sanctuary, we spott ..read more

Anacortes Whale Watch  Highlights: Bigg's killer whales (T49A's) Harbor seals  Sea otter Bald eagles  Steller sea lions April 13, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch With an early report coming in from Friday Harbor we headed out into a beautiful day on the Salish Sea. Our first stop was Bird Rocks where we found some harbor seals and a bald eagle. Continuing south with the northerly winds, we swung into Colville Island and found a few more harbor seals. As we cruised west from there the winds continued to die down and soon we approached Whale Rocks which was very active today. Dozens ..read more

Anacortes Whale Watch  Highlights: Bigg's killer whales (T99's, T124D's, T100's, and T87) Bald eagles Harbor seals  Steller sea lions April 11, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch Island Adventures gets all the gold stars today, for finding not one, but two separate groups of Bigg’s killer whales! Our whale encounters started near Eastern Bank, where I sighted a towering dorsal fin quickly slice through a nearby current line. It turned out to be Harbeson, T87, the oldest known male in the west coast Bigg’s population! He wowed us with some tail slaps and a breach, making the crew wonder if ..read more

Anacortes Whale Watch  Highlights: Steller sea lions  Sea stars  Bald eagles Bald eagle nest! April 7, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch We started the day with a report of whales offshore of Bellingham earlier in the morning. With optimism that we could locate the pod, we left the marina to start our search. We stopped along eastern Guemes Island, where sea stars were dotting the intertidal zone and an active bald eagle’s nest was being tended to by a mated pair. From there, we continued into the Bay, taking our time to search as we approached Fairhaven. The wind was blowing from the ..read more

 Anacortes Whale Watch  Highlights: Bigg's killer whales (T100's, T101A, and T101B) Gray whale Harbor seals  Bald eagles April 6, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch Heading out in overcast conditions, we were in high spirits and feeling lucky! We stopped at Bird Rocks for our first slow-down of the day. We found a large group of cormorants drying off and harbor seals hauled out on the rocks warming themselves up before their next dip into the icy waters of the Salish Sea. Continuing south, we stopped to enjoy a mature bald eagle perched on the wildlife sanctuary sign of Colville Island ..read more

 Anacortes Whale Watch  Highlights: Bigg's killer whales (T124A's, T124A1's, T87) Steller sea lions  Turkey vultures Harbor seals  Bald eagles  April 5, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch Today was so wonderful! We watched fresh snow falling in the Olympic mountain range, making for a breathtaking and dramatic backdrop for today’s wildlife encounters. We started with a slowdown at Colville Island, where two mature bald eagles and several harbor seals were gathered. The eagle’s plumage was fluffed up against the chilly spring winds, while the harbor seals seemed to be doing th ..read more

 Anacortes Whale Watch  Highlights: Bigg's killer whales (T65's) Harbor seals  Steller sea lions Bald eagles  Mouflon sheep & fallow deer April 3, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch We got to visit with not just one, but two branches of the incredible T65 matrilineal tree today! Our first whale encounter took place just east of the D’arcy Islands, where Chainsaw’s unmistakable dorsal cut through the water as he maintained a steady 6knot pace. The more subtle fin of his presumed mother, Whidbey, appeared shortly after, both traveling north with purpose. Perhaps their behavior wa ..read more

 Easter Extended Range Tour  Highlights: 192 miles covered Bigg's killer whales Harbor seals Steller sea lions California Sea lions  Harbor seals  Bald eagles  Mouflon sheep Fallow deer Sika deer  so many birds!  March 31, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch We beat a record today for most miles covered on a single Island Adventures trip! After eleven hours of exploring the beautiful Salish Sea, we’d covered 196 nautical miles! Wow! Let’s recap: We started at Bird Rocks with sleepy Stellers, a few hauled out harbor seals, some active and vocal bald eagles, black oyste ..read more

 Anacortes Whale Watch 11 AM Highlights: Five gray whales! Harbor seals Steller sea lions March 30, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch We headed out into the Salish Sea today and started our journey south into Rosario Strait. Stopping at Williamson Rocks for our first slow down, we found a nice group of harbor seals and a bunch of pigeon guillemots. We continued south to Deception Pass and continued down into Saratoga Passage where we found five different gray whales. The first whale we started with was #56 Stardust, he gave us a great show and surfaced a lot near the boat. We moved off and got a ..read more

 Anacortes Whale Watch  11 AM Highlights: Gray whale Steller sea lion Harbor seals  Bald eagles March 29, 2024 --11 AM Whale Watch With Thursday's storms having blown through the area we once again were graced with beautiful waters and sunny conditions. We headed out to Bird Rocks where we found a Steller sea lion and two adult bald eagles along with a bunch of harbor seals. We headed south from there to Castle Rock and spotted another adult bald eagle as well as many more harbor seals. Making a wide loop toward Smith Island to search, we continued to cruise back to the east an ..read more