Puget Sound Express

Puget Sound Express Your goal is to see whales and our family's goal is to show them to you. Orcas, humpbacks, gray whal See whales in the wild!
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Puget Sound Express has been operating guaranteed whale watching tours for more than 30 years, and in that time we have always endeavored to make your trip a lasting memory. Ours is a family-run business, with three generations of knowledge and caring at the ready. With thousands of departures over 30 years, our local knowledge is unmatched.

12/05/2024

The T36 pod has been in Puget Sound recently and we've been seeing them on many of our latest trips with a tag-a-long orca from another pod - T37A3, Spinnaker. Here is a video compilation of the T36 family including the youngest member of the pod T36B4 who is less than a year old, taken on Nov 30. This video has no sound. Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon. Bart Rulon Art & Photography

Over the last week we've spotted Bigg's killer whales from several different families including the T46 pod, T60 pod, an...
11/26/2024

Over the last week we've spotted Bigg's killer whales from several different families including the T46 pod, T60 pod, and T34/T37 pods. The T34/T37 pods hunted and killed sea lions on Friday and Saturday in typical dramatic fashion. We've also had a couple of humpback whales hanging out together for days if not weeks near Edmonds - Nike CRC-15061 , and CRC-20107! Here are a few photos from Friday and Saturday on the M.V. Swiftsure. Photographer/Naturalist Bart Rulon

Fall whale watching continues in the Salish Sea with terrific sightings of orcas, humpbacks, and minke whales! We have o...
11/22/2024

Fall whale watching continues in the Salish Sea with terrific sightings of orcas, humpbacks, and minke whales! We have one week of tours remaining in Port Townsend, and one MONTH of tours left in Edmonds. Recent orca sightings include the T37 family of Bigg's orcas (with a new baby!) as well as the T34 and T137 families.

Speaking of families, if you're looking for a unique holiday outing or a festive tradition for YOUR family, whale watching is a magical escape from the holiday hustle. We're running on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays - including Thanksgiving week.

We are spending a lot of time out near the USA/Canada border to watch whales these days which is pretty common for this ...
11/14/2024

We are spending a lot of time out near the USA/Canada border to watch whales these days which is pretty common for this time of year. The waters near Race Rocks can be a real hot spot and its always nice to be able to swing in for a look at all the sea lions at the ecological reserve there too as a bonus. Bigg's killer whales and humpback whales are most common in the fall on our trips but every day is different. Here are a few photos from our trips last weekend (Nov 8-9) showing the T49A pod and T75B pod killer whales and a variety of humpback whales swimming around in some beautiful water conditions. The humpbacks are still packing on the pounds to get ready for their southward migration. Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon Bart Rulon Art & Photography

10/25/2024

10+ humpbacks and T49A Bigg's orcas! Thursday was one of those days where imagery doesn't quite do justice to what we saw on the water. Our Port Townsend half-day tour started the day off finding two minke whales (thanks to eagle-eyed passengers!) off of Eastern Bank. We then headed to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve near Victoria, B.C. in search of humpbacks. We arrived on-scene to see a pair of humpbacks as well as...the T49A family of Bigg's orcas. Great looks at that family, as you'll see in the first part of this video. But as we were watching the orcas, we could see humpbacks ALL around us. We headed towards Vancouver Island to get closer looks and for the next hour, it was whale soup!

At 1:14 in this video, the humpback action kicks into high gear. Your humble videographer had a tough time of it, as there were so many whales it was a bit like a dog seeing "SQUIRREL" everywhere! Where to point the camera?! Here-there-everywhere - literally every direction had humpbacks surfacing. At a certain point, we just had to put the camera down and marvel at it all. This time of year large numbers of humpbacks are busy feeding before resuming their migration journey. Some days, we see more than others - but Thursday was a bonanza. Apologies in advance for the many quick clips in this video - it might give you a flavor for what it was like out there.

Our Edmonds tour also saw minkes, orcas, and humpbacks on Thursday...but all of them south of Edmonds in Puget Sound! Glorious.

