April 2016 Whale Sightings

Click here for Map of April 2016 whale sightings.

April 30
T065B1 at close range yesterday in Haro Strait. T065A (R) & offspring in Haro Strait. The T065A's and B's were less than a mile from Humpback Big Mama and her calf and were headed towards each other, but the transients didn't bother the humpbacks. The T065A's and B's had been submerged on a deep dive and surfaced right next to us. This 5 yr old's dorsal fin is already sprouting. I think he's going to be a big boy. -James Gresham

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Humpback Big Mama BCY0324 with her airborne newest calf (no. 6). -Simon Pidcock

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Today out on the Island Whaler with # 49 patch and # 383 in Elger Bay moving south. -Terica Ginther

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Big Mama, a pioneer, one of the first humpbacks to return after a 100 years of absence to the Salish Sea. We are excited and smoking a cigar because she is back with a new calf! We believe it to be the 6th. Both Big Mama and her calf were breaching when we sailed to Beaumont Shoals today. -Barbara Bender, All Aboard Sailing

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Breaching humpback calf. This is the 2016 calf of the much loved humpback Big Mama. Photographed today in Haro Strait southwest of Lime Kiln. As we (Island Adventures Whale Watching) slowly moved into position both Big Mama and the calf began breaching repeatedly. They breached together at one point but I didn't get shots. The calf breached at least 10 times while Big Mama repeatedly lobbed her flukes. We sat at stand off distance with engines off and watched in amazement. After awhile the acrobatics stopped as quickly as they started and Big Mama moved north up Haro with her calf. The T065A and T065B transient orca were less than a mile away at the time and were headed south but the marine mammal eating orca ignored the humpbacks. Great to see an apparently strong and energetic calf for Big Mama this yr. Shot at 500mm and cropped. -James Gresham

April 29
1605 - A pod of Orca (Bigg's killer whales/Transients) with a couple breaching between North side of Orcas and Matia Island heading NW. -David McIntire

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Gray whale reported close to shore at Ebey's Landing, Whidbey Island today, likely feeding. Wondering if it's one of our Northern Puget Sound Grays heading out! Thanks to Karen Bishop for sharing, and solving our mystery. -Wilbur Bishop

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4:28 p.m. - Spotted. Grey whale feeding in the shallows. Approx .5 miles north of parking lot. (Ebey's Landing). -David Stern

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Our stranding network received a report of a small whale (or other marine mammal) traveling north at Ebey's Landing, Central Whidbey Island, a few feet from the shore, heading north, near parking lot area.

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0630 hours: Ferryboat crew of the Issaquah and Sealth report a gray whalelocated 1/2 mile north of Vashon Head at LAT. North 47.31.08- LONG. West 122.28.02 The crew reports the whale appears emaciated and the lethargic and are concerned about its welfare. No pictures available. -John Rogstad, WSF

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11:44 a.m. - slow steady pace southbound. Shallow surfaces in 3-4s every 8-10 minutes in glassy water. No fluking though one does arch on last surface. Carkeek would be next place for shore viewing...they are probably almost due west of there.
11:25 a.m. - definitely 2 humpbacks! Now traveling in tandem mid channel sightline Richmond Beach and Faye Bainbridge. Southbound. (as viewed from Richmond Beach Saltwater Park)
11:15 a.m. - again caught just a glimpse of a 2nd whale west of mid channel and east of 1st whale. Shallow surface by whale no. 2.
11:05 a.m. - caught a glimpse corner of binoculars, pretty positive it is a humpback off Jefferson Head/Indianola. Will confirm shortly. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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9:14 a.m. - Two whales (humpback?) just surfaced off Apple Tree Point in Kingston heading south!! HUGE....and amazing. Only surfaced once so wasn't able to get a picture. -Sara Frey

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...We were promised rain but were lucky - we headed out to find gray whales and right off Camano, directly opposite Langley, we found #44 Dubknuck feeding along Camano's shoreline, heading slowly north. After watching him feed on his side with one pectoral fin and half of his tail visible, he then come out to deeper water and we saw his tail fluke several times. We then headed south towards Hat/Gedney Island and found #723 Lucyfer feeding along the southern shallow banks. He was very visible near the surface, we could see his entire body in the shallow water. Heading back to port, #44 had turned south and we saw him again! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

April 28
J34 in Sidney Channel in the afternoon. -Mark Malleson

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8:30 p.m. - Left J16's off Ripple Island heading for San Juan Channel. Met them at Blunden as the sun was setting. At first they zig zagged and then doubled back and headed towards Johns Pass. It was after 8:30 and getting dark but we wanted to see where they were going to go!
6:45 p.m. - J16's nearing Blunden, pointed at Turn. -Barbara Bender

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I have been waiting fourteen years to have J Pod come through Sansum Narrows which divides Maple Bay and Cowichan Bay. This is a historic travel route for the Southern Resident Killer Whales. Since the downfall of the Cowichan River Chinook Salmon run in the 1980's the southern residents rarely come into Cowichan Bay. I was lucky enough to find them just entering Sansum Narrows resting but as soon as they got to the mouth of Cowichan Bay the fireworks started. This encounter made my year! -Simon Pidcock

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Hard Core. We used the moderate to strong winds and the big ebb and flood to cover serious ground and watch serious whales. Sidney Channel - J34, Doublestuf, continual breaches and cartwheels expressed the power of the day. His mom, J22, similarly cartwheeled and even the kids were having fun. Vocalizing while fishing and exuberant with the exciting whitecaps. A thrill and an honor to sail in their presence. We broke away to meet the breakaway group, the J16's, in the white caps of Blunden Island, Canada. They surprised us by turning towards San Juan Channel with us as we plowed a beam reach homeward through sunset. -Barbara Bender, All Aboard Sailing

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11:18 a.m. - Unidentifiable whale in shipping lane off of Vashon Island drifting northwards towards Blake island. Drifting in surface and blowing occasionally. Hope it is not in distress. -Terry Blumer

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11:00 a.m. - Humpback or grey whale in between Lincoln Park and Vashon Island, main shipping channel. Floating, have seen some blows. -Sharon Blumer

April 27
0845 - viewed from land. Location 2km. SE of Comox Ferry terminal, approx. 1 1/2 km offshore. Best estimate, 7 Unidentified killer whales. We have seen much more Orca activity in the last year than in any of the previous 12 years we have lived here. -Ron Ulmi

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Anna Gullickson of Kenmore Air just sent in this report: A fellow pilot just spotted a pod of some type of whale about 5 miles South of Smith Island at 3:36 pm. She thinks maybe Fin whales? She thinks there were about 4 of them. They are dark grey, almost black w/ a bit of a white understreak. They were feeding on herring balls w/ the seagulls and that is how she spotted them.

April 26
T049A1, T049A and T049A2 pushing west out the Juan de Fuca Strait west of Port Angeles in the afternoon. -Mark Malleson

April 25
J16 & her 16 month-old daughter J50 -Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research ...The morning began with J pod calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophone around 0630 and a distant visual sighting by Jeanne Hyde a short time later of several dorsal fins and a breach east of Beaumont Shoal on the Canadian side of the border in Haro Strait. It took a little more than two hours before the whales came slowly past the Center for Whale Research headed northwest bucking an ebbing tide...See full Encounter 36 Report. -Center for Whale Research

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After twenty years of watching these whales one of those magic moments I had been waiting for finally arrived. Today I was able to visit with all of Jpod as they traveled through beautiful Active Pass. It was truly an inspiring, humbling experience. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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J52 "Sonic" looking small compared to his uncle, J26 "Mike"! -Gary Sutton,

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J Pod this morning, going north past my neighborhood on Mitchell Point, San Juan Island. They were a ways off shore. -Jim Maya

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12:13 p.m. - Hearing calls (again, still?) on the OrcaSound hydrophone on NW San Juan Island! -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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9:54 a.m. - repeated calls including S4s- on OS.
9:40 a.m. - whistling, calls intermittent, some loud -on OS.
9:20 a.m. - switched to OrcaSound hearing loud calls and echolocation. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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9:17 a.m. - Jpod vocals and lots of echolocation on Orcasound hydro right now! Calls are distant. -Renee Beitzel

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8:42 a.m. - intermittent faint calls, echolocation steady.
8:21 a.m. vocals still faint, now hearing echolocation
8:08 a.m. - distant/faint J pod vocals on Lime Kiln. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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8:08 a.m. - hearing orcas on Lime Kiln hydrophone. -Althea Leddy

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10:53 - 4Ts going S from Detwiller Pt. to Porlier Pass. (Georgia St, SE of Nanaimo). -Ron Bates

April 24
Today was just lovely! Caught up with the T65As (first time this year!) T49As and T49C....These guys cruised over to Turn Point Lighthouse on Stuart island. This is perhaps one of my most favorite places to photograph whales with backlit blows and pure green water! -Traci Walter

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Spotted at least 4 orcas around 12:30pm today while on the ferry from Sídney, B.C to Friday Harbor, WA. Lots of dorsal fins. Happened about 30 min into the route on the north side of the boat. -Angela Staiger

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North Puget Sound Grays - 3 pm trip, and we had a full load on Sound Water Stewards' fundraising cruise. We dodged the heavier rain showers and found gray whale #723 Lucyfer just south of Hat/Gedney Island, traveling back and forth along the shallow banks. Then to our delight, #49 Patch appeared to show us his very distinctive "patch" and tail fluke, what a treat! Heading north, we then found #21 Shackelton - the first whale to be documented in Possession Sound (by Cascadia Research Collective), way back in 1990!!.... -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist, Mystic Sea

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Probably gray whale #44. Couldn't confirm ID but whoever it was, was heading north from Possession when we saw him. there's also 3 others northwest of Gedney- #49, 723 and 383 were all together. -Renee Beitzel

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Spouting spotted @ 12:15pm Clinton going to Mukilteo ferry crossing...spouting spotted to the north of the ferry. (No dorsal fins seen, so guessing not orcas.) -Jeff Reoch

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5:45 p.m. - Today while sailing we thought we changed our course a bit to avoid a log or rock and were pretty surprised to find that when we passed it was actually a grey whale. We were concerned because it didn't appear to be moving aside from a little bobbing with the water, which was quite calm. Southwest of Kingston pretty close to shore, at about 47.772214,-122.469870. We had it in sight for only about 5 minutes. -Caitlin Gibson

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5:07 p.m. - There is a whale between Jefferson Head and Kingston floating on the surface moving very slowly. At first we thought he was dead, but he appears to be alive. I'm a newbie at this so not sure what else to report. -Nancy Langwith

April 23
Transient Orca super pod all traveling together - 65A's, 49A's, 123's, 65B, 65B1 and others were making their way to the group. -Brian Goldberg

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EPIC day with the T49A's, T65A's, T65B's, and T123's! A little ways north of Protection Island. Incredible action from these guys: pirouettes, double breaches, super spyhops, sea snakes, and mid-air barrel rolls. Here are images of orcas defying gravity. -Katie Jones

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Transient Orcas socializing. North of Protection Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. -Capt. Jim Maya

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...Later that morning we got a report of killer whales near the mouth of Puget Sound between Admiralty Inlet and Port Townsend. When we got on scene I quickly identified the commonly known T065As, T065Bs, T049As, T049C, and T123s. I had not seen T065B and T065B-1 in quite some time, so that was exciting! I just love these large groupings of mammal-hunting killer whales (Bigg's/transients) we see in the spring! I wonder what initiates such groupings, but I suspect the reason is ecological. We saw hundreds of breaches and displays of social behavior. This is usually very rare for these types of killer whales because they need to be very quiet and stealthy in order to exploit their intelligent prey. They must have all had very full bellies ... I think the orcas spent more time out of the water than in it! We saw back flips, spyhops, cartwheels, breaches, head-stands, and heaps of tactile behavior.... -Heather MacIntyre

