August 17 

Katie Jones

Sublime image of residents passing very close to shore at Lime Kiln . Photo by Katie Jones, August 17, 2016

Photo by Katie Jones, August 17, 2016

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Great Way to Start the Day!! Epic pass at Lime Kiln this morning. Yes, that is the kelp and shoreline. Several whales passed just a few feet from shore. Look carefully and you will see them just under the surface. Many members of J and K pods passed. Life is good!
Alison Engle

J16 & J26 passing very close to the rocks at Lime Kiln State Park. Photo by Alison Engle, August 17, 2016

Residents approaching Lime Kiln early morning. See the eye patch on the left whale. Distorted by the lens of the water! Photo by Alison Engle, August 17, 2016

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9:07 a.m -  several orcas seen on webcam closer to shore just south of lighthouse. Start hearing echolocation again, increase in volume at 9:11.
9:02 a.m. seeing several more orcas passing lighthouse northbound.
8:37 a.m. -  start hearing faint echolocation
8:30 a.m. - see one orca surfacing northbound on Lime Kiln webcam.
Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network
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Around 8 AM the first whales came into sight south of Lime Kiln, moving slowly north against the ebb tide. From about 8:15-8:45 J2 Granny took her time cruising by, followed by some of the K14s. Then we had the J11s, J14s, J16s, and J19s pass right off the rocks in two tight groups - always an amazing sight to witness but even more so in the gorgeous early morning light when you could see them underwater! Next, further offshore, came the K16s and K21 in a tight group, and bringing up the rear were L87 Onyx and J45 Se-Yi-Chn. By 10 they were all north of the lighthouse and continuing on their way up Haro Strait.
Monika Wieland, Orca Behavior Institute

J51 Nova next to his mom J41 Eclipse this morning at Lime Kiln. Photo by Monika Wieland, August 17, 2016

It was a pretty special morning out at Lime Kiln today- here's an underwater shot of J37 Hy'shqa coming to the surface. Photo by Monika Wieland, August 17, 2016

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It was so nice to spend some time with whales this evening in the Strait of Georgia,  and some whales I haven't seen in a long, long while too. It continues to amaze me how quickly some of these young males grow up---Tika and Rainshadow..
Sara Hysong-Shimazu

K37 Rainshadow - Strait of Georgia Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, August 16, 2016

K20 Spock and K38 Comet - Strait of Georgia Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, August 16, 2016

K33 Tika - Strait of Georgia. Photo by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, August 16, 2016

J2 passing by Lime Kiln State Park. Photo by Ariel Yseth, August 16, 2016

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In THICK FOG we were lucky to be the first boats to find J Pod 15 minutes from our docks! (Sooke, BC) Thanks Cpt. Dan for keeping a keen eye on the sea!
Paul Pudwell, sooke Coastal WW

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Approximately 4:30 pm - K12s and K13s northbound at Hannah Heights and Land Bank. Some foraging, some shuffling but general northward direction, slow and spread. Too far away at that point to get individual IDs. Once they got to Lime Kiln they flipped and headed south, grouped up into family groups, came in close to shore and began porpoising south. Passed Hannah Heights southbound at approximately 6:15.
Cindy Hansen, Orca Network
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1:23 p.m. - Saw some Orcas passing Lime Kiln state Park about an hour ago. Someone there said it was K pod.
Sarah Ehle
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...With reports of some of the Southern Residents (fish eaters) inbound we left the transients searching for lunch, and soon encountered K-pod leaders off Discovery Island, B.C. heading at a fast clip towards the west side of San Juan, one of their traditional foraging areas. Passengers had their breath taken away by the sheer magnificence, beauty and grace of the whales as the rest of K-pod powered past, their dorsal fins slicing through the waves and the sound of their exhalations carrying on the wind. Our return journey took us past Whale Rocks where Steller sea-lions ('wildlife with attitude') basked in the warmth of the afternoon sun - thanks to Captain Eric for yet another memorable day at sea. (see photos by Richard Snowberger below)
Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist, Mystic Seat

K pod inbound off Discovery Island, B.C. Photo by Richard Snowberger, August 15, 2016

A member of K-pod takes a quick look around.  Photo by Richard Snowberger, August 15, 2016

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Deadhead K27 breaching this evening in Haro Strait - taken from shore from the west side of San Juan Island. Photo by Melisa Pinnow, August 14, 2016

