Is whale watching possible minus the expensive tours? (Seattle, Bremerton: home, to buy)

[62mike]

We will be in Seattle and all around the area next week. There is SOOOOO much to do and so little money!

Is it possible along any of the island shorelines or ONP coastline, etc. to maybe catch some whales from the shoreline or pedestrian bridges without taking one of the expensive tours?

I know the tours are best but with 4 people and all the other stuff to buy along the way you have to pick and choose as you know.

Is it Orcas only? Or are there other whales in the area? Any good locations and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[jenlion]

It's pretty hit-or-miss. We took a tour and saw several orcas near a shoreline of one of the San Juans. Tons of people were out watching them. But it's very luck-of-the-draw.

If you can get to the islands, like the San Juans, you have decent chances. But honestly, I wouldn't focus on it or try very hard. There's tons of wildlife to see. Sea lions, seals, otters, eagles, falcons, cormorants, etc, etc, etc. You can take a ferry ride (again to the San Juans, or if that's not possible, the ferry to Bremerton is 60 minutes) and see any of those. I've seen seals and sea lions (look at buoys that are crooked in the water) on the Bremerton ferry. I've seen bald eagles from the 520 bridge over Lake Washington a number of times (look at the funny stuff sticking up from the water near the west side of the bridge, or look at the streetlights). I've also seen eagles at Discovery Park, which has beautiful views from both bluffs and beaches. I've seen harbor seals from Alki Beach, which has a great walking path next to a narrow beach (too cold to swim) with great views of the city.

I'd have some compact binoculars on hand all the time just in case, and I'd hang out on ferries or near the water and keep my eyes peeled for whatever wildlife shows itself. Unless you're taking a tour, or you're on the shoreline of an island for awhile, the odds of seeing whales probably aren't that great, but you never know.

We did see gray whales from Kalaloch (ONP shoreline), but that was in March. I think they're gone for the season, and now it's all orcas.

Islands and ferries are great places to keep your eyes peeled, but don't work too hard at it. :-) You can certainly spot sea lions predictably from ferries, so if you can get the kids just as excited about that, you're golden!!

[MichaelinWA]

A couple of links that you might find interesting (on orcas).

Watch Whales off the shores of Whidbey and Camano Islands!

ORCA NETWORK'S Home on the web

Whidbey/Camano might be possibilities. Certainly the orcas would rather that we stay on the shore.

Originally Posted by 62mike

We will be in Seattle and all around the area next week. There is SOOOOO much to do and so little money!

Is it possible along any of the island shorelines or ONP coastline, etc. to maybe catch some whales from the shoreline or pedestrian bridges without taking one of the expensive tours?

I know the tours are best but with 4 people and all the other stuff to buy along the way you have to pick and choose as you know.

Is it Orcas only? Or are there other whales in the area? Any good locations and suggestions would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[jenlion]

Whidbey island is an awesome place to visit just to BE there, anyway. Gotta see Deception Pass, it's amazing.

[eponabri]

A lot of it depends on what kind of whales you want to see and their migration patterns. Grey whales go past the Washington coast in the spring, best place to see them is in Long Beach or Westport. Sometimes you can see Humpbacks there in the summer, but they are harder to see from the coast. You are most likely to see Orcas in the San Juans, or along the Strait of Juan de Fuca. When I was a kid, my dad was a professional diver and we spent a lot of time at the Big island of San Juan (Friday Harbor) and we often saw many whales from the beach of San Juan Park. It's a great place to camp as well. Another great place to see critters of all kinds is the Dungeness Spit. You can hike out five miles to the lighthouse and see all kinds of animals along the way, including Orca, seals, sea lions. But like Jenlion mentioned, it's going to be hit and miss no matte where you go, including any boating trip.

Port Townsend has some great "migration" cruises that go around Protection Island which is a habitat for Puffins and other birds, and they often see whales. The cruise is a little pricey, but I hear it's well worth the money.