April 2017 Whale Sightings

Click here for Map of April 2017 whale sightings.

April 30
1:00 a.m. - Saanich - 5-7 orcas in Patricia Bay (west side of Saanich Peninsula, north of Victoria BC) early this afternoon. Appeared to be hunting/feeding. Also noticed heads fully out of water and tail slapping. Whole group approached boat. -Bradley Fisher
(Looks like the T46Bs. - Melisa Pinnow, CWR)

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Incoming Admiralty to Puget Sound - First saw orcas come into Elliot bay around 7:45. Started with a miles away teeny spyhop. The group was coming SE at a normal pace, then did some showy business and started milling. They got to a point that is "go time" for me to get back behind lighthouse. As we approached the car I saw two very close to shore on the Alki side. So, naturally I got distracted and went to look. Then I had a feeling that those two were going down and sneaking over to lighthouse. That, is exactly what they did. We raced backed over there, just as the giant bulls surfaced. I missed the shot. I am quite sure someone got one. There were many folks out there. There were at least a dozen seals and sealions. It was as still as night and eerily quiet. As the bulls porpoised at a painfully slow rate we all thought we were going to see a horror show. They were liquid in their movements....no sound. It was almost dark, the sun was setting. None of the seals or lions moved or seemed to care. The sealions were even thermoregulating. It was bizarre. But they clan moved on, into the sunset and darkness. -Kersti Muul

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7:50 p.m. - Looks like they may be heading past Alki. Looks to be spread out. 2+ near eastern side of channel and 3+ on western side of channel heading south. -Melissa Mitchell

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7:30 p.m. - They were slowly heading south/ west mid channel. They crossed the ferry channel & Bainbridge ferry probably got a nice view. I also saw a couple harbor porpoise near Magnolia shore. -Suzanna Joor

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7:00 p.m. - pod of 5+ Incl. adult male now out from Shilshole probably. I think I saw another male approx a mile ahead and further west. All southbound. I need to leave, good luck.
6:44 p.m. - just pulled up to Carkeek they are south of me approaching Golden Gardens next. Steady pace east of mid channel, loosely grouped. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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6:40 p.m. - watching from Sunset Hill park, mid channel still heading south, passing Shilshole Bay Marina. -Danielle Carter

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6:00 p.m. - mid channel off Jefferson Head. Seem to be milling, potentially feeding. Lots of splashing and a full breach.
5:48 p.m. - Currently off President Point. -Mikail Kiva

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5:57 p.m. - See fins and water spray...south of Kingston ferry. -Ryan Sheridan

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They were in the middle of the navigation lanes at 5:15 pm, so west of mid-channel. ~3 miles due west of Edmonds at 5:15 pm. -Sherman Page

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5:26 p.m. - mid-channel. At the ferry lane now. They are a bit spread out.
5:10 p.m. - Still southbound, approaching the Kingston/Edmonds ferry lane. Steady progress. 6-8 plus a large male in the rear.
4:55 p.m. - See them still heading south. Line of sight is Apple Tree Point to southwest tip of Whidbey. I'm terrible at judging where they are in the channel but would say they are mid-channel. -Sarah Frey

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4:20-4:45pm - I spotted them from Eglon, hugging the Whidbey side and following a WW Boat. I saw one Bull + 4-5 others - they were so far I couldn't tell much else. Traveling south at medium speed, then long down times before I lost sight as they approached the tip of Whidbey, guessing they would continue south along Mukilteo/Edmonds shoreline. DIdn't have internet out there, sorry for late post! Here are the little orca specks. -Donna Green VanRenselaar

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3:44 p.m. - spotted east off Point No Point headed south. -Amy McCormick

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3:40 p.m. - Marilyn called from Point No Point to report seeing about four orcas in mid-channel, still heading south just north of the yellow buoy marker.

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3.15 p.m. - from Mutiny Sands. Whales still heading south to yellow marker. -Sandra Pollard

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2:40 p.m. - At least six including three adult males southbound off Double Bluff. toward Point No Point.
2:25 p.m. - TWO adult male orcas, about 4 miles N of Pt. No Point, closer to Whidbey side heading south toward Point No Point. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network

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2:15 pm - we just received a call from Sarah McDougal, reporting one orca about 1 mile south of Bush Pt, west Whidbey Island, heading south in Admiralty Inlet.