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Incredible encounter with 3 transient pods in Admiralty Inlet . -James Gresham

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12:17 p.m. - they are steadily traveling NW on their way out of Admiralty inlet. Harder to see now - will be out of sight from Whidbey soon.
11:49 a.m. - At Fort Ebey state park, can see the pod mid channel. I've seen some crazy surface activity in the few minutes I got here. Water like glass and easy to see. -Rachel Haight

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11:12 a.m. - Transient orcas at Ebeys Landing northbound. Out on Redhead, amazing activity and vocalizations. -Trevor Tillman

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With much better weather conditions than originally forecast, gray whales #49 (Patch), #383 and #723 put in an appearance between Gedney Island and Everett in search of their favorite food source, ghost-shrimp. For much of the time #383 and #723 were traveling together, with all three whales changing direction frequently and intent on feeding. Just getting on with life. -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist, Mystic Sea

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12:04 p.m. - Just got back in from gray whale trip from Edmonds with Puget Sound Express. Watched two gray whales north of Everett fantastic morning...Gray whale #383 was north of Everett. -Karen Knight

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We encountered BCY0160 "Heather" the humpback right outside of our harbor early on. (Snug Harbor) I'm grateful that we have these gentle giants in the Salish Sea again. They were nearly eradicated by one whaling station here at the turn of the century but are making a huge comeback, known affectionately as the "humpback comeback"! This is Heather's 14th consecutive year here according to researchers. Interestingly enough, she was the last humpback I saw here last November. -Heather MacIntyre

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.....As if the day wasn't epic enough we also encountered a Minke whale (second smallest baleen whale in the world) on the way back to our harbor. (Snug Harbor) As Jared Towers documents in his 2014 publication on seasonal movements and ecological markers as evidence for common minke whale migration, I also observed numerous cookiecutter shark scars on this individual which was very interesting! This individual must have just gotten back to its summer range... -Heather MacIntyre

April 22
T49C and his nephew T49A1 swim among the Penn Cove Mussel Farm's rafts, and nearly within arms reach of awe struck staff. -Rachel Haight

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2:54 p.m. - Admiralty Inlet - Four or five Orcas headed north at a quick pace! One very large fin present. East side of Foulweather bluff. We are on a sailboat in the south end of Admiralty Inlet, about a half mile offshore. Orcas were between us and the Kitsap Penninsula. -Carrie Selting Carrie Selting

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Penn Cove/Saratoga Passage - Ts visit Penn Cove this morning - Happy Earth Day! -Rachel Haight

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A couple of big boys, including T49C near Penn Cove Mussel rafts. -Rachel Haight

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3:15 p.m. - 4-6 Orcas in Penn Cove heading east past wharf at 3:15 Friday. Two males, maybe 2-4 others. Traveling east. -Maribeth Crandell

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2:40 p.m. - Just got a call, orcas are BACK in Penn Cove! ..going toward the mussel docks. Maybe 3? -Bonnie Gretz

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12:17 p.m. - Sweet, yep they are heading to the pass. The tide should be coming back in around 1:30pm, last year they were at the pass during the same conditions. -Drea Park

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11:42 a.m. - orcas are 1 mile east of Polnell Point and 1/2 mile off the Whidbey Island Shoreline at Polnell Shores. They were heading east towards Camano Island, possibly destined for Deception Pass. -Steve Rothboeck

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11:40 a.m. - Single Orca sighted between Utsalady Pt and Strawberry Point (Camano Island). Tall and straight dorsal fin. Headed north. Beautiful and striking! Only saw the individual a few times, coming up for air and moving on. -Kerri Kline

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11:08 a.m. - Almost as soon as I posted this I saw them again, closer to Camano Island traveling north at what seemed to be a slower pace than they had been moving. My phone lost service and I was unable to update until now.
10:47 a.m. - I watched them leave Penn Cove a while ago and I'm watching from the Seaplane Base now. They look like they're heading south halfway between Camano and Whidbey Islands. -Krista McVay Lee

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10:45 a.m. - One of the males Sara Hysong-Shimazu ID'd as T49C for me. I'm at Long Point. Whales are NE of me currently still eastbound. Don't know if they'll head up towards the pass or turn south by Camano yet...almost too far for me to see. -Rachel Haight

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10:15 a.m. - 5 orcas (including 1 male) were spotted cruising along the Penn Cove area, seeing heading out toward Deception Pass. They appeared to be just cruising the area. Traveling casually.

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10:07 a.m. - Heading east looks like out of the cove I can spot them past Monroe Landing. -Grace Seidel

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9:50 a.m. - Starting to head east, northwest of wharf. -Rachel Haight

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9:45 a.m. - They are at the head of Penn Cove now.
9:37 a.m. - Just to the right of the mussel rafts now. -Mary Fell Cheston

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9:28 a.m. - Omg!!! Workers on rafts getting insanely close encounter wow wow wow!!!! Like they could've almost touched the whales so close! -Rachel Haight

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Orcas and our Penn Cove Mussel Farm crew celebrating Earth Day - 2016 together in Penn Cove, Whidbey Island, Washington. -Ian Jefferds

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9:20 a.m. - Sammye Kempbell called to relay a report from her husband who just saw five orcas in Penn Cove. They just turned north toward Monroe Landing from the Coupeville Wharf.

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9:13 a.m. - Orcas in Penn Cove!!! Westbound just east of Coupeville wharf. -Rachel Haight

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6:45 a.m. - I spotted 5 Orcas a little north east of Greenbank this morning. Heard them from our place in the community above Baby Island. Watched 2 big males 2 smaller whales and one even smaller traveling North East for about 20 minutes. The water was smooth and glassy so they were easy to follow with binoculars. Great way to start the day! -Alyce Vickland

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9:30 a.m. - Puget Sound - We saw a pod of orcas this morning to the south of us on the Kingston to Edmonds ferry run - there definitely was a male in that group. That's the first time we've seen the orcas from the ferry. Hooray. -Marianne & Ken Wood

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8:30 a.m. - Saw orcas from Carkeek this morning! Appeared to be heading south. Saw at least 5-7. Fisherman and I chatted. He said all female as no fin was much larger than others. They came up repeatedly and kept blowing. -Jennifer Riker

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Gray whales #383 and #723 spy-hop over and over this afternoon near Gedney Island. -Michael Colahan

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1:40 p.m. - The unknown gray seems to be content just chilling between Possession and Clinton ferry. -Holly Husom Davidson

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12:02 p.m. - Mystic Sea reports Patch (#49), #21 off Gedney and Camano Head, #723 and #383 south of Gedney, and Chilcat reporting unknown gray near Possession Point. -Bonnie Gretz

April 21
Possession Sound/Saratoga Passage - Nature in the raw... Shortly after leaving Langley marina, we caught up with two groups of transient orcas (marine mammal eating orcas), south of Camano Head. The whales milled for a while before becoming more spread out as they picked up the pace towards Port Susan, until diverted by a Pacific harbor seal crossing their path. A short, intense pursuit followed, but this lucky seal got away! We left the orcas continuing north as we headed back towards Camano Head, where we spotted the heart-shaped blow of a gray whale, #44 (Dubknuck) traveling south - away from the orcas. -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist.

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6:14 p.m. - At least 3 maybe 5 orcas heading north in Saratoga Passage off Onamac Point. Closer to Camano side. At least one male! -Patti Nevaril-Cassell

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2:00 p.m. - Noticed no one else reported the adult male orca five or six people saw from the Boy & Dog park in Langley. It was heading north and, as far as we could tell, solitary. Don't remember the exact time but it was around 2 p.m. First, appeared frequently straight out from the park, then disappeared for quite a while and then was spotted much farther north. -Mara Grey

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1:47 p.m. - T049C all alone heading north off West side of Gedney. -Renee Beitzel

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11:52 a.m. - Sandra reports the Ts have moved east, into Port Susan.
11:35 a.m. - Sandra Pollard aboard Mystic Sea is watching 4 or 5 orcas, including one adult male, off the south end of Camano Head in Saratoga Passage. These must not be the same ones that were seen from the Kingston ferry and off Pt. Wells just after 10 am, given that the distance is over 20 miles, too far to travel in one hour, and given that Renee Beitzel reports at 11:32: "another group of Ts in Saratoga and we also just found gray whale #44 in close proximity at south end of Camano island!"

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4:05 p.m. - Puget Sound - Just saw a pod or Orca's from Alki. Just off Bainbridge heading toward Magnolia. Pretty sure I saw a juvenile in the group! So exciting! Northbound but lost sight of them as a ferry was coming toward them. Haven't' see a sign of them since. -Rusty Garner

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4:00 p.m. - Bainbridge ferry westbound spotted orcas spouting and traveling off Alki. Family unknown. -Cornelia Talley

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3:20 p.m. - My friend Angela Mata is on the the ferry Kaleteen, Seattle to Bremerton run, there is a pod of orcas currently to the SE of them, southbound. The boat at the time of report was midway between Restoration Point (Bainbridge) and Alki Point. Good chance this is the pod that was off Richmond Beach and they turned back south. -Alisa LB

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12:40 p.m. - Found a group of approx 4 large orcas heading north bound, seen from just south of Richmond Beach saltwater park. They look to be just west of mid channel. Not visible without a good pair of binoculars!! Best seen from the highest point at Richmond beach SWP. -Kayli Ann Breitweiser

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10:41 a.m. - Transients (no ID's yet) making kills but heading south-ish mid channel outside Edmonds. -Renee Beitzel

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11 a.m. - pod is still out mid channel bit north of out from Pt Wells...definitely on a kill.
9:45 a.m. - surface activity north of Point Wells east of mid channel. Viewed from a distance. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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This picture was taken aboard the Walla Walla (Kingston-Edmonds ferry) at approximately 10 AM. The four orca were spotted just off of Kingston in the traffic lanes headed southbound. -John Rogstad, Operations Watch Supervisor, Washington State Ferries
The Male is T123A. (ID by Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research)

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8:55 a.m. - Orcas seen off the 8:40 Kingston ferry, headed south mid channel. Looks like transients, uneven dives. Right in the ferry lanes little to the south headed south. About 5 animals, 1 male, couple females and younger adult. -Sarah Hanke

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Pod of orcas spotted on the Edmonds Kingston ferry about 8:45. Closer to Edmonds heading away from Edmonds. -Dione Corey

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We left the orcas continuing north as we headed back towards Camano Head, where we spotted the heart-shaped blow of a gray whale, #44 (Dubknuck) traveling south - away from the orcas. (full day report in Bigg's section). -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist.

