Puget Sound Express - Edmonds

Yesterday’s afternoon trip from Seattle (Edmonds) saw Swiftsure heading south to Commencement Bay in Tacoma, where we witnessed some pretty spectacular orca activities, including these awesome breaches from T137A Jack… Jack-robatics, if you will! We love days when we get to spend time with wildlife right here in Puget Sound 🫍

We have tours departing daily from Seattle (Edmonds), including our Half-Day Tours at 9:30 am and 2:30 pm, and our All-Day Tour at 10 am. For more information or to book, head to our website: https://www.pugetsoundexpress.com/seattle-whale-watching-tours/

🚨 New product alert 🚨 For the past several months, our excellent team of naturalists has been hard at work creating a new product, and it’s finally here: everyone, give it up for the Puget Sound Express Wildlife Activity & Coloring Book! Researched, written, and illustrated by PSE’s very own naturalists, this book features 34 pages of fun and educational entertainment, perfect for kids of all ages (yes, that includes you, mom and dad!).

For future bookings, you’ll have the option to pre-order a PSE Wildlife Activity & Coloring Book as part of your reservation. If you already have a booking, fret not; we will also be selling the books on each vessel!

P.S., each book also comes with an 8-pack of crayons — can’t wait to see all your wonderful creations!

We can’t believe our summer season is already halfway over 😱 We've had some awesome days out of the water so far and can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds! Check out some of our favorite summer 2026 photos snapped by crew members and naturalists aboard our vessels.

If you’re ready to join us for an adventure on the water, tours depart daily! Check out our schedule below:

📍Seattle (Edmonds): Half-Day Tours depart at 9:30 am & 2:30 pm; All-Day Tours depart at 10 am
📍Port Townsend: Half-Day Tours depart at 10:30 am and 3 pm; All-Day Tours depart at 9 am
📍Port Angeles: Half-Day Tours depart at 10 am and 2:30 pm

📸: Photos by Naturalist Zoe, and Crew Members Lauryn & Bridget

Did you know that July 14th is World Orca Day? Our morning Half-Day Tour from Edmonds knew just how to celebrate — with two groups of orcas! We only got about 5 minutes from Edmonds before spotting our first group for the day: four orcas, including T37A (Volker), T37A1 (Inyo), and T37A2 (Inky)! Right as we were departing, Inky lined himself up perfectly with Mount Rainier for a spectacular photo op 😍

After departing, we got word of some more orcas in Penn Cove and headed up Saratoga Passage to find them. When we arrived, we were excited to find T37 (Rocky III, but more commonly known around Puget Sound as Pizza Fin), along with T34A (Pachamama), T34A2 (Amaru), and T34B (Sonder). These individuals were grouped together and were cruising close to shore. We got to watch some great surfacing sets from these individuals, and then headed back for Edmonds. What a great way to spend World Orca Day!

We’re here to kick off Sunday with some happy news: at the end of last week, humpback BCY1014 “Pop Tart” was freed from a week-long entanglement! We, along with other Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) members across western Washington and British Columbia, reported Pop Tart’s entanglement and worked with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)’s Marine Mammal Rescue Unit to track Pop Tart’s movement, ultimately resulting in her freedom from fishing gear (a long line and small buoy). We’re so glad we could play a role in freeing Pop Tart and are excited to continue seeing her swim freely!

For more information on the freeing of Pop Tart, please visit PWWA’s website: https://bit.ly/4fcuOZY

📸: Photos taken by the PSE team feature Pop Tart’s entanglement and were used to help track her location.

This year, we celebrated the holiday weekend the best way we know how — with an abundance of whales. Over the past few days, PSE tours have seen over 20 orcas!

On July 5th, our Seattle (Edmonds) boat, Swiftsure, spotted the T109A pod of orcas in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, just east of Port Angeles. This marked only the second time that we’ve seen this pod in 2026. We didn’t have to wait long to see them again, though!

On July 6th, we found them again! This time, it was our Full-Day Tour from Port Townsend aboard Red Head that spotted them for the day. This time, it wasn’t just the T109As, it was also T65, T63, the T65Bs, T137A, T77, and T77D — a real T-Party! One of the most iconic T-Party attendees was T63, a local celebrity, affectionately known as Chainsaw. Guests and crew had a wonderful time watching them interact, socialize, and even take part in a combined porpoise hunt. An all-around awesome day on the water!

Now that summer is upon us, our Seattle (Edmonds), Port Townsend, and Port Angeles Half-Day Tours are running morning and afternoon tours. We’re also continuing to run our Full-Day Tours daily from Seattle (Edmonds) and Port Townsend.

Fireworks may be the star of the show today, but we love the spectacle of flying whales just as much! Happy 4th of July from all of us at PSE ❤️🤍💙

The All-Day Tour of our dreams 😍 Last week, guests aboard Red Head were treated to a spectacular three-species day: orcas, a gray whale, and a humpback whale!

We started the day with some prime sea lion views before heading into Friday Harbor for an early lunch. Less than five minutes off the dock after our stop in Friday Harbor, some eagle-eyed passengers noticed a pod of orcas just off our port side! This turned out to be the T124As and T124A4s 🫍 We were lucky to get some excellent looks at these magnificent creatures as they passed by our boat!

With spirits high, we set off in search of more wildlife and before long spotted a gray whale feeding off of Lopez Island. The viewing conditions aligned perfectly with the gray whale surfacing in front of a view of Mount Rainier.

Just when we thought we’d seen our last whale of the trip, we spotted humpback whale BCX1800 “Gretzky" approaching Smith Island. Gretzky gave us some excellent views of the underside of his tail fluke, which was a big hit with guests and crew alike!

Our epic day was complete when we saw 8 tufted puffins floating and preening around Smith Island. This day was truly one for the books!

If you’re ready to join us on an All-Day Tour from Edmonds or Port Townsend, featuring a 2-hour stopover in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, you can do so by visiting our website: pugetsoundexpress.com, or giving us a call at 360-385-5288

Yesterday was a pretty magical day for both our Port Townsend and Seattle (Edmonds) Half-Day Tours 🙌 For our passengers aboard Swiftsure from Edmonds, the day started in the Hood Canal with the T65As and T64Bs Bigg’s orca pods, where they witnessed a pretty epic harbor porpoise hunt. For the Saratoga out of Port Townsend, passengers and crew ran further south, locating the T46B Bigg’s orcas around Mutiny Bay, moving steadily northward. After viewing their respective orcas, Captains EJ and Tony swapped boat positions, with Swiftsure spending time with the T46Bs and Saratoga with the T65As and T64Bs — this is where things got really interesting!

The 46B orcas took a sharp 90-degree turn and began tail slapping the water in the direction of the T65As and T64Bs. In turn, the T65As and T64Bs made a beeline for the T46Bs. Passengers and crew aboard both vessels got to witness the formation of a T-Party as the three pods came together to socialize in Admiralty Inlet! The atmosphere felt like a party with breaching, synchronized movements, tail and pec slapping, moonwalking, spyhopping, and porpoising — just about the full range of orca social behaviors.

Getting to witness the different pods interacting and socializing was a real treat, and guests aboard both trips reported that it was a spectacular day out on the water!

If you’re ready to join us for a whale watching adventure from Seattle (Edmonds, Port Townsend, or our Port Angeles location, you can do so on our website, www.pugetsoundexpress.com, or by giving us a call at 360-385-5288 — see you on the water!