(This video has no sound)

We had fantastic trips on Saturday, October 19 from Edmonds and Port Townsend.  Both of our boats cruised all the way ou...
10/21/2024

We had fantastic trips on Saturday, October 19 from Edmonds and Port Townsend. Both of our boats cruised all the way out to Race Rocks in British Columbia that day. Passengers on the MV Saratoga (from Port Townsend) and MV Swiftsure (from Edmonds) watched Bigg’s killer whales in the T35A pod and T46C2 socializing and eating a meal. We saw several spyhops and a some playful behavior during that encounter! Race Rocks is a also a very good area to watch humpback whales so both of our boats eventually peeled away from the orcas to watch humpback whales too. On the Swiftsure we saw several humpback whales lunge feeding at the surface including ‘Zillion’ (CRC-18712), and Pinnacle (CRC-18865). We also had enough time to watch the Steller sea lions and California sea lions at Race Rocks! Enjoy a few photographs taken from the MV Swiftsure on that day. Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon Bart Rulon Art & Photography

10/19/2024

We have been seeing a lot of the T65B pod in the last few weeks. Here is a video compilation of this family of 4 including T65B, Chunk, T65B1 Birdsall, T65B2 Corvus/Nettle, and T65B3 (no name yet). This video has no sound. Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon Bart Rulon Art & Photography

Autumn in the Pacific NW is a visual feast, with sky, water, and whales dancing together. On Tuesday, our tours headed t...
10/17/2024

Autumn in the Pacific NW is a visual feast, with sky, water, and whales dancing together. On Tuesday, our tours headed to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve to spend time with many Humpback whales, including Hemlock, Scuttle, and Merlin. In the general vicinity we also happened upon T49C Neilson, a lone male Bigg's Orca with a distinctive dorsal fin (look for those two notches) who reliably returns to these waters each Fall. Thanks to Janine Harles Photography for sharing photos from the day, which include a spirited discussion amongst sea lion pals, a shearwater, and a cute lil' sea otter.

10/14/2024

Bigg's Orca Superpod + Lunge-feeding Humpback! Our tours had a special day on the waters west of Victoria, BC on Sunday, watching a Bigg’s orca superpod (T49As, T35As, T65Bs, T46B1s, and T46C2), along with a lunge-feeding humpback near Race Rocks Ecological Preserve. An unusual encounter and a day to remember for sure.

Some outstanding weather on tap the next few days, folks! This week we've been seeing the T65Bs, along with T137s + T65A...
10/11/2024

Some outstanding weather on tap the next few days, folks! This week we've been seeing the T65Bs, along with T137s + T65A5 (Jack and Indy show) groupings of Bigg's orcas. Plus, only a handful of days remaining in the season for our Port Angeles location.🥲🥲 Hope you can join us out on the water!

It's been a glorious Autumn on the water so far. Loads of humpbacks and some memorable encounters with Bigg's orcas. Fro...
10/09/2024

It's been a glorious Autumn on the water so far. Loads of humpbacks and some memorable encounters with Bigg's orcas. From the past week, here are some stunning Janine Harles Photography photos of the T65Bs near Vashon Island. Additionally, some video of the T137s with T65A5 "Indy" south of Marrowstone Island.

10/07/2024

The T137 pod has been swimming around in Puget Sound since Wednesday, October 2, and they have a fun tag-along with them -T65A5 'Indy'! Indy is a unique 10 year old male killer whale that spends more time away from his family than he does with them. He often drifts around by himself or teams up with orcas from other pods. Watch to end in this video to see Indy slapping his tail flukes after the pod of 5 caught a harbor seal in Saratoga Passage on Oct 3! Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon Bart Rulon Art & Photography

Happy October everyone! The days are getting a little shorter, skies are getting a little grayer, but the whale activity...
10/03/2024

Happy October everyone! The days are getting a little shorter, skies are getting a little grayer, but the whale activity is not slowing down one bit! Our first excursion of the month started with a trip to Race Rocks, where the humpback action has been incredible these last few weeks. This trip was no different, as we encountered and identified 6 individuals, with several more in the distance. The lovely sights (and smells) of the seals and sea lions hauled out on the rocks and splashing around the boat also continue to impress. On the way back to the dock, our sister ship Swiftsure reported some minkes just north of Port Townsend, so we decided on a last minute pit stop...and boy, were we glad we made the time! It's not often you get more than a quick glimpse of this elusive whale, but this trip we were treated to some epic lunge-feeding action! Everyone watched in awe as 2 minkes bounced from bait-ball to bait-ball under a perfect fall sunset. Can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store! - Naturalist Rachel R.