April 20
L87 Onxy & J2 Granny Patos Island under Mt. Baker. -Capt Jim Maya

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8:50 p.m. - Passing Friday Harbor now, actually Turn Rock, In the dark with 3 whales! We just bumped into them! Not sure if they will take upright or continue down San Juan Channel
8:25 p.m. - Just passing Yellow Island. We have to take our passengers back. They may take wasp pass. Not sure where they are gonna go! -Barbara Bender

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8:20 p.m. - Made it to Rueben Tarte (north end of San Juan Island) just as one breached twice and a couple more J pod were passing by. Full moon in the sky on one side and gorgeous sunset on the other. -Peggy Mauro

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7:45 p.m. - Look to be taking San Juan channel and Spieden.
7:30 p.m. - Found em! (J pod). Passing north side of Jones. We are a mile off. -Barbara Bender

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We had a great encounter with the T36A's and T99's. They were WAY out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The water was beautifully calm. The whales had made a quick kill (of what, I don't know), and proceeded to be very social for much of the afternoon. -Katie Jones

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Excitement after predation event w/ the T036A's and T099's south of Constance Bank. -Mark Malleson

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We spent a spectacular afternoon with the T36As and T99s in flat water deep south in Juan de Fuca as they socialized and snacked on something large. We couldn¹t make out what it was but thought maybe an elephant seal. They snacked for two hours and were still carrying pieces around when we left. -Val Shore

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7:30 p.m. - Walking far west on North Beach out of Port Townsend we spotted a large group of playful, breaching orcas (6+) slowly traveling into the sunset. -William Dentzel

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3:30 p.m. - 4 Orcas in Discovery Bay. We just observed (at least) 4 Orcas between Protection Island and Cape George. Feeding, I think, since a flock of gulls descended on their location after they left. -Carla Ellis

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8:45 a.m. - 5-7 orcas spotted off the northern side of Passage Island. We watched them from our balcony through binoculars as they traveled north east up into Howe Sound (Vancouver BC) area. Definitely a male in the group possibly two. -Terri John

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Single, Male Orca cruised past Flint Beach, Lopez Island (south end), 6:30am, heading from west to east. Glassy waters, sunrise, Olympic Mountains and large black dorsal fin - all around quite impressive. -Sally Reeve

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11:00 a.m. - Orca's in Penn Cove on their way out. There were six feeding near the mussel farms. -Kit Rhodes

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T065A's east bound south of Hein Bank in the morning. -Mark Malleson

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We watched a grey for about 1/2 hour. Was going from Possession point to the Clinton Ferry about 1:30 today. -Terry Wegner

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12:50 - The 2 (presumably 723 and 383) are now east end of Hat/Gedney steadily moving east. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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12:27 p.m. - One gray Whale just north of Clinton ferry. (as seen from ferry). -Bonnie Gretz

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12:15 a.m. - they are south of Hat/Gedney Island. Towards west end.
11:45 a.m. - both grays north of ferry lanes still steady northbound.
11:30 a.m. - from Mukilteo Lighthouse beach been watching two gray whales for past 10 minutes steadily moving northbound. Now in ferry lanes west of mid channel. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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Gray whale #383 northbound from Possession Point today. -Michael Colahan

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7:40 a.m. - Just spotted a gray whale on the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry about midway, traveling south and was spotted in between both ferry lanes. -Jen Marquett Mostafavinassab

April 19
7:52 p.m. - Those T's were booking it right to the sea lions feeding area closest to Spieden Is. All the harbor seals headed towards my shoreline for safety. -Peggy Mauro

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6:55 p.m. - T49As made a kill between Jones and Yellow and are on the move aimed at Flattop at the moment. -Barbara Bender

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South Puget Sound - My husband and I were kayaking last evening about 6:30 pm witnessed a gray whale as he breached (possibly means surfaced) about 50 feet from us. Gray was heading northeast near the railroad bridge at Chambers Creek area, between Steilacoom and Chambers Golf course. We saw him once again about 150 feet past our kayaks still traveling about 50-75 from shoreline on high tide. So awesome, we have been waiting for this!! -Pam and David Deacon-Joyner

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2:05 p.m. - Just saw a grey whale surface and go around Johnson point toward Zittles marina / Nisqually . It's very close to shore, moving fast. -Tina Davis

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2:35 a.m. - Possession Sound - #723 and #21 north of Mukilteo but south of Gedney. Very close contact with each other. -Renee Beitzell

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1:00 p.m. - WS Ferries reports two gray whales swimming westerly from near Mukilteo.

April 18
T124A's north east bound south of Victoria. -Mark Malleson

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8 am at Jordan River - 10 am -Sooke 11 am Beachy Head - Left going to Albert Head east to Victoria. Great to see the Transient / Biggs T124's around Sooke and the Salish Sea today. -Paul Pudwell

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12:07 a.m. - Just saw a gray whale in lower part of Eld Inlet. It was incredible!" -Jace Cotton

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Trip report - In record breaking temperatures we headed out to find whales - the water was so flat and beautiful we could see for miles. Wasn't too long until we found #44 Dubknuck and #49 Patch feeding side by side, very near to Camano Head. They were in shallow water, it was so calm we could even see them underwater, a most unusual sight. We then headed further south and found #383 and #723 Lucyfer, also feeding together by Hat/Gedney Island. They too were in shallow water, too shallow for any fluke dives. We really didn't want to return to port because it was such a wonderful day being out on the water. But - we had to. -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

April 17
This afternoon at 2 PM we met up with transient killer whales moving quickly north from Kelp Reef in Haro Strait. We were with T11 and T11A, and a little ways ahead of them (identified by others) were the T46Bs and possibly T46C2 ("Sam"). After traveling with them for about 20 minutes, we headed back over towards San Juan Island where we picked up the J16s heading north at Mitchell Bay around 3 PM. We followed them to Open Bay, where they met up with the J19s, and continued north. All members of both matrilines were present, and we left them still heading north from Battleship Island around 4:15. -Monika Wieland

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T11s and others traveling north in Haro Strait today. Huge boy T11A on the right. -Rachel Haight

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Transients under Mount Baker this afternoon - Haro Strait. -Brian Goldberg

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Afternoon cruise - Finally got to see some of our North Puget Sound Gray whales today! Lots of fluking going on, sadly did not get any good photos of Patch, but we got to see him! And #383 and 723, south east of Hat/Gedney Island. Thanks to Mystic Sea, our great volunteer crew, and all who came with us on our Orca Network fundraising cruise! -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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5:05 p.m. - Multiple blows east of Hat Island. They seem to be heading south-I took a few photos but they are pretty far away. Looks like at least two or three. -Sharon Ann Clark

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4:05 p.m. - Two grey whales rising, just now at Driftwood park (by the Keystone ferry) here on Whidbey! Heading South along the coast, pretty slow. -Courtney Wilson

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We also saw #383 in this same area, at about 3:45. -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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2:03 p.m. - #49 Patch southeast of Gedney. Feeding in about 40 feet. -Renee Beitzell

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4:18 p.m. - south Puget Sound - I don't know who is in Olympia right now, but there is a gray snugging the shoreline. It came north out of Budd Inlet around 2:00 and headed south into Eld. It is now slowly making its way back north. Very shallow areas. Beauty blow! This is the same gray whale from yesterday, who was in deep south Sound (Budd Inlet then Eld Inlet) before it headed north passing under the Harstine Island Bridge. Apparently it returned some time during the night and started the route all over again. -Kim Merriman

April 16
We saw 4 whales last Saturday at 5:15 pm from our deck on Tala Shore Drive. Photo of J38 - Cookie (born 2003) by Andrea Knappen Neault (ID by Sara Hysong-Shimazu) They were headed south towards Hood Head. It was the first time we have ever seen orcas here--and we have lived here 26 years. (At the entrance to Hood Canal in Admiralty Inlet. - HG) -Andrea Knappen Neault

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J17s and J22s leaving Admiralty Inlet Saturday night. They were audible on the Port Townsend Hydrophone from about 11:15 to 11:50 p.m. -Connie Bickerton

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5:00 p.m. - Orcas in mouth of hood canal. We enjoyed watching several orcas (at least 3 probably more like 6) from the beach at our home in Port Ludlow this evening. Feeding or traveling. We watched them for at least an hour. -Heather Paar

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12:50 - orcas north of Foulweather Bluff, heading north up Admiralty Inlet. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network

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11:26 a.m. - 3 orcas shadowed by a whale watching boat, between Mutiny Bay and South Marrowstone, north of PNP and Hanville. -Larry Majercin

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11:15 a.m. - J17s south of Indian Point. (south Whidbey between Marrowstone and Scatchet Head. -April Bosley

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11:10 - orcas visible NW of Point No Point, heading up Admiralty Inlet. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network

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11:01 a.m. - J17, J44 and J53 north of Possession Point pointed north in Admiralty. -Michael Colahan

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10:53 a.m. - Bart Rulon reports they are with J17, J53 at Possession Point.

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10:47 a.m. - orcas between Possession and Scatchet head - south Whidbey - 2 whale boats just pulled up to them. Tending westerly out just south of Scatchet. -Stu Davidson

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10:26 a.m. - Orcas passing in front of Hansville, headed west. -Steve Smith

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8:40 a.m. - I've moved to Stamm Overlookbpark north Edmonds. With height I can see pod out in middle of triangle of Pt No Pt/ Edmonds/Posession point. Breaching. Keeping steady northbound aimed at Cultus Bay/Possession pt.
8:25 a.m. - with Bev Bow on Sunset Ave in Edmonds. Bev spotted pod sightline east of Point No Point, they are moving steadily north. Probably in line with south of Scatchet Head. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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A few members of J Pod as they headed north this morning. Long distance video clips (6+ miles out). From North Edmonds looking west over Puget Sound between Kingston and just south of Point No Point. -Stu Davidson,
8:07 a.m. - see a few orcas now north of Eglon heading to Pt no Pt probably in shipping lane. (northerly direction). Water is like glass!
7:29 a.m. - orcas breaching north east of Kingston - looking to be on a northerly direction. -Stu Davidson

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7:20 a.m. - Tony Woelke from Washington State Ferries called to report at least 3 orcas due west of Point Edwards, Edmonds. Not really going any direction.

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4:35 p.m. - south Puget Sound - Just saw a small Gray Whale (I think) heading NE in Pickering Passage north of Walkers Landing. It was very small and close to my beach. I think there was another out in the passage because the gulls and duck things were going crazy farther out in one spot...like they were eating parasites off something just under the surface. Awesome.... Life is good. -Katje Hansen

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Gray whale was in Eld Inlet around noon. ** However, I believe I saw it last night, too, near the tip of Cooper Point at Budd and Eld inlets. Today it headed south into the inlet to near Flap Jack Point and then turned around and headed north - very close to shore as seen by this image taken from my beach. It continued north passing by Steamboat Island, under the Harstine Island Bridge, and then kept going. Slow and shallow surfacing series right near the beach/shoreline. -Kim Merriman

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11:49 a.m. - north Puget Sound - Just saw at least one of the grey whales milling around north of the muk-Clinton ferry. Near 3 boats. Very cool! -Aubree Mae Renfro

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11:18 a.m. - We just saw a grey whale heading north along the Whidbey side on our 11:00 ferry ride up to the Welcome the Whales festival from Clinton. -Christina Massimino

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10:36 a.m. - We saw 723 (at Possession Sound) should be northbound to ferry crossing now. -Michael Colahan

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10:16 a.m. - We're about 3 miles north of Langley. There are 2 gray whales and the research boat is still with them. It's always a great day when you get to see whales! -Debbie Holtman Galbraith

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10:09 a.m. - Grey whale sighting in Saratoga Passage. 1 mile south of Mabana on Camano Island. Just 1 or 2 whales. Headed South, slowly. Fishing boat getting a great show, but sadly watching the boat move closer to the whale within 10 feet. -Jennifer Feldman Spanton

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On 10 am ferry crossing Mukilteo to Clinton thought I saw blows, twice, north of Possession Pt coming up Possession sound. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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9:34 a.m. - Gray whale east of Possession Point. -Steve Smith

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9:10 a.m. - Fred Lundahl is watching a gray whale from Whale Bell Park in Langley. The whale is across Saratoga Passage on the Camano side, heading north. The research boat from Cascadia Research Collective is with the whale, with John Calambokidis.

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8:00 a.m. - Jenny and Peter Strouten called in a sighting of 2 gray whales moving south from Camano Island to Hat Island.

April 15
Headed up to Point No Point this morning to go birding. We hadn't been in the parking lot for more than 5 minutes when the most beautiful sight of J34 Doublestuf popped up North of the Point. After missing them for almost a week, I could barely believe my eyes. They were very spread out and there seemed to be foraging since as you can see, I have whales going both directions. -Connie Bickerton

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6:10 pm - Long procession of orcas spread out and heading southeast into Puget Sound past Point No Point. -Patty Michak.

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3:00 p.m. - We saw two Orca whales at the entrance to Hood Canal around 3pm. They were midway between Foulweather Bluff and Olele Point for about 30 minutes then started moving north into the main channel of Admiralty Inlet towards Whidbey Island. We could see them surfacing and hear them breathing from our kayaks off of Tala Point. -Mark McDonald

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2:40 p.m. - they seem to be doing a lot of foraging between S. Marrowstone and Pt. Ludlow area. -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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12:40 p.m. - they are in view again south of Bush Pt, a little closer to the Whidbey side this time, still going slow, possibly foraging. Watching a bald eagle watch the whales. J pod again stealing the thunder from the Gray whales, who we celebrate tomorrow. -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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Sandra Pollard called at 12:20 to report that the J17s and 22s reached the south end of Marrowstone Island, then turned and headed back south with purpose! So maybe we will get them back in Puget Sound or Saratoga Passage yet!

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11:45 a.m. - they are moving pretty slowly, they were just out of sight here south of Bush Pt. a few minutes ago, likely approaching the point about now.
10:45 a.m. - Watching Js, just passed Foulweather Bluff heading west, some foraging behaviors and a couple juvie breaches! -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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10:05 a.m. - Breach! off Foulweather Bluff, midchannel. Slowly foraging north up Admiralty now.
9:00 a.m. - Moving NW up Admiralty.
8:45 a.m. - I saw one dorsal fin through the bigeyes (35x) binocs, west of Point No Point. No obvious direction. -Howard, Orca Network

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9:04 a.m. - saw a couple of dorsals off double bluff northbound probably in sb shipping lane close to mid channel
8:29 a.m. - One male and one female heading north now towards Double Bluff. More west of Point No Point northbound.
8:15 a.m. - Finally orcas! Only seen one male, no direction yet, looks to be feeding north of Point No Point towards westside of Useless Bay. Not close, but on Kitsap side of mid channel. -Connie Bickerton

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Great trip on Mystic Sea this morning! Wonderful views of gray whales #723, #383, #49 (Patch!) and one other. Many spy hops and good looks at their crusty barnacles. -Bonnie Gretz

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4:21 p.m. - At least one grey whale is still in the same spot. Taking very long dives. (SE Gedney). -Danielle Pennington

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12:04 p.m. - Eric from Mystic Sea reports Gray Whales off SE Gedney Island. #723, #383 and #49 "Patch"

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10:08 a.m. - One gray on the south west side of Camano headed south slowly. Watching from Langley. -Dan Gulden

April 14
We had a wonderful encounter with the J16's south of Secretary Island (near Sooke)! They had been picked up by Ocean Magic and we were the second boat on scene and soon identified the J16's but could see other Orcas further to the west. We were the only boat on scene and watched the J16's playing around with each other being very tactile. They were slowly heading back west but in no great hurry. It was great to see J50 & J52 playing together. -Andrew Lees, Five Star WW

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Dall's porpoise pestering J27 and J31 off Sheringham Point. -Mark Malleson

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The J22, and J17 subpods were spread out for miles exhibiting lots of foraging behavior as we watched from the Island Explorer 4 around 11:00am today. J35, Tahlequah, took a break to breach 3 times in a row along the southern shoreline of Whidbey Island, just south of the ferry lanes. Also included a picture of gray whale 531 who was swimming very close by as J-pod swam through. The foraging behavior became even more intense at Possession Point where we left them heading mostly southwest. (see gray whale section) -Bart Rulon

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Unless they turn around, it seems J17s & J22s visit to Saratoga is finally over. It was nice to be able to catch them at Possession State Park as they went by this morning. -Rachel Haight

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6:00 p.m. - Reporting a pod of 6 orcas seen traveling south past Kingston. No boat traffic anywhere near them. Traveling and feeding undisturbed. -Carol Anderson

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5:52 p.m. - Just saw some from the Edmonds Kingston ferry Kingston side. 4 or 5 ... very active. Headed south. -Anouska Willett

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While at Double bluff at 1:15 I thought it looked like they turned south towards Point No Point (keeping to Puget Sound) but I got thrown off by an exiting WW boat so headed to south Mutiny Bay, found Rachel, but no J pod (we scouted there until 3pm). Have good hunch they are around Eglon or south by now. Bart said a lot of foraging behavior earlier. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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I'm the "smaller craft," they headed out toward the middle of the channel and then disappeared. We were with them for a while just off of Indian Point in Useless Bay. Brian Berry

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12:51 p.m. - they seemed stalled - line of sight from north Edmonds is the dark V midpoint Double Bluff, Whale boat still with them as well as a smaller craft
12:36 p.m. - they are headed westerly. Line of sight from north Edmonds is Double Bluff. -Stu Davidson

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12:11 p.m. - We are at Possession Beach Waterfront park and 3 or 4 orcas just passed by heading south around Whidbey Island. -Harriet Sparling Arnold

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Noon - Possession Point now, lots of foraging. -Bart Rulon

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11:55 a.m. - At Possession Point: whales spread out and some long downtimes. Westbound around the south end of Whidbey, headed for Admiralty it appears. -Rachel Haight

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11:50 a.m. - From Haines Wharf Park, north Edmonds I could see dorsals rounding rounding Possession Point at the south end of Whidbey Island, looking like they're heading for Admiralty Inlet. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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10:56 a.m. - We just received a report from Bart Rulon from Island Adventures they are with the J17s and J22s who are southbound south of Clinton Ferry terminal in Possession Sound very spread out heading towards Possession Point.

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The J22, and J17 subpods were spread out for miles exhibiting lots of foraging behavior as we watched from the Island Explorer 4 around 11:00am today. J35, Tahlequah, took a break to breach 3 times in a row along the southern shoreline of Whidbey Island, just south of the ferry lanes. Also included a picture of gray whale 531 who was swimming very close by as J-pod swam through. The foraging behavior became even more intense at Possession Point where we left them heading mostly southwest. -Bart Rulon

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Gotta love the baby face! We were with the T86As, T37, and T124A1 today! Our captain/owner of Western Prince Whale & Wildlife Tours of sighted them by land! Such a special treat! I had not seen the T86A's since March of 2013! It appears that T86A has a new calf, but waiting to hear confirmation from the Center for Whale Research. Her last known calf was T86A3 which is to the left of this image with the large nick up top of the dorsal fin. So curious to hear what they have been up to the last couple years and how long they might stick around! -Traci Walter

April 13
8:32 p.m. - Several orcas just passed Madrona Beach on Camano Island! They were heading north at a fast clip. Looked like five or more. -Vicki Anderson

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7:58 p.m. - Saw one orca at north Woodland Beach Camano, appeared to be swimming north. -Krista Paulino

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7:40 p.m. - Saw a few very spread out heading north from Shangri La area. -Rachel Haight

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7:15p.m. - Just passed us kind of where north bluff turns to Houston Road. -Aaaron Gill

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7:00 p.m. - Headed north from Hidden Beach. -Nancy Culp Zaretzke

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6:30 - 7:15 pm - we watched the orcas meandering north from Hidden Beach, well spread out in small groups, one large male (I won't say it was Doublestuf J34, but odds are on...) traveling alone mid-channel and seemingly in the lead, throwing in a couple of breaches for good measure. No time to check photos yet. -Sandra Pollard

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5:59 p.m. - Orcas headed north from Baby Island, I can see them from Fox Spit, closer to Whidbey. -Sara Young

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Sandra Pollard relayed a message from about 3:20 this afternoon from Marilyn Hrycenko of Holmes Harbor, that 6-8 orcas were seen heading south past Honeymoon Bay, deep into Holmes Harbor, again. Assuming this is the J22s and J17s, this is the fifth day in a row they've gone into shallow water in Holmes Harbor. Maybe the place is full of Blackmouth chinook.

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6:30 p.m. - Gray whale spotted breaching several times inside Liberty Bay marina. (Poulsbo) Was looking for way out of marina. -Michael Stuntz

April 12
Received a call at 7:00 pm from Rob and Marilyn Hrycenko, Honeymoon Bay, to say that whales were passing their window (again) and heading into Holmes Harbor for the 4th day in a row.... By the time we arrived at the Beachfire dock at 7:15 pm, the whales were in our sights powering through the waves and whitecaps. About 500 yards from the dock they seemed to have a change of plan, turned and went back north! Difficult to say how many whales were present due to sea conditions and fading light, but Marilyn thought she saw about ten. The best ID shot we obtained shows Doublestuf (J34) and maybe that's Cookie (J38) ahead of him. These whales are certainly setting quite a pace for us landlubbers trying to keep track of them. -Sandra Pollard & Richard Snowberger

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3:04 p.m. - Orcas seen from Toby's in Coupeville. just saw a pod of orca. At least 4 of them. Looked like some young ones with the larger ones. One orca had a very large dorsal. Just traveling out of Penn Cove. -Steven Iezzi

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2:59 p.m. - they just went past the pier in Coupeville, seemed to be moving quickly out of the cove, in the middle of the cove, think there are 6 - a few are little dorsals. -Shanna Petersen

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2:30 p.m. - Report of Orca in Penn Cove via Helen Catherine Taylor from Front St. "Headed west..." That would be further into cove. Seemed to be hugging Lovejoy Pt side. Looked to me to be headed South. -Gwen Samuleson

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10:40 a.m. - pod at north Woodland Beach.
10:29 a.m. - 3 orca off south Woodland Beach, Camano Island. J17s and J22s swimming north in Saratoga Passage. Very active, saw aftermath of a breach. Last seen going north. -Krista Paulino

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10:15 a.m. - Woot woot, 3 orca beaching several times mid channel, closer to Camano side, Madrona Beach heading south! -Michele Sarver

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7:54 a.m. - Three orcas southbound at Rocky point on Camano. (north west side Camano across from Oak Harbor). -Nancy Washatka McClure

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Ts were amazing...the T99s and T36s show the many stages of a Steller Sea Lion kill. Haro Strait, off of Mitchell Point. -Capt Jim Maya

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Passengers aboard M/V Peregrine and Imagine with Maya's Legacy Whale Watching got to witness some special behavior from our mammal-hunting Bigg's killer whales today! The T036A and T099 family groups participated in a successful sea lion predation event. Observers had the chance to view some incredible surface behavior like breaches, tail slaps, head-stands etc. Those behaviors were all incredible to view, but in our opinion the best part was the aftermath, when these killer whales lit up the water column in beautiful vocalizations. -Heather MacIntyre

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T049A1 harassing a steller sea lion in Middle Channel in the morning. -Mark Malleson

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0900 - 4 Orca whales between Lopez Island and Friday Harbor. South of channel marker 3 by 2 miles. -Debbie Nover

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5:00 p.m. - north Puget Sound - Grey whale heading north. Visible from the 5:00pm Mukilteo ferry crossing south of the ferry lines. -Danielle Pennington

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2:04 p.m. - Viewing spouts between Port of Everett, just north of Mukilteo ferry and the east side of Hat Island. -Bill Campbell

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10:45 a.m. - on Tokitae ferry docking at Clinton I see what must be gray whale spouts to the north, off west side of Hat /Gedney. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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12:53 p.m. - south Puget Sound - This gray whale wandered into the Foss Waterway and right down to P-Dock. Probably one of the coolest things you'll ever see at Foss Harbor! Thanks to marina tenant Jim M. for the great video! (video is of the juvenile emaciated gray whale that has been traveling up and down Puget Sound the past month- ALB) -Ian Wilkinson Marina Manager, Foss Harbor Marina

April 11
Video taken in near darkness when the J17s and J22s were re-sighted in Holmes Harbor. Enjoy cute babies playing with each other and at one point practicing their breaching skills. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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8:00 p.m. - Seen two different groups of killer whales pass through last night at Point no Point, Hanseville, Kitsap County. -Kevin Weikert

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12:20 p.m. - Sizeable pod (8-10, with at least one adult male) spotted from Genesee Hill performing full body breaches, spy hops, and fin slaps at midchannel between Alki Point and Restoration Point at midday... for 45 minutes. The Bremerton-Seattle run slowed to watch, with all passengers on deck... -Daniel Nye