Spock K20 spy hopping - Haro Strait - West side San Juan Island. Taken from shore on the evening of August 14, 2016. Photo by Melisa Pinnow

Teeth! Cali K34 off playing with kelp - evening time, west side San Juan Island. Photo by Melisa Pinnow, August 14, 2016

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K-Pod from Landbank K34 making quite a splash just offshore. Photo by Ariel Yseth, August 14, 2016

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Sunday we started with heavy fog, so Capt. Monte took us through the San Juan Islands, to the north end where we had whale reports of K-pod whales "in thick fog". A good choice - by the time we arrived with the whales the fog had lifted and the sun was shining!! We identified members of the K12 and K13 matrilines, very spread out along the shoreline, traveling southbound past the Center for Whale Research and San Juan Island's the West Side Reserve. Many many breaches, what a thrill for us all to witness. It's such a privilege to see our Resident whales in the Salish Sea again, let's hope they'll find enough chinook salmon to keep them here. Homeward bound we found seal moms with pups, harbor porpoise, turkey vultures and a bald eagle. A foggy day turned into a truly beautiful day.
Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

K37 Rainshadow passing southbound with Ken Balcomb watching K pod pass by from the balcony of the Center for Whale Research. Photo by Jill Hein, August 14, 2016

A breach-fest on Sunday as the K12s and K13s traveled south along the west side of San Juan Island. Whales were very spread out, hugging the shoreline. Great shore viewing. This is K-20 Spock, born 1986. Photo by Jill Hein, August 14, 2016 (Zoomed & heavily cropped)

A fun photo from Sunday as K-pod whales passed by Lime Kiln State Park a little after 2:00 pm. Photo taken by Jill Hein, August 14, 2016 (taken from over a half mille off-shore, zoomed and heavily cropped)

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This morning we got out to Lime Kiln at 11:45 AM just at the K12s and K13s were flying past heading north in the fog, barely visible from shore. Luckily the fog lifted before the same group came back south between 2:00 and 2:30, fighting against the strong flood tide.
Monika Wieland

K20 Spock this afternoon off Lime Kiln - amazingly my first good look at her this year, after K-Pod was gone for nearly two months from early June to early August! Photo by Monika Wieland, August 14, 2016 (see encounter details, updates, and more photos at Orca Watcher Blog)

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L103 pushes around a lifeless neonate porpoise after tormenting it for 15 minutes and drowning it on the morning of August 13th in Race Passage. Photo by Mark Malleson (taken under DFO permit #MML-001)

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J50 Scarlet and her mom J16 Slick - just two of several whales seen from the ferry from Salt Spring Island, B.C. Photo by Brett Forsythe, July 21, 2016

   

A fair swell greeted us as we headed out through Rosario Strait and past Lopez towards Victoria, B.C., where the T65A's (five transient orcas, a female, sprouter male and three youngsters) hunted for prey among the kelp off Trial Island, B.C. With reports of some of the Southern Residents (fish eaters) inbound we left the transients searching for lunch, and soon encountered K-pod leaders off Discovery Island, B.C. (photos below by Richard Snowberger)
Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist, Mystic Sea

Even transients need a little kelp action - T65A's hunting off Trial Island, B.C. Photo by Richard Snowberger, August 15, 2016

Transient orca T65A's off Trial Island. Photo by Richard Snowberger, August 15, 2016

Playtime or just 'love time' for the T65As. Photo by Richard Snowberger, August 15, 2016

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Orcas at Point Hudson, Port Townsend. We saw 4 or 5 of them heading slowly north at about 11:00 a.m. 8/14/2016. Possibly one male. They were close to shore, about 200 yards from the beach. Closer than R2 navigational buoy.
Jeff McLean

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12-year-old sprouter T065A2 briefly visiting before rejoining the rest of his family. Saturday evening southwest of Whale Rocks. Photo by James Gresham, August 13, 2016

T065A and 5-year-old T065A4 in a choppy Juan de Fuca on Saturday evening. Photo by James Gresham, August 13, 2016

2-year-old T065A5 swimming in mom's slipstream as they moved at speed against a building westerly wind swell in Juan de Fuca Saturday evening. Photo by James Gresham, August 13, 2016

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To get those special moments with wild whales, you've got to put in a lot of time. The last couple weeks have been a bit "off" for me, with distant whales, rough seas, and just misses. Today was another one of those days, spending a lot of time whale waiting and whale chasing (trying to catch them from different shore-based lookouts) and not a lot of time whale watching. This is my best shot of the day, as the T65As swam down San Juan Channel. They were hugging the shoreline, but unfortunately right after this surfacing they went on a long dive and didn't come up until around the corner past us!
Monika Wieland

T65As powering down San Juan Channel. Photo by Monika Wieland, August 13, 2016

 
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Photo by Jill Hein, August 13, 2016

 

We received a call at about 8:20 pm tonight from Rosemary Teforo who was calling from Vashon Island, at the end of Manzanita Rd. They were watching a whale 500 ft. away from shore, going back and forth, headed toward Portage, had been there at least 10 - 15 minutes. They thought it was in trouble, seemed to be very close to shore. They confirmed it had a dorsal fin, so not a gray whale feeding.
At 9:30 Rosemary's sister Elizabeth called, saying it was still there, 100 yards from shore, breathing a lot and they were afraid it was stranding. While I was on the phone with them I got a message from Amy Carey - she couldn't get there before dark, but called a friend who lives near there, and her friend had been watching it for the last 45 minutes. It was at the mouth of Quartermaster Harbor, a place they don't usually go, but it seemed to be doing deep dives and breathing and acting normal, and they saw it breach and species was confirmed as humpback.
Susan Berta, Orca Network
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3:15 p.m. - Group of whales headed south in commencement bay. I believe 2 humpbacks
Patricia Peachy Reagan


7:07 p.m. - Just saw him off of Bainbridge near Murden Cove as we were crossing from Shilshole!!
Erin Graf
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2:50 p.m. - Just spotted a single humpback just south of Point No Point, Kitsap. Heading south, mid channel.
Max French

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Humpback whale surfaces in south Puget Sound near Day Island. Photo by Danyell Laughlin, August 12, 2016

Humpback heart-shaped exhalation. Photo by Danyell Laughlin, August 12, 2016

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Saw whale in Puget Sound on west side of Fox Island. (confirmed now as humpback via video not shared here. Was listed as unidentified in our last Sightings Report)
Janet Roethier


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The attached pictures were from a Humpback whale sighting on Saturday, August 6th.  The location is just North of Shilshole marina out at mid channel:  Starting Coordinates at approximately 11:30am: N47043'.84   W122o24'.84
Moving in a southerly direction over the next 30 minutes that we watched.  The cow put on a continuous show for as long as we watched.  We believe there was also a calf  at her side but was hard to confirm from our distance. N47o43'.67  W122o25'.03
Michael Spruch
(This report and  beautiful breach sequence are of (and a nice tribute to) the female juvenile humpback the night before she live stranded in Fauntleroy Cove, West Seattle the morning of August 7th. Sadly she eventually died while being cared for by a team of researchers and stranding network staff and volunteers as reported on in our August 13th Whale Sightings Report - ALB)  

Lovely female juvenile humpback breaching near Shilshole Marina the night before she live stranded in Fauntleroy Cove, West Seattle. Rest peaceful dear little one. Photos by Michael Spruch, August 6, 2016 (see report above)

Photo by Christ Teren, August 15, 2016

 

Photo by Chris Teren, August 15, 2016

 

A large baleen whale surface beyond this lucky kayker. Sequim Bay - near Sequim Bay State Park. Photo by Renee Pearson-Colwill, August 16, 2016

Photo by Renee Pearson-Colwill, August 16, 2016

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It was a fin waving. Wasn't the head. (re: whale in Sequim Bay)
Tiffani Mote
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Whale in southern Sequim Bay this afternoon. Sequim Bay State Park. (FB video showed what could be whale on it's side feeding, see above comments and photos suggesting a gray whale - ALB)
William Westrem

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7:00 p.m. - likely humpback -based on the blow and seeing the back - heading north towards Pt. Partridge.  (Gray whale 723 was in this area at the time as noted in our August 13th Whale Sightings Report - ALB)
Al Luneman

August 15 

8:06 a.m. - 2 common dolphins just spotted off the west side of Vashon, headed north!
Aimee Nemeyer

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7:40 p.m. - The common dolphins are in the Ruston way waterfront area right now!
Desiree Brake