With the change of seasons comes changes in whale watching departure times! Starting next week: our Seattle (Edmonds) to...
09/21/2024

With the change of seasons comes changes in whale watching departure times! Starting next week: our Seattle (Edmonds) tours will depart at 11:30am, Port Townsend tours at 12pm, and Port Angeles tours at 12:30 (with occasional tidal variations). The whale watching is crazy good right now, with loads of humpbacks, Bigg's orcas and minke whales in the Salish Sea. Thanks to Harles Photography for joining us last week and sharing her fun photos of humpbacks BCY1222 "Hammer", as well as the 2019 calf of "Claw" out at Race Rocks Ecological Preserve, plus some close-ups of local favorite "Two Spot."

ALSO - we're excited to announce that we've opened up reservations for our 2025 tours! You can reserve online at https://pugetsoundexpress.com or by calling our office at 360-385-5288.

Autumn whale watching is in high gear! On Tuesday, our Edmonds and Port Townsend half-day tours were able to view T49A1,...
09/11/2024

Autumn whale watching is in high gear! On Tuesday, our Edmonds and Port Townsend half-day tours were able to view T49A1, T36, and the T137s on the west side of Puget Sound and the T36Bs with T124A1 on the east side! Harles Photography was with us on MV Swiftsure and captured these great photos of Bigg's orcas, the Seattle skyline, and more.

Saturday evenings are for the birds! Our 2 hour birding excursion on the 7th produced amazing looks at a wide variety of...
09/09/2024

Saturday evenings are for the birds! Our 2 hour birding excursion on the 7th produced amazing looks at a wide variety of species. Our first stop was to check out the local celebrity red-footed b***y, who we found soaring and feeding outside the Port Townsend Marine Science Center! Next we journeyed up to Smith Island where we were lucky enough to find 5 tufted puffins, large rafts of rhinoceros auklets, grebes, gulls, phalaropes and more! Whether you're a birder looking to add to your "life list" or just want to explore offshore, these trips have something for everyone. Join us this Saturday the 14th for our last "Puffin Cruise" of the summer season! - Naturalist Rachel R.

Labor Day weekend was our last stretch of daily double trips from Edmonds and boy did we finish with a bang!!  Our favor...
09/04/2024

Labor Day weekend was our last stretch of daily double trips from Edmonds and boy did we finish with a bang!! Our favorite humpback whale ‘Two Spot’ showed up for the first time this year in Puget Sound on Sunday and there were lots of Bigg’s killer whales in the Sound too. Between our two trips on Labor Day, we saw the T46 pod & T124A1, the T137 pod, the T36 pod, the T99 pod and the Humpback ‘Two Spot’! That’s a total of 19 orcas between all those pods. We watched many of the orcas eat meals/ celebrate during our encounters and we had the T46s & T124A1 lined up with the Space Needle and Lumen Field on our afternoon trip! What an amazing day! Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon

08/31/2024

A "National Geographic" type of moment took place on Friday afternoon on our Edmonds half-day whale watching tour when the T99 family of Bigg's orcas took down a seal in a dramatic fashion off the coast of Whidbey Island. Bigg's orcas are apex predators, and frequently their hunts happen underwater. Not this time! We often see orcas play with their prey instead of immediately ending things - note that the final half of this video shows that behavior (nothing too gnarly, but we were really feeling for that poor seal). Video captured by Captain Brian and Naturalist Tony. (The video has no sound)

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227 Jackson Street
Port Townsend, WA
98368

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

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