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12:58 p.m. - South Puget Sound - They are headed west around south side of McNeil, there were at least 5...3 adults and two younger ones (no males). -Renee Beitzel

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12:30 p.m. - Found them, south side of McNeil island now, must've switched direction and hurried south. -Brian McGinn

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10:15 a.m. - They're at Raft Island.
9:47 a.m. - Orcas headed towards Purdy right now.
8:00 a.m. - Orca sighting Henderson bay - Penrose State Park - I watched a pod of 4-6 orcas swim off of Penrose Point on the key peninsula near Gig Harbor. -Chas Walters

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Juan de Fuca - The Alaskan Unknowns was seen on April 30th at Race Rocks by us SpringTide whale watching and some other boats. They traveled with the T068, T068A (both confirmed with pictures) and possible T068C's. Possible that they left the Salish Sea because they traveled west. -Marcus Bergstrom, April 30, 3017

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April 30 - Observed from 12:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. - I went out to check on a reported humpback in North Bay in upper Case Inlet, turns out there were two. Down times were long and travel irregular so I didn't know there were 2 for over an hour until they surfaced at the same time several hundred yards apart. Also for about the first hour I wasn't hearing or seeing robust exhalations nor any flukes, so was getting a bit concerned. I was seeing lunges (no pecs visible), but was difficult at first due to distance to confirm lunge feeding which is what it turned out they were doing. Eventually I was hearing and seeing robust blows and travel seemed fairly normal so my concern diminished.
The whales traveled back and forth between Rocky Point and south of Victor (to the east side) & Allyn (to the west), but spent most time somewhere in the middle , at times very close to shore on the east side, traveling and lunge feeding. Once I moved closer and had a better view I was seeing what appeared to be rather huge schools of forage fish (later confirmed by locals). Some gulls swooping but not too many up there (nothing at all like typical bait ball scenerio) Beautiful whales. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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Noon - Unmistakable humpback whale in Case inlet near Allyn WA. Feeding. -Peter Benda, April 30, 2017

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10:35 am - Humpback is back in Case Inlet, North Bay, moving across the Inlet back and forth and down long periods. -Beverly Lynch McCallum

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9:16 - seeing blows and now angling towards north. Still mid channel between Whidbey and Hat.
9:05 a.m. - just saw whale surface and fluke about halfway between Clinton Beach and southeast end of Hat Island. Looks to be heading towards Hat. No definitive ID but presume gray. Will keep looking that direction - saw from living room! -Debbie Stewart

April 29
Unidentified killer whales - Neah Bay - Called this morning from Hobuck beach, Neah Bay at 9:30 am, woke up looking at the surf and what looked to be a large male orca with a smaller orca heading north east about 600 yards off shore. Too far to see any saddle patches or identification of any sort. They were moving pretty fast and passed through the bay in about 7 min. First time see this beautiful creature in the wild! -Audrey Long

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Puget Sound - 8:35 p.m. - out there amongst a colorful sky, beneath the Olympic mountains, the pod of 6+ swims steadily northbound east of mid channel, just south of Richmond Beach in Shoreline.
8:15 p.m. - pod is traveling medium pace steady northbound grouped up, east of mid channel sight line Carkeek and Faye Bainbridge (from Carkeek). -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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6:57 p.m. - Just had a pod of 4-6 cross the Bainbridge to Seattle ferry heading north mid channel. -Jay Burkett

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Matriarch T68 passed Alki Point Lighthouse northbound at a fast clip far west side of main channel. -Kersti Muul, April 29, 2017

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6:04 p.m. - Orca pod of three should be near Alki Point with BULL leading...
6:00p.m. - Bull and two smaller Orca's mid channel east side of Blake Island, followed them exiting Colvos passage at 5:45... I did not see them go west of Blake Island. -Katie Bradly

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5:50 p.m. - Mike at WS Ferries relayed a report of 5 orcas heading north out of Colvos Pass toward Yukon Harbor, along the west side of Blake Isl. (others saw pod exit on east side of Blake, possible split around the island?)

