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Orca Network 

Whale Sighting Report  

In This Issue
Upcoming Events
Photo of the Day
Southern Residents
Bigg's/Transient orcas
Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas
Humpback whales
Gray whales
Minke whales
Pacific white-sided dolphins
UPCOMING EVENTS:
COME STAND WITH THE BUFFALO 

Sept. 18, 7:00 pm 
Freeland 
~~~~~~~ 
Orca Salmon Alliance
SPONSORED EVENT:  
Intertwined Fates: The Orca-Salmon Connection in the Pacific Northwest


Seattle Aquarium
October 7th, 6:30pm
TICKETS 

~~~~~~~~~

Orca Network's
LANGLEY WHALE CENTER

Corner of 2nd & Anthes, Langley,
Whidbey Island

~~~
Open Thurs - Sun 11 - 5
Displays, videos, gift shop, lending library
~~~

Orca Network recommends:
Puget Sound Whales for Sale: The Fight to End Orca Hunting, by
Sandra Pollard
This important volume recounts the people whose determined efforts ultimately succeeded in ending the captures.

_______________

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!

_________________

 

  David Kirby  

The bestseller about orcas in captivity

   DeathatSeaWorld


Quick Links

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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September 17, 2015

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.
Some lovely interactions among the younger generation of southern residents are highlighted here, with each other and for a time with a salmon. Residents were seen Tuesday night near Hein Bank and appeared to be heading out west.
The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor has announced the chosen names for the 4 older of the 5 new calves. You can find the names of J50, J51, L121, &  J52 in the Whale Museum's September E-News. 

Many people were witness to the extreme power and coordinated and cooperative hunting skills of the T137s when they killed a Steller sea lion south of Lopez Island on the 15th.
And amazing encounter photos and video of Eastern Tropical Pacific Orcas off Dana Point, CA.

Humpbacks seem to have found their way home. We have had near daily reports over hte past two weeks of at least one, sometimes two, humpbacks milling and traveling in the same general areas in both the north and south Puget Sound. Two Pacific white-sided dolphins who have called the south Sound home for over a year can often be seen hanging around the humpback (s) as documented in a beautiful photo of the two swimming side by side off Tacoma. 

Upcoming Event: Orca Network is proud to be a co-sponsor for this upcoming event, though it's for a species found a bit further inland than the whales we typically are involved in:
This Friday in Freeland, Whidbey Island, come learn about the last remaining wild buffalo from the Buffalo Field Campaign co-sponsored by Orca Network and other local organizations! With musician Dana Lyons.
Friday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Whidbey Island
20103 State Route 525, Freeland

Orca Network 
Photo of the Day
September 13 
I must admit, it was great fun watching K44 Ripple and K36 Yoda play with a salmon today!
Photo by Barbara Bender, September 13, 2015 
  
Southern Residents            

September 15 
1:35 p.m. - K13s off Eagle, southbound
Sara Hysong-Shimazu

September 15 
The one and only J2 Granny - this afternoon off Lime Kiln.
Photo by Monika Wieland, September 15, 2015 

September 15 
12:25 p.m. - residents at Hannah Heights traveling northbound fast.
Monika Wieland

September 15 
Got to spend a calm afternoon with members of the K13 and K16 matrilines. They were actively fishing along the west side of San Juan Island just north of Eagle Cove.
Connie Bickerton

September 15 
K38 Comet
Photo by Connie Bickerton, September 15, 2015 

September 15 
K20 Spock
Photo by Connie Bickerton, September 15th, 2015 

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

September 14 
5:00 p.m. - All of Js and Ks went north past CWR.
Monika Wieland

September 14 
I've attached a photo I took of J50 breaching on Sept 14, 2015 from the Island Explorer 3 near Hein Bank.  J50 and J52 were swimming together by themselves and playing the whole time during our visit with them!  They breached, tailslapped, lunged around, spyhopped, and seemed to have a fantastic time with each other.  At one point they also did a double spyhop!  Eventually J36 swam in and joined them, but it didn't stop the the little duo from playing one bit!  It's hard not to have a big smile on your face when you see these little calves having such a good time together - seemingly without a care in the world.  It feels like lots of hope looking forward with so many new calves!
Bart Rulon

