Orca Network Reporting Program

[Harbor Ranger]

We don't know how many of you are familiar with the Orca reporting program but we get daily reports on the Orcas, other whales, dolphins, sea lions, etc. Just type in "Orca network sighting report"<info@orcanetwork.ccsend.com> and you will recieve daily sighting reports. None have been better than the three pods (80 whales) we saw off Turn Point, Stuart Island last summer. Enjoy. Harbor Ranger

 

[Bruce Moore]

We saw the J, K, and L "super-pod" moving north after it's trip to the south sound. It's speculated they came down because of the big silver run. We watched them transiting north, along the east shores of Blake and Bainbridge Islands. The large adult Orcas circled around a moving perimeter, and the smaller whales appeared to be feeding in the center.

We were alerted by the West Seattle Blog (I follow them on Twitter) who spotted them moving south toward Alki Point. I grabbed my binoculars and immediately spotted spouting and breaching. We couldn't count all the whales, there were that many. The Bremerton/Seattle ferry altered its course after leaving Rich Passage. We jumped in the car and went down to Elliott Bay Marina and watched until they were beyond West Point.

There was an interesting article in this morning's Seattle Times which says the resident Orca pods, which are fish eaters, prefer Fraser River (British Columbia) Chinook, but they'll use Coho (Silvers) to train their young to hunt. Remarkable.

The Orca Network sighting alerts are definitely worth tracking. Along the the resident and transient Orcas, they've also reported several Gray Whale sightings in the last few months, including the this week's Orca attack on a gray whale. You can subscribe here.

Cheers

 

[j&amp;lgray]

I signed up for the Orca Reporting Network today and already received a great synopsis of whale activity in Puget Sound. Thanks Bruce for the easy link. Now we'll know where whales have been and will keep on looking!

Laurie