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5:40 p.m. - Orcas between Southworth ferry Dock and Blake island. Just saw them from the ferry 3-4 whales. -Trina Loehndorf

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5:33 p.m. - We've just seen this group heading north in Colvos Passage, approximately 1/2 mi S of the Southworth ferry terminal. -Rob Mosely

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5:22 p.m. - Two on their way, 3/4 mile south of the dock (Southworth). Big male also. -Fiona Hope

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5:03 p.m. - Orca sighting. 5 (incl. 1 adult male) Heading north Colvos passage past Cove on Vashon Island. Traveling. -Mark Timken

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4:38 p.m. - Eyes on them from Lisabeulah Beach right now, closer to Southworth/Olalla side, headed northbound at a fast clip. -Marla Smith

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4:00 p.m. - Moving up (northbound) Colvos Passage right now at a quick pace. -Bill Clogston

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3:43 p.m. - Just reached Point Defiance Buoy. -Michele riley Campbell

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3:06 p.m. - Approaching Salmon Beach/Point Defiance. Tacoma side steady North. At least 5, not sure exactly. Big male with them.
2:52 p.m. - They were passing under the bridge...just spotted a big dorsal not too far Past. Closer to Tacoma side. (northbound)
2:44 p.m. - they're moving fast now. Parallel to me at Narrows beach. Mid channel maybe closer to Tacoma side. We walked a ways down the beach so they haven't reached Narrows bridge yet but will soon.
2:40 p.m. - they are north of Chambers Bay.
2:32 p.m. - I can see them with binoculars from Narrows beach. Look to be off Chambers Bay - mid channel. Seeing dorsals & spouts. Seem to be milling around, maybe trending North. Chambers Bay or Fox Island pier would be good places to be right now. Maybe Narrows if they keep heading this way. -Heidi Armstrong

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It was our day to see the orcas! We got up early, had breakfast then drove to the beach. After checking the e-mail, map and reports my husband looks at me to say: "We may be here awhile. Hey, maybe we should go to Chambers Bay, have faith, Desiree!" He was completely right. When we got to the park our son just fell asleep, so the dog and I went to have a look. I saw lots of Harbor porpoise but no orcas. After a long nap the boys found me and I kid you not, not even 10 mins later we saw six orcas with one beautiful baby! Now thats good timing! -Desiree Sauve

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2:11 p.m. - at least four orcas heading north in front of McNeil Island - saw from shore from DuPont. -Amy Lee Wierenga

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1407 - Orcas Northbound East of McNeil Island mid channel off of Chambers Bay. -Tony Collins.

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Approx. 1:20 p.m. - My boys and my mother in law saw them between Anderson and Ketron Islands about going south. -Marnie Benefiel Zumek

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Today was really something. I watched Orca's swim in the Burley Lagoon, then swim under the Purdy Bridge back out into Henderson Bay. I grew up out there, playing on these shores, so seeing Orca's here is a check off my bucket list. ...Purdy Bridge!!! Traffic was stopped, both directions, as everyone was watching the Orcas. My zoom lens was too much, they were so close... T68A, the male in todays group. -Melissa Burke

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Orcas at the Purdy Spit, WA -Jack Devlin, April 29, 2017

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9:00 a.m. - Sighting in Carr Inlet. 4 orcas surfaced at 9am close to my rowing shell: 1 large and 3 smaller dorsal. There was 1 large dorsal fin... After surfacing very near my single rowing shell, they travelled north up into Henderson Bay. -Oliver Kuhn-Wilken

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2nd Puget Sound group - (who showed up late afternoon, may have split off in the morning) At about 5:30. Saw a pod of 4-5 orcas off Fox Island by spit. Looked like they were heading towards Olympia upon last breach I could see. -Kelsey Wasmund

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5:00 pm. - A pod of orcas (at least 6) going westbound on the north side of Fox Island near the bridge. Traveling. -Gene Miller

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Around 4:00 p.m. - this afternoon spotted three apparent juvenile orcas heading east through Hales passage and under the Fox Island bridge. Traveling. -Nick Hilger

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2:30 p.m. - Active Pass - on Mayne Island BC off Edith point road, Orca pod traveling from Active Pass toward Saturna Island. -Yves Tiberghien, Mayne island BC, April 29, 2017
("The kink in the bull's fin in the first pick makes me think it could be T102 but I can't confirm." - Dave Ellifrit, CWR)

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Biggs killer whales (Transients) - South Puget Sound - ID notes from Renee Beitzel, Puget Sound Express: We can only confirm T68's for sure (possibly the T68Bs and AKs), but there were others as well.