September 14 
J50 breaching near Hein Bank.
Photo by Bart Rulon, Sept 14, 2015  

September 14 
4:02 p.m. - Loud SRKW calls on Lime Kiln Hydrophone!
Connie Bickerton

September 14 
2:00 p.m. - Residents spread near Hein. Saw J16s, J17, J22s, members of the K12s, L84, L88, and more (probably the others in L54s but will have to confirm). All just kind of going every which way.
Sara Hysong-Shimazu

September 14 
J52 and J50 today. They were having a blast playing together!
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 14, 2015  

September 14 
J52 and J50 double spyhop today.
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 14, 2015 
 


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

September 13 
I was out sailing with David today and we had fun watching K44 and K36 playing with a salmon.
Photo by Barbara Bender, September 13, 2015 

September 13 
Photo by Barbara Bender, September 13, 2015  

September 13 
J Pod very spread out in Haro strait tonight slowly meandering south. All J-babies present!
Ariel Yseth

September 13 
6:25 p.m. - Hearing some K pod calls.
Sandra Pollard

Septmeber 13 
5:15 - Calls starting on Lime Kiln hydrophone - along with a very active piece of kelp. All quiet (no boats) except for nature's sounds!
Kim Merriman

September 13 
5:05 p.m. - Just got in. We had what looked to be all of J and K crossing Haro. I heard L may have been coming behind them.
James Greshamn

September 13 
Big seas and harsh lighting made for an interesting passby at Lime Kiln late this afternoon, where it was nearly impossible to ID anybody. It was a mix of Js and Ks and maybe Ls, so that narrows it down, right?
Monika Wieland

September 13 
3:50 p.m. - Hearing calls on Lime Kiln, Js and Ks.
Alisa, ON

September 13 
3:00-5:00 p.m. - We watched them from the Westside Preserve for about 2 hours from 3pm to 5pm. They were very spread out, but we got to see at least one baby. Sorry I don't know them well enough to ID them.
Denise Joins

September 13 
4:40 p.m. -  Calls on OrcaSound right now!
Susan, ON

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

September 12 
This is a couple of days late but I wanted to share since the encounter was with the L-54's. It was my first time to see them and they are somewhat rare to encounter. On board The Legacy, we started out on the west side of San Juan Island at Kanaka Bay where the J-17's were foraging close to shore. I guess my path is destined to cross with this group as I have seen matriarch Princess Angeline and family three out of the last three trips. Due to the number of whale watch, commercial fishing and pleasure boats, we didn't stay long and departed for Hein Bank. There we found the L-54's in an absolutely beautiful setting with calm seas, blue skies and a Mt Baker which is just a tad whiter these days. It was extra special to watch orphaned and adopted Wave Walker take a turn at babysitting Ino's youngest calf for a while.
Debbie Stewart

September 12 
L54 Ino with youngest calf L-117 Keta.
Photo by Debbie Stewart, September 12, 2015 

September 12 
L-84 Nyssa at Hein Bank.
Photo by Debbie Stewart, September 12, 2015  

September 12 
L-88 Wave Walker 
Photo by Debbie Stewart, September 12, 2015 

September 12 
11:00 a.m. - A group of about 5-6 showed up to join the fishing boats just before 11am. A bit of tail slapping followed by several breaches from one of the younger ones, before they seemed to split up and look for fish. Most of us pulled up our fishing gear and enjoyed the show - it was fun to see everyone pause to admire creatures far better at fishing than we will ever be!
Jennifer Wapenski

September 12 
Southern Residents at Pile Point just north of False Bay on San Juan Island.
Photo by Jennifer Wapenski, September 12, 2015 
Bigg's/Transient orcas           
September 15 
Amazing evening with the T036a's and 075b's in Active Pass, BC. We headed north after debating whether to go south into rough seas to see Residents, a sure thing, or go north into calm seas on the chance that we might find the Ts. With the help of Lance Underwood on Taku, we found them. Watching them take a seal at the eastern entrance to Active was spectacular.
Capt. Jim Maya

