Whidbey Island is lucky enough to be visited by two different populations of whales each year. The resident pod of North Puget Sound Gray Whales feed off the waters of Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound from March to May each year. In Langley, the Village by the Sea which claims a perfect, up-close and personal view of Saratoga Passage to the North and East, celebrates the Gray Whales with the Welcome the Whales Parade in April and a strategically position brass whale bell at Seawall Park, which locals and visitors alike are encouraged to ring if they are lucky enough to spot a whale.
Recently, the Orca Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats, opened the Langley Whale Center at 117 Anthes Ave. just one block away from the Whale Bell in downtown Langley. Here the Network celebrates and shares information on the lives of gray whales, orcas and other marine mammals of the Salish Sea.
Whidbey Island is also home to an endangered population of Southern Resident orcas. These are the 80 or so orcas found in southern BC and Washington, who are a different orca community than those found in northern BC and Alaskan waters. The three Southern resident pods, known as J, K and L pods, usually travel, forage and socialize throughout the inland waters of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and Georgia Strait) from late spring through late summer seeking chinook salmon, which provide about 80 percent of their diet.
Whale watching season on Whidbey begin April 1. There are several ways to try and get a gander at the island’s special residents. Visit the Orca Network to find out where the most recent sightings have been. There are many opportunities to observe the orcas from the many miles of shoreline on Whidbey Island, the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas, and the inland waters of Puget Sound. Orca Network encourages shore-based whale watching, or watching for whales while commuting on Washington State Ferries.
These boat charter companies also offer whale watching:
