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Orca Network 

Whale Sighting Report  
In This Issue
Southern Residents.
Transients/Bigg's Whales
Humpback
Gray whale
Pacific White Sided dolphins
Orca Network recommends:
The Lost Whale, by Michael Parfit and Suzanne Chisolm  
An intensely personal story...but this person is a young orca.  

Lost Whale book...ver scaled  

 To learn more about orcas: 

Orcas in Our Midst, volume 3, by Howard Garrett

Orcas in Our Midst,

Vol. 3: Residents and Transients, How Did That Happen?

Click here  

to order YOUR copy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bestseller about orcas in captivity.

Death at SeaWorld, by David Kirby 

DeathatSeaWorld


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Click here

to learn about L pod

orca Lolita/Tokitae,

captured in Penn Cove,

Whidbey Island, WA

in 1970, somehow surviving in a small tank at the Miami Seaquarium ever since.

Tokitae looking up at us from her tank in Miami, FL in the late 1990s 

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January 31, 2014

We are watching and visiting the whales in their home~

Please observe, love and respect them from a distance.

Having trouble viewing this Sightings Report? Archived Reports can be found HERE.
Thursday late in the day, K pod rounded Pt. Wilson chatting loudly as they passed the Port Townsend hydrophones heading south down Admiralty Inlet. The podtoured Puget Sound at least to the south end of Vashon Island by Friday morning, then meandered up Colvos Passage and up Rich Passage and into Sinclair Inlet near Bremerton, where they milled slowly without going anywhere for about an hour, then headed up the west side of Bainbridge Island and out Agate Pass as the sun set. There were no confirmed reports of them today (Saturday). Before Thursday, other than some brief reports from January 23 we've only heard belated reports from the satellite tag worn by J27 Blackberry, as seen on maps from NOAA below. Some great photos can be seen from the Kitsap Sun here: Photos and video of the visit from K pod to Sinclair Inlet.

The T137 pod was last seen off Anderson Island January 19th, after at least 57 consecutive days this family of Transients/Bigg's whales in Puget Sound. Others have shown up from the San Juans to upper Georgia Strait over the past ten days.

We don't often report on Northern Resident orcas but this stunning  video of Northern Residents at a rubbing beach filmed by Chris Wilton on January 28th somewhere in the Discovery Islands, BC. can't be missed. Per Jackie Hildering (The Marine Detective): "Absolutely remarkable footage of Northern Resident Orca with their culturally unique behaviour of rubbing themselves on beaches like this. I happened to be with whale researchers Janie Wray and Christie McMillan and we believe these whales are the A42 matriline. The big male is very distinct - he is A66 born in 1996."

We truly appreciate everyone's participation January 24 in our annual Ways of Whales workshop and post-workshop fundraising showing of Fragile Waters. We have photos, reports and eventually video to share of both wonderful events.
Ways of Whales 2015 Photo Album.

There are still a few openings for our annual visitation to San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja, Mexico to see gray whales, March 3 to 7. It's a magical few days there in the presence of friendly gray whales. All details and registration can be found HERE.

We're still waiting for NOAA to announce their decision on whether to include the captive L pod orca Lolita, still confined in a small tank in Miami, as a member of her family under the protection of the Endangered Species Act. Some of the flavor of the debate can be found in After 44 years, Miami orca may edge closer to freedom and Decision looms over captive orca, but fate of Lolita unclear.

Orca Network 

Photo of the Day
January 30
K Pod in Rich Passage and Port Orchard Channel.
Photo by Connie Bickerton
Southern Residents
January 31
You never know...12:30 - 02:00 westbound
Looks like we had "K" & most of "L" pod today off Sooke!
Photo by Sooke Coastal Explorations

January 30
Great day...some people in my group had better photos....rode with them for 3 hours until we hit the fog near Agate Pass....
Photo by Samuel Hilbert

January 30
4:59pm - orcas are in a resting pattern near the mouth of Sinclair / Port Orchard channel. NOAA headed home.
3:49pm - watching them head north in Port Orchard Channel from point white dock.
3:27pm - look to be heading back north in Port Orchard Channel.
Connie Bickerton

January 30
K33 Tika and K22 Sekiu.
Photo by Connie Bickerton

January 30
Photo by Connie Bickerton

January 30
Photo by Connie Bickerton

January 30
Photo by Connie Bickerton

January 30
Photo by Connie Bickerton

January 30
Photo by Connie Bickerton

January 30
This was the coolest thing ever to experience! Amazing creatures that I will never forget! My kids and I will never forget seeing these beautiful animals.
Michelle Clark Lamutt

January 30
Just got home after spending a beautiful sunset watching a pod of 6-7 orcas spyhopping, tail slapping and cruising slowly North past Ilahee State Park (Bremerton) -- this was between 5 and 5:40 pm. Large male in main group and one possibly two orcas trailing the main group by 1/4 mile or so. Was still hearing blows and tail slaps in the dark and sadly had to leave before the park ranger locked me in. I headed to Illahee on a hunch after hearing they were seen in Sinclair Inlet from Bachmann Park (I arrived just as they disappeared around the point with the NOAA Boat). What a treat. Unfortunately only low-light blurry photos.
Donna Green Van Renselaar

January 30
4:42pm - Saw a pod of about six Orcas a few hours ago heading north in the Sinclair Inlet outside of Manette (Bremerton), WA.
Britany Starr

January 30
3:49pm - Just saw first blow from the beach at Gazzam Lake Park. Just north of the ferry lane. Not sure of direction but it's nice and peaceful this way
Laura Finch

January 30
4:03pm - They just passed Illahee dock - heading toward Brownsville
3:41pm - Pod off Manette / Ilahee right now, near Bremerton!
Julia Zander

January 30
3:26pm - The more northern group was headed north followed by what looked like a research boat and the southern one, right by the ferry terminal, came from the north and was milling around when we passed on the ferry. It looked like they may have been feeding.
3:16pm - Two groups of about 5 and 4 just outside of the Bremerton ferry terminal. Weren't close enough to get a good picture or ID on them. What a beautiful day for a sighting though!
Lisa Neyman

January 30
2:35pm - Turned around and heading west along the Bremerton side.
2:25pm - looks like they're heading towards Illahee State Park.
Don Van Doornik

January 30
2:34 - heading southwest trending towards Bremerton.
2:19 - milling at the south entrance of Port Orchard channel. No clear direction yet.
1:44 - Heading north in Rich Passage, passing fort ward park. NOAA with them.
Connie Bickerton

January 30
2:09pm - Pod of several Orcas off the southwest side of Bainbridge Island (west of Point White). Still from video taken.
Trish Treherne

January 30
At 1:45pm they were just off Waterman point in the middle of the channel.
A pod of approximately 6 orcas headed west through Rich Passage toward Bremerton. I didn't see them, but hubby did and called to tell me.
Lisa Carry

January 30
1:10pm - NOAA now with whales heading just north and east off Blake Island.
Susan Marie Andersson

January 30
1:08pm - Just left K POD from Harper Dock/Southworth. I watched them exit Colvos Passage and travel onward passing the west side of Blake Island and rounding the north tip, turning left toward Manchester State Park/ Fort Ward B.I. (Bainbridge Island) they are with NOAA and moving fast ETA for MANCHESTER 10-15 MINUTES!!!...They appear to be very "happy", witnessed lots of tail slapping, eye popping.. "I see you" and fin slapping. Traveling at a good pace, my heart is happy too, now off to work I go :~( will post video/pic's tonight)
Kathy Bradley

January 30
They are headed up the west side of Blake Island at about 12:45pm.
Jamie Grundhauser

January 30
12:43pm - Just had a pod of killer whales playing between Southworth and Blake Island. They headed towards Manchester
Donna Johnson Roundy

January 30
1:04pm - last update I got, they appear to be heading into Rich Passage... Coming up on Manchester State Park...
12:35pm - Just got a call from Kathe Bradley, she said they have passed Southworth and are headed up the west side of Blake Island...
Laura Finch

January 30
Just saw them cross Southworth Ferry lane heading north at 12:20pm!
Noreen Ferris

January 30
They are heading to the west side of Blake Island. 12:48pm.
Now see them at Palasides, so not quite through Colvos yet. 11:51am.
Kelly Burns Keenan

January 30
12:11pm - Nearing Southworth. Kitsap side with noaa on scene.
11:35am - Northbound just passed Cove Walk on Vashon island.
Amy Carey

January 30
11:20 - They passed Cove Walk still heading north... Beautiful.
Koptini Koptini

January 30
10:51am - Just saw a pod of about 6 to 10 Orcas heading towards Seattle through Colvos Passage near Prospect Point.
Noelle Summit

January 30
10:36am - They've gone past Lisabuela.
Liz Schuh

January 30
10:15am - Found Kpod. By Lisabuela, Vashon heading north up Colvos Passage.
Kelly Burns Keenan

January 30
9:21am - Just saw a pod of about 6 Orcas heading west at south end of Vashon Island near Tahlequah ferry terminal!
Janice Stixrud

***************************

January 29
6:08 - I am rethinking not moving to Port Townsend.... This is amazing.
Michelle Booker

January 29
I saw one lone orca near Pt Townsend just before 5 pm, heading south. Straggler? Leader? He (looked like a male) was difficult to see, saw the dorsal only once.
Jill Hein

January 29
4:11pm - I these sounds - never gets old.
Debbie Stewart

January 29
4:08 - They are rather chatty.
Jill Clogston

January 29
4:05pm - hearing them now.
Shari Fujimoto

January 29
4:04pm - Hearing them now!!
Suzanne Rooke Sewester

January 29
We JUST heard a call on the PT hydrophone - now there is ferry noise, but heard the call at 3:53 pm!
Susan Berta

January 29
ORCAS near Port Townsend!
First spotted them in the Straits of Juan de Fuca at about 3pm,
Watched from North Beach, Port Townsend, as they made their way east toward Point Wilson. I believe there were 3, though at one point I thought I saw a fourth. They spent lots of time out of sight, but occasionally turned back on the route and played around.
Annette Huenke, Port Townsend

**************************

January 27
J Pod Update: movements of satellite-tagged J27: On the afternoon of 25 Jan, the last location that day from J27 showed him heading west in the central Strait of Juan de Fuca after traveling down from the north side of the San Juan Islands. When the tag turned back on the evening of 26 Jan, the whales had made it to the western end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where they continued to meander around until the afternoon of the 27 Jan.
Map courtesy of NMFS' Northwest Fisheries Science Center

***************************

January 25
25 January update - J27 (and the rest of J Pod) traveled around in the western Strait of Juan de Fuca from the last update (21 January until the afternoon of the 23rd when the tag turned off. By the evening of the 24th, when the tag turned back on, the whales were off the eastern entrance of Active Pass in the Strait of Georgia. They traveled south that night and by afternoon (25 January) they were heading west in the central Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Map courtesy of NMFS' Northwest Fisheries Science Center

**************************

January 23
I came across what looked like the entire Southern Resident Clan late afternoon off of Sheringham Pt.  They were fairly grouped up traveling east and socializing.
Mark Malleson

January 23
L41 east bound off of Sooke in the evening. 
Photo by Mark Malleson

January 23
Super Pod off Sooke late in the afternoon. Look like the entire J,K & L pods were present heading east (inbound) - at Sooke BC.
Photo by Sooke Coastal Expeditions

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January 21
I came across J and K pod just before dark south of Sheringham Pt. They were  spread from the shipping lane to within a mile of shore.
There were at least 4 humpbacks in the area.
Mark Malleson

January 21
K21 inbound in the Juan de Fuca Strait south of Sheringham Pt.  in the evening.
Photo by Mark Malleson, taken under permit #MML-001

********************************

January 20
An update from tagged killer whale J27:
After what appeared to be a direct run for Puget Sound by J27 on the last update (19 January), J pod were nowhere to be found in Puget Sound the next day. The mystery was solved when the tag fired up late yesterday (20 January) after its day off duty and showed that the whales had made a 90 degree turn to the right and headed out to the ocean off the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. As of this afternoon they had moved back into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Map courtesy of NMFS' Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Transients/Bigg's Whales
January 30 
Likely the T60s and T2B. Cattle Point.
Photo by Katie Jones

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January 29
How cool is this? Off Bates Beach (near Comox BC in Georgia Strait)! From CTV Vancouver Island.
Photo by Gord Kurbis

January 29
They have been out there between Campbell River and Quadra all week...
Val McRoberts

January 29
10:30am - Courtenay BC, 30 miles south of Campbell River in Georgia Strait.
They are herding fish and the big male is breaching fairly often. There is possibly a baby amongst them. Heading north.
Carmen Everest Wahl

***********************************

January 24
Late afternoon/dusk, a group of around 8 Orcas swam south between the west side of Saltspring Island and the east coast of Vancouver Island. They continued slowly down Saanich Inlet (no outlet)  towards Brentwood Bay.   There appeared to be one, maybe two, juveniles in the group.
Marg Woolley

January 24
Photo by Marg Woolley

January 24
Photo by Marg Woolley

January 24
Photo by Marg Woolley

January 24
Photo by Marg Woolley

January 24
Photo by Marg Woolley
Humpback
January 31
Saw this photo on my wall. From Brinnon, in Hood Canal.
Posted by Traci Siasat

January 31 
We saw the whale from Scenic Beach State Park today, Hood Canal, maybe 2:30pm.
Tish Kingaby

January 31 
Saw the Hood Canal Whale today at 3:06 pm off Maple Beach in Seabeck. It was breaching mid canal and traveling North. After it dove I waited around and at about 3:56 pm it surfaced up North at Oak Head the tip of the Toandos Peninsula traveling out of site.
No pictures yet. If it is breaching I figure it is fairly healthy (I hope)?
Will keep you updated.
Kathy Cole

January 24
I work as Quartermaster on the Bainbridge Island/Seattle Washington State Ferry. This afternoon, on our east-bound 1405 departure from Bainbridge to Seattle we spotted a breaching calf. This was directly east of Eagle Harbor, directly on the eastern edge of the north-bound ship traffic lane (roughly centered between West Point and Alki). I initially spotted the calf about 2 miles directly east of our position. We reduced all power and came to a stop (on the east edge of the northbound shipping lane). The calf continued toward us until it came within about 200'-300' of our bow (breaching all the way!), then turned south (towards Alki). No adult whales were present, which is fairly disheartening (as is the fact that a very young calf is in Puget Sound this time of year). We had no further sightings of the calf for the remainder of our watch.
The calf was approximately 15', a long narrowing head (not bulbous like a gray), a swept back dorsal fin, and long white-ish rough edged pectoral fins.
Gordy Pine

January 21
Humpback BCZ0131 in the Juan de Fuca.
Photo by Mark Malleson
Gray whale
January 29
Unconfirmed report of three whale spouts off Pier 56 Seattle heading north at 16:40.
Andrew Malinak
Note: the species of whale in this report has not been determined.

January 28
About 1:50 - Saw several individual blows on east side of Sound, south of Point Wells in the Richmond Beach area of Shoreline. Heading south.
Jerry Patterson
Note: The species was not determined in this report.

****************************

January 26
9 pm - Just heard from a friend who saw it traveling alongside the ferry on her way from west Seattle to Vashon in the very late afternoon.
Amy Carey

January 26
We spotted the whale from the boat ramp at Fort Ward on Bainbridge about 3:40.
Jana Peterson Hruby

January 26
11:52- Maia of WA State Ferries called to relay a report of a gray whale in Rich Passage (south end of Bainbridge Island), near buoy #8.

***************************

January 22
Whale under downtown Seattle at Colman Ferry Dock
GRAY WHALE UPDATE: Today, the necropsy team determined the gray whale found beneath a Seattle dock died from being struck by the propeller of a large vessel. The juvenile female, likely two to three years old and just over 30 feet long, was in very good condition before its death, with thick blubber containing healthy amounts of oil, the examination found. Biologists are not sure why the whale entered Puget Sound since most gray whales have already migrated south along the outer Washington Coast by this time of winter. Large, deep gashes on the whale's right side and back indicated that it was struck by a propeller and likely died quickly, probably within an hour. The time of death was estimated as no earlier than Monday and most likely on Tuesday.

January 21
4:51 - Just north of West Seattle, unknown whale spouting under USCG protection seen from Seattle Bainbridge ferry. Direction of travel "Did not seem to be moving very fast, was pointing North very close to shore "
Jeared Thomas Lazor

January 21
Per a friend on the 4:35 boat from Bainbridge: a gray whale breached off the bow of the boat.
Connie Bickerton
Pacific White Sided dolphins
January 31
4 pm - Just saw a bunch of dolphins right off the Hood Canal bridge headed east.
Danielle Smith
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.