Bigg's killer whales (Transient, mammal eating type) - Admiralty Inlet. The T101s (T101 & her 3 sons T102, T101A & T101B) passing Lagoon Point, Whidbey Island in the glow of the waning afternoon light. Photo by Rachel Haight, January 24, 2016

27 January update on K33 - As of the last update (24 January) K33 (and presumably the rest of K pod) were headed north off Cape Elizabeth on the central Washington coast. They continued north up into the west entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca to just off of Pt Renfrew on southern coast of Vancouver Island on the afternoon of the 25th. From there they turned and traveled west, and then south and were over the Juan de Fuca canyon on the afternoon of the 26th. By the morning of the 27th they had moved inshore and were off Hoh Head on the northern Washington coast.  Map courtesy of Brad Hanson, NOAA-NWFS NOAA-NWFS 2016 Southern Resident killer whale satellite tagging

 
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24 January update on K33 - On the last update (the morning of 21 January) K33 and others were off Tillamook Head, Oregon heading south. They continued south and by the late afternoon of the 22nd had reached the southernmost point of this southerly excursion, off Alsea Bay in central Oregon. There they turned north and by the afternoon of the 24th they were nearing the Cape Elizabeth on the central Washington coast. Map courtesy of Brad Hanson, NOAA-NWFS NOAA-NWFS 2016 Southern Resident killer whale satellite tagging

At approximately 2:00 pm on January 28, 2016 at Camano Island State park my daughters and I saw three Orcas swimming South. They were swimming and spouting but there was no other activity.
Susan Yarbrough
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2:00 p.m. - 4-5 Orca just passing house southbound on east bank of Saratoga Passage, next stop Camano St Park if you're in the hood.
Will Murphy

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5:00 p.m. - At least three orcas reported in Saratoga Passage, on the Greenbank, Whidbey Island, side about a mile out, just staying in one place, no direction.
First report by Mike Cummings, called in by Nancy Zaretzke
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1:00 p.m. - Man at PTMSC/Fort Worden Beach claimed he saw orcas swimming far out ...in Admiralty Bay, near Marrowstone Island. I couldn't confirm anything - any Whidbey'ers see anything? ...I meant that they were heading around Fort Flagler heading into Puget Sound, so it's possible I missed them from our vantage point at Fort Worden.
Amy Johnson

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1:00 p.m. - Hi. I heard then saw three whales in Holmes Harbor today, Monday, January 25. At first I thought they were female orcas but they may have been minkes. They were between the point at Beverly Beach and Greenbank, heading north toward Baby Island.  (confirmed orcas - ALB) What a treat!
Gina Truesdell

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4:30 p.m. - After your report of the T101s near Bush Point, I headed to Lagoon Point and had good looks at the 4 of them, as they continued northbound, but then appeared to stall out off Ft. Flagler, mid-channel. NOAA had left - they most likely headed home as the light was beginning to fade, around 4:30 pm. Photo by Jill Hein, January 24, 2016

Photo by Jill Hein, January 24, 2016

Photo by Jill Hein, January 24, 2016

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4:10 p.m. - Laura and Roxy called to report seeing 3 orcas off Lagoon Pt closer to the Whidbey side
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3:35 p.m. - Ts have passed Bush Pt. Lagoon Pt would be your next chance. They are still Whidbey side northbound.
Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

The T101s (T101, T102, T101A, & T101B) northbound Admiralty Inlet passing Bush Point, Whidbey Island. Video by Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network January 24, 2016

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2:49 p.m. - See blows off Bush Point, at least 3, big fin.
Laurie Arnone
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2:40 p.m.  - Just saw at least two orca, one an adult male, off Mutiny Bay, on the Whidbey side, heading north, with the NOAA boat behind them.
Howard Garrett, Orca Network
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2:04 p.m. - Just saw at least 3 big males and several other orcas heading north off Mutiny Bay, on the Whidbey side, right next to the green channel marker.
Susan Berta, Orca Network
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12:40 p.m. - 8 fins in Bainbridge ferry lanes heading northwest
Jill Hadji
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11:35 a.m.  - WSF update: 4 - 5 Orcas heading up Port Washington Narrows toward Silverdale.
9:23 a.m. -  WSF update: 10 - 15 orcas north of the Tango buoy off Bainbridge island in the shipping lanes headed north.
8:26 a.m. - WA State Ferries reported a pod of 8 - 10 orcas in West Pass, Vashon/Fauntleroy heading north.

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3:00 p.m. - Many lucky passengers saw around five orcas as the Kingston ferry approached Kingston around 3 pm.
Julia Miller
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2:47 p.m. - Orcas off Kingston ferry, 4 animals moving fast and quietly.
Yvonne Wachutka Lunceford
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2:00 p.m. - We saw some Orcas from Port Townsend shore about 2:00 close to Whidbey going toward Marrowstone.
Cat Turner
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Two orca heading south at Bush Point@1241 today.
Ken Balcomb
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10:00 a.m. - Chris Emmers reports he saw three orcas from the Port Townsend ferry on his way to our Ways of Whales workshop around 10 am this morning. The orcas were headed from Pt Townsend toward Whidbey Island!  

(January 1 & January 4 reports were accidentally left out of earlier reports - ALB)

A member of the Coast Guard called this afternoon at 12:47 pm with a report of three orcas well inside the jetty at Westport WA. He said they were headed toward the river.

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10:00 a.m. - We saw 3-4 orcas near the inn at Spanish head. At least one male....Too far away. Perhaps feeding. There was a flock of gulls following them.
Trish Rau  

10:45 a.m. - Probable humpback seen just 200 yards from the Edmonds ferry dock. David Sours called to say he saw a small whale from the car deck, but didn't see flukes, just a small dorsal fin on its back, about 200 yards from shore.

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3:00 p.m. - just saw a humpback only about 400 yards offshore just North of Meadow Point (Golden Gardens park, north Seattle). Surfaced again a minute later to the north, possibly a different one. It was the HUGE blow which got my attention, followed by a large, wide black mound emerging. Since I'm unsure as to whether the second sighting at 3:01 was another whale or the same one, I'm hesitant to indicate a direction of travel...
Ben Blankenship

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1100 - I believe I saw a humpback whale on Sunday in Hood canal. I saw whale around 100 feet from shore just south of Triton Cove state park, which is on the Mason Jefferson County border. The whale continued to travel south and would periodically spout and raise its tail every couple of minutes...it appeared to be feeding...I lost track of the whale after about 30 minutes when it appeared to be just across the Girl Scout Camp....
Michael Bachhuber


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12:30 p.m. - Humpback whale sighting-Tahuya, just East of Bald Point - Hood Canal. My husband and I saw a (estimated) 30 ft Humpback whale while walking on NE Northshore Rd on January 23, 2016 at 12:30pm. We saw it as it came up for air about 100 feet from shore at mile 17.2. It was headed West toward Bald Point covering about a half mile in 3 min. We heard it spout 2 more times in 15 minutes and then it was gone. It didn't appear to be a gray whale as it's color was a deep blue black and it's skin was smooth. It had a small stubby dorsal fin. The tide level was about 7.5 ft.
I've learned more from my neighbors on NE Northshore Rd since I submitted my report this morning. Others have witness this "whale" breaching in front of their homes, about the 15.5 mile mark on NE Northshore Rd. I encouraged them to report their sightings through your website. They saw the whale earlier on January 23, around 8:30 am. They tried to get photos but weren't fast enough. In my conversation with this neighbor she shared with me that others have seen this whale recently, specifically this past week. My curiosity is peeked as I have spent most of my summers in Tahuya since the early 1960's and have never seen a baleen whale or heard reports of a sighting.
Jenni Klein Paine  

We did see a Grey Whale at noon today. It was extremely close to the Vashon ferry terminal, and actually swam between two of our landing structures (the structures are called dolphins). It was spotted south of the ferry terminal at 11:50, swam past at noon, and continued NW towards Blake Island. No pile driving occurred at the time the whale was present. Only one pile was driven today, and that was between 11:00-11:15 this morning.
Burt Miller, Washington State Ferries  

Orcas hunting herring off Senja, Norway. In Arctic Norway filming Orcas underwater for a German production by Nautilus Film. Sent to Orca Network by Whidbey Island resident and filmaker Florian Graner (producer Beneath the Salish Sea). All underwater images are frame grabs from video, credit Florian Graner. Drone stills credit: Nautilus Film.
For more beautiful images see our Facebook photo album Orcas hunting herring off Norway.
 

Orcas off Norway make a path through a thick school of herring. Photo credit Nautilus Film, January 2016

 

Orcas off Norway preparing to catch herring. Photo credit Nautilus Film, January 2016

 

Diving with re-breather - lot's of hopping off a boat into the lovely and clear Arctic water - though it is dark down there and you only get about 4 hours of daylight right now - never the sun.  Video still by Florian Graner, January 2016

 

Orcas wreaking havoc on the herring, leisurely! I had some nice underwater encounters to day too although they were tough work to come by. Video still by Florian Graner, January 2016

 

Video still by Florian Graner, January 2016