Weekly Whale Watch Report: 03/22/26 – 03/31/26

A Biggs transient orca tail-slapping in the Salish Sea. Photo credit: Naturalist Sophia Madden

Whales in Anacortes WA: Who We Saw

What a way to wrap up the end of the month! The last week of March brought us five species of whales, the most we’ve seen in one week, yet. Across nine tours, we encountered a whopping 51 whales!

Species Seen This Week

Killer Whale - Total: 38

Humpback Whale - Total: 3

Gray Whale - Total: 8

Minke Whale - Total: 1

Fin Whale - Total: 1

Individual Whales Seen This Week

Killer Whale:

We encountered orcas 6 times and identified 38 individuals across 6 matrilines.

These included:

• T36s

• T36A1s

• T49As 

• T86A1s

• T99s

• T137s

Humpback Whale:

We encountered humpback whales 3 times.

These included:

• Split Fin 

• Gretzky 

• ZigZag 

Gray Whale:

We encountered gray whales 8 times.

These included:

• Hattie

• 2 unknown gray whales

Minke Whale:

We encountered minke whales 1 time. We did not get an identification on the whale.

Fin Whale:

We encountered fin whales 1 time. We did not get an identification on the whale, although it is believed to be the same whale that first appeared in the Salish Sea in September 2025.

Highlights from Anacortes Whale Watching Tours

In addition to the whales spotted this week, our guests were fortunate to come across our famous sea otter, Dexter. Dexter is one of only a handful of sea otters that call the Salish Sea home.

Guests were also lucky enough to witness the fin whale lunge feeding, surging out of the water to skim the surface for food.

As March comes to an end, we’re eager to see what April has to bring! 

If you want to see more photos and videos from our tours, check out our social media accounts! Find us on Instagram @outerislandx, TikTok @outerislandexcursions, and Facebook as "Outer Island Excursions".