The 99’s off of Cypress and Cone Islands on 6/18/25 by Lincoln Humphry
June 16th
We were glad to have a report to start from early in the morning, saying there were whales going east from Patos Island, so we headed North to go look for that group.
We stopped at Viti for our usual visit with harbor seals and birds; Lots of cormorants were fanning their wings and sitting in nests. Checked out Stellers near Sinclair Island. They were sleepy and cuddly. We trended north to the east of Clark Island and up to Alden Bank. We stayed in open water to search for whales, when a report came up of another group along Orcas Island.
The T65Bs were headed north and had unexpected movements. They were not traveling in a regular pattern but instead popping up in different directions, with a couple close passes by us! This is always a special encounter: the up close visuals and sounds spouts. Made the journey home down Hail Pass and saw the county operated Lummi Ferry.
June 17th
We went south of Eliza Island today, and stopped to see harbor seals at Eliza rocks. Some very plump seals out there. Some very small ones too!! Took a peak at the Cone Islands: the setting for the opening of Free Willy. Headed innerisland through Peavine.
Saw lots of harbor porpoise feeding in the current lines of Cross Sound.
Good reports coming in about 8 orcas whales in San Juan Channel heading South.
Turned out to be the T65B’s, lead by Chunk; and the T75B’s, lead by Pebbles. They took us through Cattle Pass with some ripping currents through the channel. We had fun watching them ride the tides. They gave us good looks at them porpoising: launching the majority of their body out of the water while moving forward at speed. There is less resistance in the air than water, so when they need to sprint, they will porpoise. So cool to see the power they exert getting their bodies out of the water.
Stopped by Whale Rocks to see some Steller sea lions. Lots of females or juveniles and a few large males. Lots of vocalizations and sleepy lions. We spotted a mature eagle in the trees off the east side of Mcardle Bay near Lopez too.
We encountered over 50 harbor porpoises at Clark Point on the north end of Guemes Island! So many at the surface at once, some proposing to chase fish, lots of splashing and great looks at these speedy critters that are common, but usually pretty illusive. What a “porpoisey” day!
June 18th
We love it when the whales come to us!
We left Bellingham Bay with some promising reports of whales in the area. We made our classic initial stop at Viti Rocks with great looks at the double crested cormorant nests and many glaucous winged gulls. There were a couple harbor seals hanging out in the water poking their heads out too. We made our way to our standard second stop at the Sinclair buoy and found three sleepy sea lions hauled out.
It didn’t take us long to get to our whale friends, as the T99’s were cruising north through Bellingham channel! All 5 members of the pod were present and feasting on marine mammals as we came on scene. They had been reported 3 hours prior almost in the same spot we got on scene. In those 3 hours, this pod circumnavigated Cypress island.
It was very fitting to see orca whales on the east side of the island, as Free Willy’s beginning scenes were shot here! We took a short break from the whales and ventured towards Obstruction Pass getting some beautiful looks at Blakey and Orcas Island. We found a good colony of harbor seals hauled out on both North and South Peapod Rocks. It’s always fun to see them in their classic banana shape sunbathing.
We had to take one more peek at some more Stellars, getting to see one in the water flipping a fish around! Thanks to Captain Cassidy, we got a second look at the beautiful T99 pod as the cherry on top of a fantastic day. They were pretty sleepy, showing off their slow, rhythmic breathing pattern, but they came right by the front of the boat, before we headed back home. So much whale time thanks to their location!
June 19th
We started the day with reports of whales near Deception Pass this morning, but nothing concrete. As we got off the dock we looked at harbor seal pups, pigeon guillemots, and more at our standard starting points. There were theee stellers on a can and two were sleepy but one was lively and standing on their flippers. He was making some noise and scratching himself.
Went down Rosario strait, past Deception island and hung out with the T99s.
At first they were grouped up close and tight, but towards the end they were spread out at a wide distance. Barakat and Holly are easy to identify. Barakat is a sprouting male and Holly has some prominent notches in her dorsal fin.
On the bird watch: we got to see six tufted puffins. And the first sighting of the season for us of a Heerman’s gull. There was an otter at bird rocks, he had a clam he was trying to crack open. Could see and hear the clacking of his rock on his belly, so cute. There were two belted Kingfishers through Castle Rock.
June 20th
No reliable reports in the morning, just possible sightings. Today’s reports actually came from the WSDOT ferry reporting to the PWWA that there were whales in the area.
Wanting to get eyes on the chance of whales as soon as possible, we went straight to where they were spotted in the morning. We traveled through Peavine Pass into Cross Sound, and met up with two orcas on the east side of Shaw Iisland. Interestingly, it was just two whales, and one was male. Usually they travel in larger groups.
There were lots of boats out shrimping, and the whales ventured into Fisherman’s Bay. Interesting again, as I’ve never seen whales there before! Stopped at Peapod Rocks on the way home, and there were loads of harbor seals.
June 21
Viti Rocks had some action going on today! 4 eagles: 3 mature and one juvenile dive bombing the gulls, cormorants, and each other! Some standard hauled out seals, but the eagles stole the show. Three Stellers on the channel marker, 1 big male grumpily woke up from his nap and kicked one of the smaller ones off. That one swam up close to the boat looking for refuge but soon realized we were not a good haul out.
Worked our way through obstruction pass to meet up with T38C & E (Borrowman and Hocker) swimming south through Eastsound which is a unique spot to see whales as there is no outlet. Borrowman has a unique white birthmark on the bottom of the right side of his dorsal fin making him very easy to ID. These were two brothers out and about away from moms pod too. A very unique sighting. Kept up with them as they brought us back through Obstruction Pass to the east side of Orcas. We hugged the coast line our whole encounter.
Peeled off and took a peek at Peapod Rocks to see more harbor seals, a black oystercatcher, and more eagles! Went north cruising between Barnes and Clark island. Stunning looks at the Madrona trees and coast lines on our way home. Made our way back home via Hales Passage. A special day with two brothers, lots of eagles and all the critters in between!
June 22nd
A standard Viti Rocks / Sinclair Buoy stop. with 3 sea lions on the marker all resting.
Early reports of whales in Thatcher Pass. Served lunch and took some time cruising the west side of Cypress Island.
The whales were in the middle of the ferry lanes, and it was a busy day. Cheers from ferry passengers as the ferry hugged the far side of the channel. We were watching the T65Bs, Chunk: the matriarch, Birdsall: her 14 year old son, Nettle: who was 6 (which made 4 human kids on board very proud to have her be the same age) and Rook who is 2.
The whales were taking some pretty long down times, but we got to see them change up behaviour to get some lunch.! No obvious catch above the water, but lots of rolling and splashing as they paused at the southern point of Blakely Island, followed by a spyhop and some tail lobs to celebrate lunch!
We left them behind for a bit and circumnavigated Decatur Island. Visited Bird Rocks and crossed back into Lopez sound, which isn’t an area we usually travel, so it was a nice change of scenery. After an hour of sightseeing, we travelled back north to catch back up to the T65Bs and spent a finaly 20 minutes with them for some bonus looks.