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8:20 p.m. - They passed northbound at Dines Pt headed straight for Hidden Beach. Continuing to do the east side Whidbey shuffle, fingers crossed they'll be here tomorrow! -Rachel Haight

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They must have just turned around - I had a message from friends at Honeymoon Bay at 7:39 pm that they saw the whales heading into Holmes Harbor while they were having dinner. -Sandra Pollard

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7:39 p.m. - northbound past honeymoon bay. They must've snuck all the way south and are coming back now. -Rachel Haight

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I thought you might enjoy these photos from the J-pod visit to Holmes Harbor today. We had the J17 and J22 subpods in there all day today. Feel free to post them on the orca network email list. What a fascinating surprise to have residents in Holmes Harbor, and I'm still scratching my head a bit wondering what their purpose was? They seemed to be resting, socializing, playing, and just wandering around during our two visits with them on the Island Explorer 4 today. -Bart Rulon

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4:49 p.m. - Small pod heading north of us as of now... About 4-5 of them going very slowly. We are on Saratoga Passage about 4 miles north of Greenbank. -Marie Gill

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4:30 pm - we left the orcas at Hidden Beach, heading north again in Saratoga Passage. -Sandra Pollard

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2:45 p.m. - Orcas are headed south in Holmes Harbor again! Assuming it's the J22s and J17s again, just reported passing Dines Point at the top of Holmes Harbor, heading south toward the golf course. Two babies were seen. That makes twice into Holmes Harbor again today.
2:22 p.m. - We are leaving them heading south into Holmes Harbor. -Renee Beitzell

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2:00 p.m. - Looks like they're heading into Holmes harbor again, just now passing Baby Island. -Jill Hein

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1:45 p.m. - Hidden Beach J17s and 22s and a Bald Eagle. Love seeing my birthday buddy J-53 emerging from winter looking so robust. Southbound Hidden Beach. -Ariel Yseth

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1:00 p.m. - J pod passed by Shangri La shores going north and south, very close pass each time. Here they are heading northbound.
12:04 p.m. - they passed northbound close to dock off Shangri La.-Rachel Haight

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12:51 p.m. - So many breaches going on! Still south of Race Lagoon. Orcas turned and heading slowly south. Just offshore from a building that has written "Whido-isle".
12:28 p.m. - lots of breaches, spy hops, rolls on back.. They seem very content!. Still slowly moving north.
11:54 a.m. - they (about six) are slowly moving north. Somewhat long down times close to shoreline Whidbey side near Race Lagoon
11:39 a.m. - Got them! the Southern Resident Orca J Pod up near Holmes Harbor (East Side of Whidbey Island). This is how to see orcas, wild and free! They are just south of Race Lagoon. -Stu Davidson

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9:45 a.m. - Got confirmation that they were by the honeymoon bay spit 30 mins ago, but no direction of travel. -Emily Wandres

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8:40 am - 3-4 orcas seen travelling south in Holmes Harbor again this morning, passing Honeymoon Bay. -Joann Peterson.

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7:56 a.m. - Just saw them pass by Hidden Beach. May be on their way into Holmes Harbor again? -Nancy Culp Zaretzke

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5:30-6:30 a.m. - Half a dozen at least orcas headed south from Penn Cove. Spent a while in front of the house. Saw a spy hop for the first time in real life. Very active....this is day 3 we have seen them back and forth through here. -Lauren Johnsen

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8:00 p.m. - Two small groups of orcas headed north past Point No Point, up Admiralty Inlet. -Patty Michak.

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Noon - We had a report of three orcas southbound seen from a Bremerton ferry around noonish. -Tracy Record, WS Blog

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8:05 a.m. - 6 orcas including a calf, 1.5 miles off Pt. Edwards, Edmonds, WA this morning, heading north at the time. -Tony Wilkes

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1:00 p.m. - Gray Whale in western Rich Passage swimming West. -Katie Brown

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4:06 p.m. - Gray whale Dana point on Camano southbound. -Sally Olin

April 10
J53, first seen October 24, 2015, is a girl! Here she is in Saratoga Passage with mom J17. -Jill Hein

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J pod member breaches in Holmes Harbor, Greenbank, Whidbey Island. J34 Doublestuf surfaces close to an idle boater. -Judy Young

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We first saw the J17s and J22s coming up to the north end of Holmes Harbor just south of Greenbank around 2 pm. They were pointed north when we saw them but not going anywhere, just logging and spyhopping. Within minutes they turned south and headed into Holmes Harbor for the second time today and where they were yesterday, but where Residents are very rarely seen. We went a few miles south and stopped at Holmes Harbor Vista and watched them pass slowly, continuing southward. We then went to the Holmes Harbor golf course and out on the floating dock just as they came by within 30' of the dock, again slowly, staying close to the surface. They got to between the golf course and the town park, where the depth drops to just a few feet over the mudflats. They continued logging and spyhopping in tight groups for about 20 minutes, then they slowly meandered back northward. We headed back north to the Holmes Harbor yacht club and saw them pass by, still going very slow, for another twenty minutes, then went back to where we started just south of Greenbank, and watched them move slowly northwest toward the beach into very shallow water before turning northward. We then went up to Hidden Beach, just north of Greenbank, and watched as they moved at only a slightly faster pace, northward toward Penn Cove about 6 pm. All members of both matrilines were present and no new babies were seen. Lots of blackmouth salmon, which are the non-migratory Chinook, were reported to be in Saratoga Passage, so possibly they are finding plenty to eat, but they didn't seem to be foraging. Instead they were in tight clusters, intensely socializing the whole time. I won't even venture an explanation of their bizarre behavior. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network

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Incredible encounter with the J17's and J22's in our immediate neighborhood, Holmes Harbor, Freeland. Delighted to see Susan Berta, Howard Garrett, Wendy Berta Sines, and the intrepid Haight family, Rachel Haight, Josh Haight and daughter Lily, enjoying land-based whale watching from the dock. -Sandra Pollard

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The J17s and J22s delighted us by coming close to shore, traveling all the way into Holmes Harbor and back out, past Greenbank, then they headed north up Saratoga Passage after we left them. What a great day, and getting to see two of the new babes! -Susan Berta

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What a day! Again, I started the day at Hidden Beach and ended at Hidden Beach. Except today, J pod went back and forth in Holmes Harbor multiple times. They passed close by Dines Point several times and had an incredibly close pass by at the dock at the Holmes Harbor golf course. We also saw an osprey catch a fish, have an eagle chase it, causing the osprey to drop the fish, the eagle tried to get the fish but didn't; two more eagles flew in, and two of them locked talons. No one got a fish, but this moment made me forget about orcas altogether (for a split second!), such a unique sight to witness! It was another beautiful sunny day spent with J pod and orca loving friends. Perfect. -Rachel Haight

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J17s and J22s in Holmes Harbor. It was a beautiful visit with spyhop happy babies (and adults) and beautiful Star (J46) here breaching. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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7:50 p.m. - Some of J-pod came back up north this evening. Around 7:50 pm I saw dorsals going by my house, northbound. Dashed out, saw them again north of Harrington Lagoon, but lost them - and it was getting pretty dark too. Just now checking my few photos and see J-34 Doublestuf, J28 Polaris with J54 and 3 other whales. So exciting, maybe we'll have them 3 days in a row? -Jill Hein

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7:00 p.m. - Just watched a large group of Orcas (LOTS of babies) heading north from our place... We are on Saratoga Passage about 4 miles up from Greenbank. The Orcas are headed towards Coupeville. -Marie Gill

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6:34 p.m. - Still watching J22s and 17s, just left Holmes Harbor and now at Hidden beach heading north up Saratoga Passage. -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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6:29 p.m. - Just south of Hidden beach northbound. -Rachel Haight

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5:22 p.m. - They're back up to Dines Pt and heading north of anyone's still following. -Dan Gulden

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5:00 p.m. - I just had a profound encounter with J-17's in Holmes Harbor, they were down all the way by Freeland and very slowly headed North. -Steve Smith

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4:18 p.m. - Watching Orca pod in Holmes Harbor, came in very close to old golf course dock. Baby and 6-7 more. -Susie Richards

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3:28 p.m. - They're South of Honeymoon Bay moving south toward Freeland now. -Dan Gulden

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3:23 p.m. - I have been watching them going back and forth from Dines Pt to Honeymoon Bay, I am across Holmes Harbor at Baby Island. -Marilyn Armbruster

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3:01 p.m. - At least 4 just north of Honeymoon Bay. -Lori Christian

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2:14 p.m. - It is very odd. They turned back north again now slowly passing Honeymoon Bay.
1:46 p.m. - They went back south, deeper into Holmes Harbor.
1:00 p.m. - pod urned back north just north of Honeymoon bay. -Rachel Haight

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1:10 p.m. - They are breaching big time in Honeymoon Bay. We are few miles away and with naked eye amazing! -Marilyn Armbruster

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12:50 p.m. - saw blows in Honeymoon Bay. Not able to tell the direction except when the whale watching boats move, but they had been heading into Holmes Harbor. -Cindi Bowen

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12:16 p.m. - Dines Pt. Southbound. -Lori Christian

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12:25 p.m. - J22s and J17s south bound in Holmes Harbor coming up to Honeymoon Bay. -Eric Rosemore

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12:21 p.m. - Orcas heading into Holmes Harbor in north side passing Dines Point, southbound. -Michelle Goll

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12:09 p.m. - Looks like they're going to make a close pass by at Dines pt. still southbound.
11:38 p.m. - Appears to be J pod going the same route as yesterday. At the entrance to Holmes Harbor.
11:06 a.m. - At Hidden Beach. Orcas north of me southbound and close to shore. -Rachel Haight

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11:03 a.m. - They just passed the Whidbey side shore east of where Houston Rd turns south into North Bluff Road. They were heading south at a good clip. -Scott Price

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10:20 a.m. - Multiple orcas; males, females and baby. Very active. Jumping out of the water. Headed south from Penn Cove. -Lauren Johnsen

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10:01 a.m. - 7-8 orcas off Harrington Lagoon again (Saratoga Passage just south of Penn Cove). About mid passage, now heading south. -Erik Anderson

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5:00 p.m. - Killer whales in the sound spotted from ferry Kaleetan out of Bremerton just now! Traveling northwest toward Bainbridge but didn't follow for long enough to see overall direction of travel. If I had to guess, west/farther in! (pod was off Restoration Point, heading what looked to be towards Rich Passage). -Haley Sochia

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11:30 a.m. - On the ferry. Saw them just north of the ferry route. Mid channel breaching. Edmonds. -Sarah Hanke

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11:20 a.m. - update pod of approx 8-10+? still powering southbound mid channel out from Edmonds ferry dock transect just north of Apple Cove Pt, Kingston. Difficult to see in chop. I need to leave...good luck.
11:00 a.m. - from Ocean Ave Edmonds they are still southbound transect Eglon, Kitsap.
10:30 a.m. - Pod is southbound due west of Haines Wharf, north Edmonds. Mid channel. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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10:17 a.m. - hey are moving at a good clip now. Mid channel trending SW at least 1/2 mile south of Possession Point. -Nicole Woltersdorf

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10:10 a.m. - from south Mukilteo spotted the pod southbound at green buoy off Possession Point. -Pam Ren

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9:45 a.m. - We are at Possession Point and they are heading south. Still north of us now. -Danielle Pennington

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9:28 a.m. - Sandra Pollard called in a sighting from Possession boat launch, seeing orcas coming from just past the Mukilteo/Clinton ferry lanes, much active breaching and fast travel.

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9:27 a.m. - can see major splashing from orcas!! Look to be on east side of south Whidbey north of Possession several miles, hard to tell direction just see lots of splashing. And blows !! This from north Edmonds. -Stu Davidson

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7:40 a.m - Large pod (including 2 large males) feeding 1 mile south of Clinton ferry. Circling for last half hour. There were 2 big fins and a fair number on real small ones. They were feeding off our neighbors buoy in 5o feet. Stayed a long time circling. Did see a large flash of red something on side of one larger ones....They came up as a group, similar to bubble feeding of humpbacks. Wierd action. Tail slapping in tight group. -William Couch

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Our community near Strawberry Point on Skagit Bay was treated to a gray whale visit, Sunday evening around 7PM at high tide. Action packed excitement close to shore. STANDING ROOM ONLY! Viewing first by beach (land), then by boat (sea) a bit later; it simply never gets old & something new to learn. Observing, for the first time a zig zag route/pattern feeding near shore. Angling out to deeper water then angling back into shallow water to feed as gray headed southwest towards Polnell Pt at sunset. Large rocks stick out at low tide/under water at high. Practical explanation on zig zagging? Gray just maneuvering to avoid the large rocks under water. Best guess :-) -Robert Stonefelt, Oak Harbor

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4:22 p.m. - north Puget Sound - Gray just north of the dock at Kayak Point in Port Susan. -Nate Trujillo

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Around 3:30 PM - south Puget Sound a whale went cruising by in front of my house on Glen Acres rd. Vashon. It was heading South. I tried to take a picture, but it looks more like the Loch Ness monster than a whale. It was very close to shore, must have only been in about 20' of water. (from description sounds like emaciated juvenile gray that has been in the sound for several weeks). -Brent Thompson

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12:30 p.m. - Grey whale again hugging Vashon heading South toward Dilworth. Rolling and pec fin "waving". Just now! -Jan Kubat Staehli

April 9
11:30 a.m. - 5 whales spotted in Holmes Harbor, - J17s & J22s. They were about 100 yards off our beach. We are located just about a 1/4 mile north of Dines Point. Traveling. -Lynn Fallows

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In the late evening light I was blessed with a beautiful pass by the J17s and J22s in Saratoga Passage. I finally got to "meet" J53 and J54! -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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J-34 Doublestuf, watching from Shangri La Shores over towards Camano Island, water was magical, so calm...this was around 6 pm. -Marilyn Armburster

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In the late evening light I was blessed with a beautiful pass by the J17s and J22s in Saratoga Passage. I finally got to "meet" J53 and J54! -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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Day report and photos: Incredible to see the J-17s on the EAST side of Whidbey Island!!! (slowly moving north from Greenbank Farm). At first we assumed they were transients, but after closer looks at open saddle patches, and especially J-28 Polaris's notched dorsal fin, it was obvious. They were leisurely spy-hopping numerous times, gliding through the glass smooth late afternoon spring sunshine. What a thrill to see them, and of course, the darling babies! -Bonnie Gretz

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Day report and phtos: Today was spent chasing J pod up and down the east side of Whidbey - I followed them from noon until just before 8pm. I spotted them at Hidden Beach where they went deep into Holmes Harbor, then traveled north all the way to just south of Penn Cove, last seen at Hidden Beach headed south. I ran into so many orca loving friends along the way, I laughed so much, enjoyed the sunshine, and closed off the night enjoying dinner with beer and friends. Just another day on Whidbey. -Rachel Haight

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Day report and photos: What a dilemma - with whales reported on the west side of Whidbey and then on the east, which way to go? Opting to follow up on the Orca Network report of whales heading south in Saratago Passage on the east side, the day took on many twists and turns. Tracking them proved difficult as they went deep into Holmes Harbor, but they were visible fleetingly at 2:15pm from our doorstep (a rarity indeed). After turning back towards Baby Island, the whales headed north in Saratoga Passage, passing Hidden Beach around 3:30 pm accompanied by Mystic Sea, who observed they were with possibly 11 members of J pod. Spy-hops, breaches, and logging behaviors were all seen from shore as the whales moved in leisurely fashion north in calm, clear conditions between 4:00 and 5:00 pm, until eventually disappearing from sight in the distance. A truly amazing day to have Southern Residents so close to home. -Sandy Pollard

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7:34 p.m. - J pod is southbound, north of Hidden Beach. -Rachel Haight

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6:21 p.m. - 5-6 orcas meandering mid passage off Harrington Lagoon! -Erik Anderson

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6:10 p.m. - Sammye Kempbell just relayed a report of orcas in Saratoga Passage, heading north less than a mile south of Penn Cove.

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5:16 p.m. - Orcas spyhopping, Saratoga Passage staying by west side very visible from Camano by corner of Lactrup and SW Camano Drive. Lots of splashing. -Jim Krannich

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5:04 p.m. - UPDATE: we've been watching this pod all day... They have been just yards away from us. As I type this, we are watching the family of 6 breech, surface, leap out of the water, swim acrobatically in front of us. Truly the most amazing thing I've ever seen. -Marie Gill

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5:04 p.m. - Yes we are across from Cama beach on whidbey quite a show spying flopping etc. -Aaron Gill

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4:50 - Ken Balcomb relayed are report from Mystic Sea via Island Adventures of J pod orcas heading north toward Penn Cove, toward Deception Pass.

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4:49 p.m. - Eric from Mystic Sea Charters reported approximately 10 Orcas, J Pod near Baby Island, East Whidbey

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4:32 p.m. - They are logging out. Like they truly look like logs, not moving at all. North of hidden beach mid channel.
4:11 p.m. - Mystic sea is with them. Passing hidden beach northbound. -Rachel Haight

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4:30 p.m. - Hidden Beach sighting. Heading north. -Evan Escamilla

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4:00 p.m. - Thanks for the update. We found them 6 miles north of Greenbank. -Ron Reeves

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3:45 p.m. - we're at Hidden Beach park and they are a bit south, there are 2 boats watching them. -Cynthia Welte

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3:34 p.m. - Seeing them now from Camano state park. North of Baby Island. -Pam Ren

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2:42 p.m. - northbound passing honeymoon bay cottage now.
2:24 north of golf course in Holmes Harbor. Appear to have made a kill. Milling, circling, spy hopping. Group of kayaks near them. -Rachel Haight

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2:10 p.m. - Orca pod (9?) cruising, headed past honeymoon bay towards Freeland, Whidbey. -Teri Reiger

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1:41 p.m. - They look like they're just north of Dines point, close to shore.
1:28 southbound pass Wonn road now. Seem closer to west side of shore.
1:07 p.m. - Orcas south of Hidden Beach moving south into Holmes Harbor. -Rachel Haight

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1:15 p.m. - Our neighborhood was abuzz this afternoon about 1:15 pm when these lovely creatures swam into Holmes Harbor, traveling south. We could hear pronounced exhalings from our vantage point, Honeymoon Bay vista. The 4 or 5 animals were moving quickly. -Joanne Peterson

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1:00 p.m. - Greenbank- At least 6 Orcas heading south, Hidden Beach. Close to shore. Penstemon Gayfeather.

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12:45 p.m. - They were headed south from our place (we are north of Greenbank (about 3 miles).
10:30 a.m. - Watched this pod head north off our beach in Saratoga Passage. Just now, we saw the same pod head south towards Holmes Harbor. Incredible! -Marie Gill

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Admiralty/Puget Sound - Just thought you might like to know that I was able to identify the T36A pod, T137 pod, and T99 pod traveling south of Possession Point this afternoon. They terrorized a California sea lion in dramatic fashion! -Bart Rulon, Island Adventures

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7:00 p.m. - A pod of 12-15 orca whales was seen from a house on vista del mar in north Edmonds off oylmpic view drive about 3 miles from shore. Watched them coming up in groups nose up probably feeding, doing tail slaps and even some full breaches. Watched though a spoting scope so much easier to see and count then the sighting ( which likely was the same group) that was seen from shoreline on Thursday. With tight grouping coming up this time with ten coming up for air all together. Watched for 45 min then sped off north...Feeding and playing then traveling at the end. -Jared Mitts

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6:50 p.m. - Pod headed north mid channel banking toward Admiralty Inlet. From overlook park in Edmonds. -Ariel Yseth

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6:30 p.m. - Ts continued finishing off their meal, making it as far south as Apple Cove Point. Eventually drifted back northward, gulls scooping in picking up scraps. Slow progression north, I continued watching until approx. 6:30, where I left them closer to mid channel last a bit north and out from Eglon, Kitsap. Unclear at that time if they were heading towards Admiralty or Possession. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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6:04 p.m. - Small grouping of orcas seen w/ binoculars from north of Edmonds ferry terminal heading north-ish- appeared to be close to shore across from Edmonds. -Jennifer Love-Talley

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5:25 p.m. - T36As, T99s, & T137s still circling and surface active though not as vigorous. Off of Apple Cove Pt. just north of Kingston. West of mid channel.
4:20 p.m. - appears at least a dozen still active on a kill. Tail lobs/throws, breaches, lunging, circling. Ritual of kill is so intense. Still south of Eglon, west of mid channel as viewed from Sunset Ave in Edmonds.
3:40 they must be on a kill.. full out of the air flying orca!!!
3:15 p.m. - See orcas movin good pace southbound in southbound shipping lanes near Eglon. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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- 4:00 p.m. - incredible breaches one after another !! Still stalled south of Eglon.
3:41p.m. - lots of activity! Breaches etc! Boats nearby - maybe on a kill?!!
3:38 p.m. - the pod seems stalled out just south of Eglon.
3:20 p.m. - pod moving south close to Kitsap side near Eglon. Stu Davidson

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1:40 p.m. - finally caught sight of the orcas in south Admiralty Inlet, looks like they are hunting/foraging, about 6 miles SE of Bush Pt, between Point No Point and the green buoy. Have seen them heading both directions. -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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12:47 p.m. - At the Limpet lane public beach, (This is the access off of south mutiny bay - off of ebb tide road on the map) watching them - definitely mid channel, still moving quickly south with lots of activity. Seems to be two pods, or one split a part? -Emily Wandres

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12:45 p.m. - They seem to have gone around Useless Bay and possibly headed toward Possession Point. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network

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12:10 p.m. - Entering Mutiny Bay.
12:01 p.m. - Orcas heading south at the north edge of Mutiny Bay. Maybe 5? Two babies, either 1 or 2 mamas. Another teenager out front. And possibly another group ahead that went around the bay and out of sight. Moving with purpose. -Nicole Bravo

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11:05 a.m. - Jan Bell reports hearing blows in the fog off Bush Point, about 2 minutes apart, sounds northbound? At least two.

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Transients in San Juan Channel, 3 pairs of transients moving south to north for about 2 hours, apparently hunting. -Richard Carter

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A lovely day yesterday, after the fog with T18s. -Capt. Jim Maya

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11:52 a.m. - Heard them on OrcaSound, a couple calls too.
11:46 a.m. - Hearing them again on Lime Kiln now. -Traci Walter

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11:16 a.m. - after period of silence calls resume.
10:54 a.m. - just turned on Lime Kiln hydrophone and am hearing Transient vocals. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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10:40 a.m. - Zack Homer reported a pod of about 7 orcas off Discovery Island, BC.

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2:19 p.m. - Whale in Sinclair Inlet! Between Gorst and the ships. (possibly the young emaciated Gray, unconfirmed - ALB) -Jodie Lee Retzloff

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Gray whale #383 fluking off Hat/Gedney Island. -Bonnie Gretz

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11:50 a.m. - Gray whales #723 and #383 in Possession Sound, southeast of Gedney. With Cascadia Research. #723's tag (suction) finally fell off while we were with them. They've been able to retrieve it. Images from this morning in all the fog, Saratoga Passage. Head raising behavior from both #723 and #383. I missed capturing the full spyhop but got to see it which is even better! -Renee Beitzel, Naturalist, Chilkat

April 8
We received a call from Finn Gatewood of Whidbey Island, who at 7:15 pm was in the lobby of WICA (Whidbey Island Center for the Arts) in Langley, and saw some whale activity out the window. Judging from the behavior and number of whales, she believes it was an orca pod, and they were heading north up Saratoga Passage. (unconfirmed SRKW, but J pod was in Saratoga next morning April 9)

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2:45 p.m. - Langley Whale Center volunteer Shari Devlin reports seeing several Orcas from Possession Beach, S. Whidbey Island. Mid channel, no direction given.

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Two reports relayed by Renee Beitzell from boaters at Edmonds Marina of a pod of orcas in north Puget Sound at approx. 11:20 past Possession Point. Neither reporting party gave details as to which way the pod went, up Admiralty or up Possession Sound towards Mukilteo/Clinton.

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T123A in Boundary Pass while with the T49As and T123s. -Katie Jones

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We encountered the TO49A's and TO123's again yesterday, near Java Rocks (Canadian Gulf Islands, south of Saturna Island, in Boudary Pass). Here you can see TO123A, a big bull male, hunting for Seals right at Java Rocks and some nervous looking Seals nearby! -Andrew Lees

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7:00 p.m. - south to central Puget Sound - We saw a whole pod going north at sunset sail out of Seattle Sailing Club. Mouth of Elliott Bay. -Faran and Erin Kaplan

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6:00 p.m. - Had 3 or 4 orcas surfacing off our bow on the way back to Shilshole this evening around 6pm. We watched them for a few minutes but they were quickly making their way north. -Christ Cotton

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4:07 p.m. - Large group of T's ~ 10 at the north end of Bainbridge. Very active at the surface and trending north. Seen from S/V Orion. -Kevin Campion

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There were some Anderson Island residents that reported seeing orcas while on the 2:10 ferry that gets to AI at 2:40, so it sounds like a group was in Chambers Bay sometime around then. -Belen

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2:00 p.m. - Spotted a pod of 6-8 orcas in Colvos Passage today off Peters Point, Vashon. Pod was moving north at a steady pace. -Mike O'Connor

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1:10 p.m. - Definitely saw a group that was farther north in Colvos. Passed Cove Motel headed north fast. I am now waiting on north end of Vashon. -Amy Carey

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1:00 p.m. - Three or four orcas traveling north on Colvos passage near north point of Vashon...One is a small juvenile. Always a pleasure. -Tim Ferris

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12:30 p.m. - Orcas in Colvos Passage. My kids and I saw the pod (5?, including 1 adult male) come thorough today. -Jonathan Summit

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12:20 p.m. - A pod of about 15 orca sighted @ Pt. Richmond Beach, Gig Harbor, going north, moving fast. -Joyce Winge

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12:17 p.m. - 5 to 6 orcas between sunrise beach and Vashon heading North. -Ute Brindl

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11:21 a.m. - Pod of 6-7 Orcas north of narrows bridge heading north towards salmon beach. They are having FUN! -Andrea Reubel Walker

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Whales sighted and they looked like one of the Transient Pods off McNeil Island in South Puget Sound this morning at approximately 10:15 AM. I was on the Pierce County Ferry Steilacoom II heading to Anderson Island. The Ferry crew said the Whales were in Steilacoom earlier then went to the Anderson Island Ferry dock area and we saw them heading back towards Steilacoom and Chambers Bay area from a Distance. Pictures by Robert on Anderson Island. Looks like # 2 might be a Baby Whale? -Bob Lyden

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9:40 a.m. - Orca watchers... Pod in rounding the island. If you go to the ferry dock look to your right. Pretty close to the island.
9:05 a.m. - There is a pod of orca whales headed your way (southbound toward Anderson Island). In between Fox and Ketron right now. -Belen Bilgic Schneider relayed from the Anderson Island group

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9:00 a.m. - 4-5 Orcas (including 1 adult male) traveling off Fox Island. -Daniel Nilles

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9:00 a.m. - Orca sighting at Talovia Sholes, south of Tacoma Narrows Bridge, 7 Orcas!! Travelling south. -Lisa B

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7:15 a.m. - I spotted a small pod of Orcas this morning! I saw them from my home. We live on the cliff just north east of the Tacoma Narrows bridge. The pod this morning was heading south toward the bridge. They were in the center of the channel. The pod was right in front of our home when I first spotted them. -Mary Lindgren

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6:49 p.m. - Gray whale spotted 60' off shore Suquamish heading South. -Ben Blankeship

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2:13 p.m. - Large grey whale left Restoration Point . Moved North off shore to S side Blakely Harbour. Lots of barnacles. Moving at a human walk. Must be feeding. Watch for water birds being disturbed before she rises. -Kayla Black

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10:00 a.m. - Gray whale passed in front of the landing structures at Vashon Island Ferry Terminal. It was traveling north, close to shore. By 10:10 it was halfway between Vashon Island and Blake Island. -Burt Miller, WSF

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9:23 a.m. - Grey whale heading north from Vashon. About to cross ferry lane. Hugging Vashon side. -Jan Kubat Staehli

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8:49 a.m. - Amy Carey, Vashon found the gray nearing Dilworth hugging the shore.

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7:20 a.m. - a small gray whale in Tramp Harbor, Vashon Island. -Lisa Lucke

April 7
Today we encountered the J17s & J22s off the NW side of Whidbey Island, where they have continued steadily southbound all day. They were just slowly traveling along, and we got some beautiful looks at the newest babies J53 & J54, 3 generations! J17 mama/grandma, J53 youngest baby, J28 daughter, J54 grandson. First day on the water in 2016 with orcas and it was warm, beautiful, and we were the only boat out there for an hour! What a treat. -Rachel Haight

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7:53 p.m. - Orcas right outside Shilshole! A bunch of them! Babies, one big male. I don't know which pod. Amazing! They were on the move. We stopped our engine and they just moved fast going south. -Donna Krell

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7:19 p.m. - Large pod of Orcas just abeam of Jeff Head headed South in the south bound shipping lanes. Looked to be 10 to 15 whales in pod. - Vicky Turner

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7:19 p.m. - Just saw a pod of orcas from Richmond Beach area heading south. -Kent Bratt

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7:03 p.m. - ... Then a couple hours later we saw a large and fast south-traveling pod of Orcas off of Edmonds (also from the air.) Great day for the medical crew of Airlift 6! Here are some of the Orcas. Shot in the evening from about 600 feet altitude with a iPhone 6. -Dawn Bustanoby

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7:00 p.m. - 9-18 orcas seen from Innes Arden (Shoreline) best guess about 3 or more miles off Richmond beach park. Hard to tell exactly how many at this distance but lots of spouting and breaching. -Jared Mitts

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6:00 p.m. - pod of Orcas, Mid channel Point Wells. They were frolicking around staying in the same place. -Steven Long

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4:43 p.m. - Barely caught a glimpse of them south of Bush Pt, still headed south but over on the Kitsap side, now around Hansville. -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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4:35 p.m. - They are southbound more on Kitsap side south of Foulweather Bluff. -Rachel Haight

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I was with Jill at Ft. Casey/Lighthouse around 3 and saw them there, then down to Lagoon Pt around 3:30....they were pretty far out, but visible. Decent look at them at Ft. Casey. -Bonnie Gretz

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3:30 p.m. - Whales off Lagoon Point, still southbound, mid channel. -Jill Hein

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2:49 p.m. - We found orcas (Ts) at Sierra Delta on the redhead going south at 6 kts around 145 should be off Point No Point. Also J pod near keystone southbound as well right now. -Trevor Tillman

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1:26 p.m. - The orcas passed inside the Pt. Partridge Buoy (meaning fairly close in to shore and visible with binocs) and they are now about to move parallel to shore along Ft. Ebey State Park. The Prince of Whales (from Canada) is leaving a big roostertail in a rush to catch up with the orcas, and one other tour boat is in front of them. If you go looking, look for the party boats. There is one male and two females, and it looks like two juveniles, total of five.
1:14 p.m. - Island Explorer has broken off and now headed North towards Oak Harbor. The orcas are near the surface, not too far offshore (binoc range) and I count one medium sized male, two females and probably two juveniles, maybe fairly small juveniles, total of five in this group. Still heading slowly southerly and still North of Pt. Partridge buoy.
1:03 p.m. - it was already a nice day. Now, it's a nice day with Orcas in the back yard. Island Explorer tour boat is drifting off our bluff following a small pod of 3-5 orcas headed slowly South toward the Pt. Partridge Buoy. -Cameron Chandler

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1:05 p.m. - Got eyes on them- mid channel off Fort Ebey. -Michelle Booker

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12:16 p.m. - Not sure if you know already, but a large movement of Orcas, off Smith Island, West Beach, Whidbey! Saw at least 4 at a time. -Ali Fischer Neekinsella

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11:19 a.m. - Out on Island Adventures, Some of J pod-J17s and J22s - NW of Swan Lake, west of Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island, southbound. -Rachel Haight

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WSF reports a Gray whale under the Edmonds ferry dock but moving south, and at the same time 6 or 7 orcas celebrating and slowly headed north. This was all around 3:30, reported by Brad Eckles, mate on the ferry Spokane.

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2:49 p.m. - We found orcas at Sierra delta on the redhead going south at 6 kts around 145 should be off pt no point. Also j pod near keystone southbound as well right now. -Trevor Tillman

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6:59 a.m. - From Port Townsend ferry to Whidbey Island this morning, saw probably 5 orcas, very active. Too far away to identify. They were maybe hunting... super active with lots of breaching. Not really moving in a direction. Hard to tell from the ferry. Pretty mid channel near 2 fishing boats, just south of light house... -Kimberly Sylvester-Malzahn

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Spotted an Orca spouting and rolling. He/she exposed tail as it dove several times. Between Maple Cove (Langley) and Hat Island about 9:15am this morning. Spouting and diving exposing tail as it dove. I did see a dorsal fin. -Lisa Farrell

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6:24 p.m. - south Puget Sound. Report from a dock worker of a wayward gray whale 'swimming circles' at the end of the Foss Waterway in Tacoma. -Durand Dace

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3:00 p.m. - south Puget Sound. Grey whale frolicking in the Foss (Tacoma) today. -Edward Holt

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7:07 p.m. - north Puget Sound - I'm next to Anthonys Home port at the Everett Marina, watching up to four whale blows, maybe five. They are off Jetty Island, yet not close enough to see what species. I can't see dorsals, but I have no binoculars. Just seeing regular blows. They are spread out, and milling around near a mid channel marker, between Camano and Jetty Island. Not much boat activity, one sail boarder closer to shore. -Laura Love Wymore

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A report from Veronica von Allworden of two Gray whales feeding north of Hat/Gedney Island seen around 6 pm-ish.

