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J2 Granny, off Oyster Bay / Miracle Beach (north end of Georgia Strait, about 15 miles south of Campbell River) on Vancouver Island, BC. Photo of the Day just because it's her. Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

Orcas at 10:48 am to 11:25 just off Lime Kiln, west side of San Juan Island, coming from south, but turned back south. Photo by Sherrie Stahl.

Ken Balcomb reports some combination of J and K pods were off False Bay this afternoon.

We watched J and K pod off San Juan in spectacular conditions.

Jennifer Dickson, Prince of Whale Whale Watch

1:20 pm - Orcas at South Beach right now.

Vickie Doyle

4:24 pm - RL Sayers reports in posts by others a single orca off Lime Kiln at 2:30 pm heading south, and now near Whidbey Island.

5:53 pm - Faint calls on Lime Kiln behind motor noise right now.

Else Jean Jensen

9:34 - Just headed south past San Juan County Park.

Charky Ptera

9:25 am - Js and Ks vocalizing on both OrcaSound and Lime Kiln hydrophones.

8:40am - K pod vocalizing on OrcaSound.

Alisa Lemire Brooks

8:49 am - K pod! I wonder if this means the Campbell River J's and K's have returned.

Melisa Pinnow

8:44 - Orcas on hydrophones...

Vickie Doyle

Orca Sunset! We watched members of K Pod and L Pod for over an hour this evening. They were widely scattered over several miles. We saw at least ten whales at South Beach within a half mile of shore, heading slowly down the coast; one huge male breached twice, and they milled for a while. We backtracked to Lands End and watched more whales heading down the coast; these were close enough to hear blows and a lobtail! We saw a few breaches after sunset. Great end to our day! Photo by Alisa Schulman-Janiger

J27 Blackberry! Just north of False Bay. Photo by Vickie Doyle.

What a day ... we went about 90 miles in two trips today! We saw a humpback and calf at Race Rocks in intense fog, then the rest of J pod came in with some Ks (K21, K16's) later on. It was so nice to see the rest of J Pod again, and such a nice surprise. Thanks Lance for making that awesome find! Pictures to come in the next few days. Three trips again tomorrow- whew!

Heather MacIntyre

We were out on a whale watch on Tuesday and spotted 8 to 12 Southern Residents off of Oyster Bay / Miracle Beach (north end of Georgia Strait, about 15 miles south of Campbell River) on Vancouver Island, BC. I believe that is the number, I was just so excited to see Southern Residents up there. I do have photos of the saddle patches if you are interested. They were in the resting mode traveling south. After about 20 minutes, they were waking as I spotted barrel rolls, breaches, tail flops, spy hops and exposed bellies. It was amazing!

Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen

Oyster Bay / Miracle Beach, with Js and Ks. Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

K20. Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

K34. Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

K13. Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

K34. Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

K33 and K25. Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

K26. Photo by Jodi Mitchell-Ulriksen.

Orcas in Active Pass, 8:45 am Aug 22 Video by Gary Cullen

8:15 PM - Whale sighting just off Waterman Point in Sinclair Inlet. Three orcas very active, breaching, and tail slapping. Watched them for close to an hour from dusk to dark. Could still hear them after we couldn't see them any more. Very rare in these parts so they say.
Lorrie Miller

6:30 - At least two orca were playing in the wake of the Evergreen State ferry heading to Vashon.
Chris Ruffini

5:14 - they just passed Restoration Point on Bainbridge heading south. I am heading to the next place to look. Closer to Kitsap as they went past the point, but east of the red buoy
5:09 - moved to Rockaway Beach on Bainbridge. They are slightly south of me near the yellow bouy. At least 4.
5:01 - heading south. South of Alki lighthouse moving fast
Connie Bickerton

Ken Balcomb relayed reports of a group of Transients in the Canadian Gulf Islands this afternoon, heading down Trincomali Passage and through Active Pass into the Strait of Georgia.

Hard to mistake T065A's dorsal. That's what it looked like from the photos I saw posted at least.
Sara Hysong-Shimazu

Only orca shot - they were a long way out. The sea lions on the buoy had been barking, but they got quiet when the Transients passed. Photo by Connie Bickerton.

Orcas seen from Fay Bainbridge Park as they headed south past Bainbridge Island at 345pm this afternoon. Photo by Tim Cuddy.

Photo by Tim Cuddy.

4:03 pm - 4 orca heading South from Rolling Bay, Bainbridge Island. Looks like 2-3 adults and 2 juveniles.
Nicole Bav

9 am - Ken Balcomb reports possible Transients heading south from Double Bluff, Whidbey Island.

3:46 - 7 orca pod going south Trincomali Channel near Active Pass.
Roland Flutet

Quick but close encounter between Saltspring Island and Prevost Island. The pod headed straight towards us, and we just had time to turn the engine off that they were upon us - or rather, under us! Apparently 7 different orcas in that pod heading north east and then turning south east in the Trincomali channel, most likely towards Active Pass (at that time, the tide was heading out to the Strait of Georgia, making it an easy crossing).
Ro Land

T137's surfacing. Photo by Heather MacIntyre.

T137s and T37s in the foreground (fore-water?). Photo by Heather MacIntyre.

We had three trips with the T137s and T37s in some pretty choppy water! Whew ... here's to calm water! Transients aren't always flashy after they make a kill like most of my other pictures depict. Sometimes they just make a kill and keep going. Yesterday, we watched as three whales flew threw the air at the same time killing a harbor porpoise, then they seemed to eat on the go (prey sharing). These guys would make a kill then go back to business!
Heather MacIntyre

We found the T90's, T124's as well as a third unknown group off Saturna Island. The whales' behaviour was pretty typical to start, then all of a sudden they picked up speed and starting pursuing a harbour seal! And they got it!
Jennifer Dickson, Prince of Whale Whale Watch

11:06 AM - Sighting on Western Side of Admiralty Inlet. OMG!! First sighting on this side of Sound near Port Ludlow (near Hood Canal). It is raining so I had been looking through telescope at rock outcropping to see how Birds Cormorants and Seals and Gulls were dealing with rain when right near outcropping an Orca was swimming .. was so excited I forgot to look for identifying clues!!! I eventually lost him as he headed South. Since the particular outcropping I was watching is where seals are daily sunning/sleeping, so assumed they were searching for food.
Kathleen Raffo

Headed North around San Juan Island and met up with a beautiful group of transient killer whales in the middle of the Haro Strait right on the US/Canadian border.  Today we were fortunate enough to see the T37s and the T137As.
Emily, San Juan Outfitters

As they made their way through Boundary Pass, they saw a group of transients known as the T137's and they made their kill right beside the boat!
Alanna Brennan, Prince of Whale Whale Watch

Orcas!! Bigg's transients again: 5 minutes outside of Snug Harbor! T137s and T37s in challenging seas, racing! Ninth encounter: going for a tenth sighting, this time from shore!
Alisa Schulman-Janiger

8:00 am - Whales in Saratoga Passage. My daughter was out in the dingy and says she saw at least 3 whales. Looks like a male and a female between Fox Spit and Langley. Looks like they are patrolling rather than transiting.
Jacques White

7:30 this AM on way to get gas! Ts right outside of Snug Resort, my dock! Photo by Capt. Jim Maya.

Sightings off Port Townsend. Same pod seen twice in day, 6 hours apart, once from water and once from shore. 1 male, 2 females and one adolescent. 7 miles west of Point Wilson at 14:00. 200 yards off North Beach in Port Townsend at 20:10. At 14:00, small pod seemed to be traveling east towards opening of Puget Sound from the Strait. At 20:10, it seemed to be same small pod feeding/foraging along the shore of North Beach. A kite surfer in the area has an amazing story when pod surfaced 50 ft away.
Christina Cogan

We just received a call relaying a report of an orca in Penn Cove this evening at around 7:45 pm, called in by Sammye Kempbell who got the report from their neighbor. They are in the Captain Whidbey end of the cove, and the orca was traveling toward Coupeville.

8:17 am - Sighting off Hansville. Orcas just sighted going east from Skunk Bay then east of Norwegian Point.
Leonard

6:19 - Victoria Clipper III just left them, 1 mi NW of Lagoon Point. They are northbound, looks like they are hunting along the tide rip.
Stephanie Raymond

3 pm - T137's approaching Admiralty Head southbound.
Michael P Colahan

Photo by Traci Walter.

Photo by Traci Walter.

Good morning! Here's another shot from yesterday's encounter with Bigg's killer whales. This is a behavior we call a cartwheel. Upon closer inspection of the photo, it makes me wonder if this orca wasn't trying to launch one of the little common murres sitting on the surface into air. You can see there are a few small birds in the image and one in particular behind the splash of the whale's flukes. Just missed! Sometimes young transient orcas will play with birds, perhaps to hone their huntings skills. Photo by Katie Jones.

ABOUT ORCA NETWORK  
Orca Network is a 501 c3 nonprofit organization, dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats.
Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network involves citizens in helping researchers track the movement of whales, and encourages people to observe whales from their homes, businesses, ferries, and beaches.
Whale reports are sent in to our Sighting Network and emailed out to researchers, agencies, and citizens on our network, and posted on our website (MAP of sightings also on website). Whale reports and observations are sent in by a variety of sources, and Orca Network does not guarantee the accuracy of any report or whale identification.

 

TO REPORT WHALES, CALL: 1-866-ORCANET (1-866-672-2638), email info@orcanetwork.org, or post sightings on our Orca Network Facebook page.

 

*BE WHALE WISE! BOATERS - NEW FEDERAL REGULATIONS IN EFFECT AS OF MAY 16, 2011:

 "The new rules prohibit vessels from approaching any killer whale closer than 200 yards and forbid vessels from intercepting a whale or positioning the vessel in its path. This doubles the current approach distance of 100 yards. The rules go into effect May 16 and apply to all types of boats, including motor boats, sail boats and kayaks, in Washington"

 

For more information on the new Federal Regulations, visit the NOAA Fisheries website. 

 

 
To report harassment of whales in US waters, call NOAA Enforcement: 1-800-853-1964;

In Canadian waters, call DFO's Observe Record and Report (ORR) Violations Hotline: 1-800- 465-4336

Report the boat name &/or a description of the boat, & get photos if at all possible.