September 15 
Photo by Capt. Jim Maya, September 15, 2015 

September 15 
30 minutes off the dock and we come across the T137s. As we were traveling along parallel to them, they suddenly turned right toward the boat. I was on the upper deck looking straight down as two orcas surfaced looking up at me. They went under the boat and on the other side, one surfaced on its side RIGHT next to the boat. It was WOW! We left them for a little bit and then found 3 humpbacks. One of them even breached! On our way back to see the T137s, we came across a Steller sea lion feasting on a skate! It was such fun to watch him whip it around and eat it! We thought the orcas might sneak up on this Steller, but no, they found a different one! We got on scene in time to watch the orcas methodically and successfully hunt a Steller sea lion. We were all waiting for the orcas to send it flying in the air, and sure enough, they did! The entire trip was pretty special, and I'm not sure today's trip will be topped for a long time. There is nothing more incredible than watching transients take down prey!
Rachel Haight

September 15
Photo by Rachel Haight, September 15, 2015

September 15 
Photo by Rachel Haight, September 15, 2015

September 15 
Photo by Rachel Haight, September 15, 2015 

September 15 
I was witness to something intense and Nat Geo worthy. A family of Bigg's killer whales, the T137s, took down a large Steller sea lion. Did you know that Steller sea lions can grow up to 2,400 lbs and have a skull similar to that of a grizzly bear? These are formidable predators in their own right, but are no match for a hungry killer whale...Here are a few photos of the hunt.
Sara Hysong-Shimazu

September 15 
T137 in a spray of water, pursuing the sea lion.
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 15, 2015
 (All photos taken with a 400mm lens and cropped.)
 

September 15 
T137 was by far the most acrobatic of the four whales involved, though her youngest, T137D, was definitely very involved and tried her best to help take down the sea lion.
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 15, 2015 

September 15 
T137 lunging after the sea lion.
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 15, 2015 

September 15 
The matriarch of the pod, T137, rammed the Steller sending it flying, completely airborne. 
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 15, 2015 

September 15 
T137A and T137 In between pummeling the sea lion there were some bonding moments between the family.
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 15, 2015  

September 15 
Here are just a few among many action photos from the T137 pod attack on a Steller sea lion Sept 15, 2015 due south of Lopez Island from the Island Explorer 3.  T137 did a lot of the hard work in this attack, slashing around, lunging, and trying to keep the sea lion from coming up at times, but the whole family definitely participated.  Even little T137D lunged at the sea lion on several occasions!  At one point T137 lunged out of the water appearing to plunge the sea lion back under with her left pectoral fin!  The biggest, breath taking, moment happened when T137 knocked the sea lion completely out of the water by ramming it with her head!    Every once in a while the pod would swim slowly away from the sea lion about 50 yards almost as if they lost interest, and to do some socializing, but they always returned to give their prey more punishment.   I've seen a handful of transient attacks on Steller's over the years, and they have always been really intense!  This one ranks right up there as one of the best!  It was a stunning exhibit of how powerful these animals are.
Bart Rulon

September 15 
T137 pod attack on a Steller sea lion Sept 15, 2015 due south of Lopez Island.
Photo by Bart Rulon, September 15, 2015 
 
September 15 
Photo by Bart Rulon, September 15, 2015
 
September 15 
Photo by Bart Rulon, September 15, 2015

September 15   
Photo by Bart Rulon, September 15, 2015

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

September 14 
12:38 p.m. - Ts headed to s beach! Just got on scene!I think it was 36A's and 75Bs - they cut over to Sidney from Henry.
Barbara Bender

September 14 
12:30 p.m. - Small family of Transients (male,female & baby) feeding on harbor porpoise off North West Point of Henry Island-heading North. ALSO 1 or 2 Humpbacks heading into Spieden Channel from Haro Strait!!
Megan Michelle

September 14 
To start out our day...the T75Bs and T36As heading towards San Juan Island.
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 14, 2015 

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

September 13 
4:10 p.m. - Hi, Saw a small group of Orca in Brentwood Bay on the 4:10 pm crossing from Mill Bay to Brentwood. They were traveling north between Senanus Island and the coast, then reversed south.  Sorry no pics they were too far away. Don't usually see them down that way, hence my email.
Lesley Carere, North Saanich

September 13 
8:40 a.m. - Black fin specks in the distance between Useless Bay and Point No Point, Admiralty Inlet. I was looking through binoculars, and wasn't sure what I was looking at, until a breach and a white belly happened! Keep your eyes out, let me know where anyone else sees them! Appeared to be headed north. (Unconfirmed, Ashe later thought they may have been dolphins-ALB)
Ashe Davlin

Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas            
September 9 
Dana Point Times
On Sept. 9 the Dana Wharf Whale Watching vessel OCean Adventure had a close encounter with a pod of orcas. Captain Frank Brennan, who took this GoPro photo, was alerted to their presence by a private boat captain who reported seeing the whales chasing tuna.
Brennan was able to catch up with the whales just off the San Onofre coast and left them at Camp Pendleton heading south. It is believed the animals could be members of a pod of eastern tropical Pacific orcas last spotted in January.
September 9 
Photo by Frank Brennan, September 9, 2015 

And story from CBS 8


September 9 
Full video by Dana Wharf Whale Watch,
September 9, 2015 


Humpback whales         
September 17 - south Puget Sound 
10:25 a.m. - Just spotted the humpback going past the mouth of Gig Harbor. Already out of sight headed up Colvos. Watched the dolphin do 6 leaps in a row. Amazing!
Heidi Powers Armstrong

September 17 - south Puget Sound 
10:07 a.m - Humpback heading north in Narrows now towards Gig Harbor. His buddy, the rogue Pacific white-sided dolphin is with him.
Asher Beckett

September 17 - north Puget Sound
We watched for about a half hour. It seemed to be feeding in the same general area off the east side of Point No Point. With the tide going out, it stayed pretty far out there, but we had a good view of several blows at a time, followed by the fluke and the deep dive.
James DeRoy

September 17 - north Puget Sound 
9:00 a.m. - Marilyn DeRoy sees that humpback again this morning, about 300 yards off Point No Point, no direction of travel.

***********************
September 16 - north Puget Sound  
6:55 p.m.  - Watching a humpback about 200 yards off the beach at Point No Point, Hansville for the past hour or so. Most exciting was when it came in close enough that we heard it blow. Many people fishing, enjoying it too.
Photo by Marilyn DeRoy, September 16, 2015 

September 16 - north Puget Sound 
6:45 p.m. - Now out at Point No Point, Hansville- humpback mid channel between here and Double Bluff- lots of blows surfacing and tail flukes. Just blew again - herring must be right there as it's staying put for 10-15 minutes.
Donna Green Van Renselaar

September 16 - north Puget Sound 
In sum, I watched the humpback for about 30 minutes.
It traveled north from Eglon area to Point No Point. Most of the time it was mid channel but it went very close to Double Bluff before coming back to mid-channel, where it milled about, back and forth. Another great day to see cetaceans in Puget Sound!

Map by Donna Green Van Renselaar, September 16, 2015 

September 16 - north Puget Sound 
I saw my first whale tonight!
I was at Point No Point, Hansville between 6:20- 6:50 pm and saw the humpback, it was displaying many blows and dives with fluke visible. I'm so excited!

Photo by Jann Clare, September 16, 2015 

September 16 -  south Puget Sound 
4:45 p.m. - Spotted Humpback just north of Gig Harbor entrance, heading north.
Dino Martini

September 16  -  south Puget Sound 
Heidi Powers Armstrong watched a humpback and dolphins between Pt Defiance & Gig Harbor from Old Ferry Landing between approx. 3:50-4:40 p.m.. Not sure of their location after 4:40 and no direction of travel was distinguishable.

September 16 -  south Puget Sound 
10:42 a.m. - Seems to have left, it was going back and forth but not sure of final direction
8:54 a.m. - The Humpback is at Point Defiance, watching from old ferry dock Gig Harbor.
Robert Buzzard

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

September 15 - north Puget Sound 
7:30 p.m. - We spotted at least two (perhaps 3) humpback whales off of Point No Point. We saw two dorsal fins and then a blow. It could've been the same whale that had turned. That's why we're not certain of the number. They swam back and forth varying between 200-300 feet off of the Point. We saw them blow a number of times and diving. Saw their tails more than six times. We watched them for about 30 minutes. They were not orcas because of the short dorsal fin and large size. It was quite exciting!
Maria Stienbeisser

September 15 - north Puget Sound 
6:45 p.m. - Just received a report  from Marilyn Deroy of the humpback off Point No Point, Kitsap Peninsula,  600 yards out just hanging around feeding in the area off the point.

September 15 -  south Puget Sound 
2:50 p.m. - Just saw humpback tracking north along the west side of Vashon. Last sighting of it was down by the Vashon ferry landing about 2:55 p.m.
Amy Bliss-Miller

September 15 -  south Puget Sound 
I saw him/her out there around that same time (10:35 a.m.). Gig Harbor overlook on the 5 mile drive.
Bryan Owens

September 15 -  south Puget Sound 
10:35 a.m. - Humpback sighted  just north of and outside of Gig Harbor entrance, traveling south.
Rhonda Turner

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

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
6:35 p.m. - Humpback and porpoise close to the Gig Harbor side...headed north towards Dalco. Watching from Narrows viewpoint on Five Mile Loop.
Meghan Davis-Van Horn

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
6:45 p.m. - Humpback headed over towards Owens Beach right under 5 mile view point.
6:14 p.m. - Still watching humpback from Old Ferry Landing in Gig Harbor!
4:58 p.m. - watching the humpback, heading north close to Gig Harbor shore.
4:01 p.m. - hugging Gig Harbor shore, kayaks and a sail boat following him. Heading towards Sunrise Beach!
Brittany Gordon

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
3:50 p.m. - Getting close to the mouth of Gig Harbor, trending towards Sunset Beach. 4 Kayaks in hot pursuit.
3:33 p.m. - In between Gig Harbor and Pt. Defiance now. Headed towards Gig Harbor. It has Porpoises with it! (Pacific white-sided dolphins-ALB)
3:16 p.m. - Off Owen Beach headed towards Gig Harbor.
2:53 p.m. - It's heading slowly back towards Owen Beach...Its maybe 400 yards off Vashon Ferry, to the East, heading West.
Melissa Bird

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
3:29 p.m. - Just saw it breach off 5 mile drive!!! So crazy! At Gig Harbor viewpoint now!
3:12 p.m. - Watching the humpback from Owen Beach now.
Brittany Gordon

September 14 - eastern Juan de Fuca Strait 
2:50 p.m. - Two humpbacks northwest of Smith Island circling.
September 14 - San Juan Islands. Giants among the murres.
Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, September 14, 2015 

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
2:10 p.m. - Just left Owen Beach and the "pod" (humpback and dolphins) was moving towards Anthony's restaurant. Orca Networkers out in force making sure kayakers were being whale wise
Danielle Vance

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
2:07 p.m. - Seeing the humpback from Owen Beach, Tacoma.  It's now in front of the Yacht Club, heading East towards Commencement Bay.
Jessica Pagan

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
Uncropped and unedited photo of the humpback from Owen Beach, Tacoma.
Photo by Jessican Pagan, September 14, 2015 

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
Humpback and Pacific white-sided dolphin off Owen Beach, Tacoma.
Photo by Jessican Pagan, September 14, 2015 


September 14 - Gulf Islands 
1:30 p.m. - Hi Susan and Howie, Joe and I are sailing in the gulf islands and spotted several humpbacks, 3 maybe more just south of Pender Island passing the entrance to Bedwell Harbor. We watched them for about 20 minutes and then they headed towards the USA, hope they have their passports! Cheers
Veronica Von Allworden

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
1:11 p.m. - He's heading towards Vashon Island now.
1:00 p.m. - Seeing spouts from the Gig Harbor view point.. humpback is heading north towards tip of Point Defiance.
Brittany Gordon

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
11:54 a.m. - They are still here...You will hear them before you them, so wonderful!
11:00 a.m. - A humpback and 2 dolphins very actively feeding between Point Defiance and Gig Harbor for the past 1+ hour, absolutely mesmerizing to watch and hear. It is hard to look away even for a moment!
Michele Riley Campbell

September 14 - north Puget Sound 
10:30 a.m. - I saw a large whale off Point No Point a few minutes ago from north Edmonds. Just a blow and a fluke. 7+ miles from me so hard to see with even a scope.
Josh Adams

September 14 -  south Puget Sound 
10:00 a.m. - I saw about a dozen blows around Point Defiance but not close enough to see the dolphins.
Bryan Owens

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

September 13 - San Juan Islands 
Humpback: CS468 first seen in the Clayoquot Sound in 2011. This whale has been seen going back and forth from Haro Strait to the Spieden Channel area for the past week+. I love all these new humpbacks coming into the Salish Sea!
Photo by Heather MacIntyre, September 13, 2015 

September 13 -  south Puget Sound 
6:15 p.m. - The solo humpback is slowly heading towards Gig Harbor now.
5:50 p.m. - Just had a single humpback buzz my deck at Salmon Beach traveling north, heading towards Pt Defiance. Closest I've ever seen them, maybe 30 yards out, wow!
Dino Martini
Photo His tail just going up, just after he passed in front of us. Heading north.

September 13 - north Puget Sound 
3:23 update: now 300 yards from the beach, heading possibly SE.
3:15p.m.  - One humpback reported off Point No Point in the direction of Double Bluff, no direction of travel, just milling, at one point about 50 meters off PNP.
Reported by Marilyn Deroy.

September 13 - San Juan Islands 
Humpback whale in Spieden channel on 9/13/15. I can't believe how many of these wonderful Humpbacks we are seeing in the area lately. What a treat to be able to see these animals regularly.
Photo by Traci Walter, September 13, 2015 

September 13 -  San Juan Islands 
12:15 p.m. - Just saw a humpback just nort of the west end of Spieden Island. Only surfaced twice but we were treated to a nice full tail view! Headed west pretty quickly. I didn't see anything forward of the blow, just a small sickle shaped fin, quite a distance from the blow and a solid dark gray or black dorsum.
Dana Brooks

September 13 - San Juan Islands 
11:00 a.m. - Gretchen Burger and I watched a humpback whale meander back and forth in Rosario Straight between Sea Acres and Doe Bay. He/she was close to the Orcas shoreline and appeared to be feeding. We watched it from about 11 am to 1 pm. What a thrill!!
Ann Jones

September 13 - San Juan Islands 
10:00 a.m. - Humpback 1-2 in Spieden Channel heading east.
Peggy Mauro

September 12 (& 11th) - north Puget Sound 
9 :00 p.m. - We saw at least two humpbacks near Foul Weather Bluff in Skunk Bay from our home which is located on a high bluff overlooking the Sound near Hansville, WA. They were about 500 meters off shore. There seemed to be at least two of them - one noticeably larger than the other(s). The large whale had a nearly all-white fluke underside when fluking. They were too far away to get decent pictures. They didn't seem to be heading anywhere but rather to be going slowly back and forth in a 500-square-meter area, spouting and fluking. We watched them for at least an hour. There were several small boats in the area - fishing boats and a sailboat under power - that seemed to be watching them, too.
The night before (11th), we also saw a few spouts and flukes in roughly the same location, and after dark we had heard the unmistakable whooshing of a whale spouting/breathing about 5-6 times every few minutes in front of the bluff moving in what seemed to be an west-east direction. We could not see it, but it seemed to be closer to shore since the breathing sound was quite loud.
Thanks, Tom Buell Jr. 
Gray whales         
September 13 
Hello! There was a grey whale off Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC today in the afternoon. Was feeding for the whole hour or so we were watching. Very close to the shore, just off the seawall. So happy I decided to go for a walk there today!
Laura Wenn
Minke whales           
September 13  
7:25 a.m. - Minke sighting. On the Coupeville-Port Townsend ferry heading west, about half way across, about 7:25am, it was headed east.
Rebekah Padgett
Pacific white-sided dolphins           
September 14 
I still haven't gotten a good fluke shot of the humpback, but I did get a better photo of the Pacific white-sided dolphin that was hanging around with it today.
(Point Defiance, Tacoma/Gig Harbor area)
Photo by Heidi Powers Armstrong, September 14, 2015 

September 14 
2:00 p.m. -  Another photo taken from Owen Beach today, humpback and Pacific white-sided dolphin.
Photo by Jessica Pagan, September 14, 2015 


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

September 10 
10:41 a.m. - The humpback and dolphins are off Sunrise Beach in Gig Harbor again. It's been there since about 9:15 I just left & it was still there. Trending north a bit.
Photo by Heidi Powers Armstrong, September 10th, 2015  
 
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 [email protected], 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.