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5:50 p.m. - Two blows (one grey, I think) about three hundred yards west of the Mukilteo ferry dock! -Jessica Alexander Doyle

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5:06 p.m. - Spotted a large group of grays (more than one group actually) in the harbor at Everett between Hat Island and the mouth of the river from a helicopter late this afternoon. Then a couple hours later we saw a large and fast south-traveling pod of Orcas off of Edmonds (also from the air.) Great day for the medical crew of Airlift 6! Here are some of the grays. Shot in the evening from about 800 feet altitude with a LUMIX pocket camera. -Dawn Bustanoby

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3:54 p.m. - right in the marine dive park north of the ferry - probably one of the Gray whales?
3:30 p.m. - whale just passed really close to shore north Edmonds.. No more than 20 yards! It heading south towards Edmonds ferry. -Stu Davdison

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12:57 p.m. - Seeing a spout near the Clinton ferry dock. Most likely a gray...Actually 2- headed south. -Lee Ann Tobin

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A beautiful "rainblow" from a Saratoga Gray today taken aboard the Chilkat Express near Clinton. Either 383 or 723.-Janine Harles

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11:00 a.m. - We saw a couple grey whales this morning! Cascadia Research vessel was out there and confirmed it was two boys, #383 and #723, on the east side of Whidbey. Just as we decided had to head back to port, J-pod was reported to be on the west side of the island...and heading south! Scenes of a gray whale in Possession Sound today. -Jessica Alexander Doyle

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10:18 a.m. - Pod of grays north of Mukilteo. Moving north between Whidbey Island and Camano Island. -Tim Arnold

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8:40 a.m. - Family of Bigg's/Transients entering Admiralty, just hours ahead of the J17s and J22s. 4 orcas sighted at Admiralty Inlet on the Whidbey Island side and headed North One bull was sighted and I have a photo to attach for ID purposes. This was while walking along beach of Point Wilson. They were feeding one bull and at least 3 cows and possibly a calf. I do recall that they were heading South when I took the photo , but a little later I seem to recall that they were then heading North. -Beverly McNeil

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7:20 p.m. - Pod of Orcas headed South, straight out from Richmond Beach in Shoreline. They were approx. a mile or so east of Port Madison. Maybe 8 or more and at least one male. They were headed south and definitely looked like they were following a school of fish or something. Lots of surfacing and diving with a larger group out front and one or two several hundred yards back sort of taking up the rear. (the J17s & 22s)

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1:00 p.m. - 5 or 6 Orca's traveling South, between West Beach and Smith Island. Watched for near an hour off Bluff on West Beach and Fort Nugent Road. -Sanda Blondin

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Two groups of Transient Orcas, the TO49A's & TO123's near James Island. They had first been reported being spotted earlier in the day near Darcy Island from shore but had given the first boats the slip. Sidney Whale Watch picked them up near Halibut Island in the afternoon and they traveled south throughout our encounter! -Andrew Lees, Marine Naturalist, Five Star

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Young gray was in the Foss Waterway in Tacoma. I spent about an hour observing and this young whale is definitely not healthy. I'd say it was 16' - 18' feet long, max. Spine appeared very emaciated. Pretty certain this is the same one that was in the Ballard locks earlier in the week. My camera flunked out but my friend Lon Kincannon got pics. -Dean Burke

April 6
And epic day...18 Transient Orcas and the J17s and the J22s. Here is J34, DoubleStuf, breaching with Mt. Baker and the Patos Island Lighthouse! I have dreamed of this image!!! -Capt. Jim Maya

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T049A1 high speed porpoising east bound along the north shore of Mayne Island. -Mark Malleson

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Gray whale off of Victoria's waterfront in the morning. -Mark Malleson

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Cascadia Research update: A successful effort on the water in N Puget Sound with gray whales today. Encountered all six of the regulars known to have arrived this year (21, 49, 56, 383, 531, and 723). Deployed two suction-cup attached, multi-sensor dual-video tags on 21 and 723 and these remain on tonight gathering data. Jeremy Goldbogen and Dave Cade from Stanford were working with us today. Two interesting gray whale reports came in during the day. The first was of a very emaciated gray whale seen in the Ballard Locks in Seattle today which got a lot of attention. The second was a photo Mark Malleson sent of a gray whale seen today off Victoria that I immediately recognized as another of Puget Sound regulars (44 or Dubknuck) apparently on route to where we were and which we hope to see tomorrow. -John Calambokidis, Cascadia Research

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7:12 p.m. - grays at Mabana on Camano, appear to be travelling south slowly. -Sally Olin

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6:43 p.m. - We can see them blowing from Bell Beach road. Closer to the Camano side. -Lexie Adams

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6:25 p.m. - tug and ferry passed them and they looked like they were still angling over closer to Camano side.
6:11 p.m. - They are out mid channel from Fox Spit and just ahead of tugboat and ferry being towed.
5:59 p.m. - It sure looks like they may be heading to Fox Spit, Whidbey shores right now
5:39 p.m. - 2 grays #56, #49, between baby island and Fox Spit heading east. -Marilyn Armbruster

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8:58 a.m. - Blows visible on Saratoga webcam, northbound whale. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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8:50 a.m. - Seeing blows here now! Distant but still here. (Whidbey WhaleCam - Langley). -Kathy Stevens Hitzemann

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2 Gray whales next to the pilings on Greenbank Beach this morning. They lingered in the area from 5 to 7 am then slowly headed south into Holmes Harbor. -Randy Schroder

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There was a gray whale really close to the shore of Alki Beach today around 5:10pm. I wonder if it was the same one? -Carrie Vanderveer

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A young emaciated gray whale heading back out of the chamber of the Hiram Chittenden Locks in Ballard. -Amy Anderson

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1:20 p.m. - Saw a juvenile gray whale at the Chittendon locks, in Ballard...back inside but it was lingering for a while. In and out. They, obviously, aren't using that lock to keep the whale safe. Here's a video! What a crazy sight to see! -Jeffrey Stander

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I live next to the Locks and went to watch him today not knowing he was in such bad shape. Locks is telling folks it's a younger gray who may have been separated from his mom.... He just kept circling in the channel. -Erin Graf

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6:30AM-7:00AM - Another whale came to the locks this morning. It's been hanging out around here again this morning. I saw it around 11AM just below our spillway dam and out around the bridge. I've posted a video of it on our facebook page- it's Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (Ballard Locks) if you'd like to view it. -Katie McGillvray, Natural Resource Specialist

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We had another whale visitor this morning between 6:30 and 7 a.m. Gardeners Stephen Munro and Michelle McMorran ran out and snapped these great photos! You never know what you'll see when you visit the locks! -Hiram M. Chittenden Locks

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Head shot of gray, taken north of Hat Island. These grays really are something else! I'm so glad they share their time with us here in Puget Sound. -Cara Hefflinger

April 5
Samantha Pierce of Camano Island called in a report at 1:50 pm, of a whale in Port Susan, near the Country Club area, facing east and feeding in the same spot for quite some time. (From her description and the location, definitely sounds like one of our Saratoga Gray whales feeding in Port Susan. - SB)

April 4
T123A and T123C off of Eagle Point on the afternoon of April 4th. -Mark Malleson

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Three shades of gray today as we headed out to find whales - gray skies, gray seas, and gray whales, but the water was dead calm and perfect for sighting our local Saratoga whales! We found #723 and #531 along the Snohomish Delta, feeding along the shallow banks, back and forth. We had great looks at them as they fed on their sides, scooping up tiny crustaceans, with pectoral fins appearing to be waving at us. The gray skies turned blue for a short time, before the rain caught us as we headed back to Langley. Another fun day with our local friends -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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1:00 p.m. - One of our volunteers just reported seeing a gray whale heading south from Point Wilson into Admiralty Inlet. -Betsy Carlson, PTMSC

April 3
(afternoon trip): On yet another glorious day, we encountered gray whales #56, 383 and 723 shortly after leaving Langley marina. It's not often we see three gray whales traveling so closely together, a truly magnificent sight against the backdrop of the snow-capped Cascade mountains. After rounding Gedney Island and heading north up Saratoga Passage, we spotted #21, one of our returning males whose identity is rather unique - this whale does not show his flukes. Once again another wonderful day with our visiting gray whales. -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist, Mystic Sea

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7:07 p.m. - Single grey whale between Langley and Camano, slowly heading north. -Caleb Thompson

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We saw this solitary gray rolling in the shallows off of Tulare Beach north of Tulalip Bay at about 3:30 this afternoon - from kayaks, what a special few moments!! -Katie Remine

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3:30 p.m. - 2 greys breaching, southern tip of Camano Island. -Kathryn Rupchock Pizzo

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3:13 p.m. - We just saw at least one whale off southeast end of Hat Island. -Sharon Ann Clark

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2:13 p.m. - grays still at Langley. -Gabby Kinner

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1:15 p.m. - Bells Beach Langley. Beautiful day to see my 1st sighting, 2 or 3 grays, mid-channel, heading toward Langley. -Margaret (Peggy) Sullivan

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1:15 p.m. - Eric from Mystic Sea called. 4 gray whales trending South between Fox Spit & Langley, including #56.

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1:11 p.m. - Michelle Goll and I been watching 2 gray whales from Bells Beach for the past 15 minutes. They are straight out mid channel. -Marilyn Armbruster

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Noon - Tim Hicks called in a sighting of Patch #49, about 3/4 mile SE of Hat/Gedney Island.

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11:30 a.m. - Eric from Mystic Sea reports Gray Whales #723, #21, #383 mid Saratoga Passage near Mabana Beach, Camano Island and #49, "Patch" SE Gedney Island.

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11:20 a.m. - found them NNW from Langley, on the Camano side. The whale watch boat just arrived. -Michelle Goll

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10:01 a.m. - Lots of whale blows in Saratoga Passage right now! We can even hear them!! 1 mile south of Mabana on Camano Island. Going on 15 minutes or so, they seem to be hanging around, not headed north or south yet. -Jennifer Feldman Spanton

April 2
12:53 p.m. - orcas on Lime Kiln now. -Althea Leddy

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12:18 p.m. - calls on Lime Kiln hydrophone!
11:05 a.m. - Whales off Eagle Point. -Barbara Bender

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I believe 2 or 3 orcas were right across from Jericho Beach traveling toward Stanley Park in Vancouver BC, approximately 3:45-4pm. I saw large black shiny fins. Hope this helps. -Krista Chapman

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Gray sighted from Clinton ferry Saturday evening. I was on the Clinton ferry about 6-6:30 on Saturday, April 2, and we saw a gray whale. It was a few hundred yards south of the boat, mid-channel. We saw three or so blows, then a tail, then nothing more for the rest of the trip--we assumed it dove. Too far away to get any details or markings. -David Freed

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This big Gray (on it's side, pec fin up) was seen with another this afternoon from Mystic Sea along the Tulalip shoreline feeding. Eager scoters ready to munch on the leftovers. Richard Snowberger

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2:30 p.m. - my friend and I were at Haines Wharf Park (Edmonds). Far in the distance, at the southern end of Whidbey Island, we saw three gray whales. They were active at the surface, looked to be rolling. They'd then dive for 2-3 minutes, then resurface. -Peter Moe

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Saratoga Gray "Patch" and an unidentified companion were at Possession Bar today.-Steve Smith

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11:50 a.m. - whale (maybe multiple) 2-3miles south of Possession Point. Three whale boat nearby it (them). Viewing from north Edmonds looking slightly north westerly. -Stu Davidson

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11:36 a.m. - #49, #383 and two others near Possession Point. -Janine Harles

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10:52 a.m. - With Gray whales (#49 Patch) south of Whidbey headed south, short down times, totally cool. -Peter Hanke

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10:55 a.m. - Today at Fauntleroy ferry dock waiting to board the ferry to Vashon Island. (Video of submerged gray whale swimming past the dock). -Desiree Kaiawe

April 1
Around 6 pm - Pod of orcas in front of West Beach at Deception Pass. Slowly moving farther out towards Smith Island. -Liz Brown

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4:02 p.m. - the ferry Chelan called in a report of 6-8 orcas in the traffic lane from Lopez to Anacortes, frolicking around with no clear direction of travel.

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Approx. 3:50 p.m. - Orcas sighted from ferry Chelan while heading from Anacortes to Orcas Island south of Blakely and Cypress. Whales were headed east. -Alex Callen

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Gray whales #383 and 21 off Tulalip and #723 off Gedney Island earlier today. -Langley Whale Center

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Another wonderful day on the water today, no April Fool's joke! Three whales were found - starting with #723 feeding along the south side of Gedney/Hat Island, and then #383 and #21 were feeding together near Tulalip shores. Lots of "on their side" feeding behavior and some dives, many looks at #723 and #383's flukes. #21 has a very old injury that prevents him from showing the underside of his tail....well documented, but no known reason for the injury. We were also lucky to spot a flock of Brant geese on their migration to Alaska for their summer breeding. April is starting off well! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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Today brought a repeat of the beautiful sea conditions but this time with 2 Humpback whales! "Heather" BCY0160 and an unknown since it wouldn't show its fluke! Near Patos Island Lighthouse. -Traci Walter