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T68A, a lovely big guy and some lucky humans at Purdy Spit. He, part of his family, & the AK Unknowns traveled deep into Carr Inlet ventured under the bridge and into Burley lagoon. -Jack Devlin, April 29, 2017

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1:17 p.m. - Right outside Nisqually now. -Ashley Frederick

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1:09 p.m. - Moving south at a swift pace on the east side of Anderson island. At least 5+. Thank you for helping me see these beautiful animals! -Tanise Garder

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12:35 p.m. - Just passed ferry dock on Anderson island. Looks like could be all 8 now. -Ashley Frederick

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12:29 p.m. - South East side of McNeil headed towards Anderson Island. -Jackie Maciel

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12:11 p.m. - Turned right and headed south towards Steilacoom / east side of McNeil. -Edward StOnge

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11:53 a.m. - Southbound with purpose, up close to McNeill Island.
11:46 a.m. - stalled out, lots of surface activity, hunting or made kill. Trending south still. -Melissa Burke

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11:28 a.m. - They have passed Kopachuk. We are seeing them now from Bella Bella Park on Fox Island. -Heidi Armstrong

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10:48 a.m. - from raft Island Bridge, I see them mid channel heading South (?) Towards Fox Island, passing Kopachuck now. -Melissa Burke

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9:54 a.m. - They left Purdy Spit, heading back to Henderson Bay. -Ute Brindl, April 29, 2017

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9:43 a.m. - In the Burley Lagoon, the shallow side of the Purdy Spit. -Marci Cummings-Cohoe

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9:42 a.m. - They just cruised under Purdy Bridge, then back out into Henderson Bay. Long dives traveling quick up against shoreline, heading back towards Kopachuck. -Melissa Burke

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9:40 a.m. - 4 orcas sighted in Burley Lagoon (Purdy) We just saw 4 orcas in Burley Lagoon. April 29th at 9:40 am. One was young/smaller traveling in baby position with a larger one. -Glen Goossen

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9:30 a.m - Fantastic group of 5 sighted in Purdy Sandspit/Henderson Bay this morning. Lots of traffic stopped all along the sandspit with people taking pictures, so pictures and video should be available, (I did not get any). Very unusual to see them so far south and up into Henderson Bay at the sandspit - very shallow water and it was mid-tide when this occurred, so no depth to dive in. They went under bridge to north side, circled around the shallow clam beds...1 large adult, 4 small (possibly 1 female and several young?) -Timothy Jackson

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9:20 a.m. - Orcas in Henderson Bay - Burley Lagoon - Four orcas (including adult male) came up Henderson bay, went under the Purdy bridge and into the burley Lagoon. They spend 5 - 7 minutes in the lagoon and then turned around and went back into Henderson Bay and started heading back south. Most likely feeding, there were a lot of fishermen fishing from the beach and there were other fish jumping in the area. -David Riel

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9:00 a.m. - They are in Henderson bay now. Headed into Henderson bay toward Purdy Bridge. 2 groups about 3 minutes apart. 4 or 5 in each group. Could hear spouts and they were moving at pretty good pace. They will have to turn around soon as were midway in the Bay. -Tracy Dodge Hamilton

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0800. Orcas in Carr Inlet - Sighted pod with one adult male, at least one cow and calf, and other adults. Looked like at least 6 total. They were headed north towards Purdy in 60'-100' of water. Hope they were hunting seals! Traveling with some play. Dead end so they will be back through. -Ben Flesher

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6:30 a.m. - 4-6 Orcas (including an adult male) 100 feet off shore of Maple Hollow Park on Key Peninsula. Water was like glass, high slack tide, bright sun rising over the Cascades with a strange rainbow "ball" reflecting on the water trail the whales left. Drinking coffee and listening to them breathing, what a morning in the PNW! They were traveling from mouth of Minter Creek and Henderson bay south towards Lakebay. -John Campbell

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Gray whales - April 29 - 12:43 p.m. - There are another 2 grey whales near the tip of Camano island as well.
12:19 p.m. - At least 3 grey whales at the SE tip of Hat/Gedney Island. No direction of travel. Just long dives and mystic sea is on scene. Wonderful way to spend a Saturday! -Danielle Pennington

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Minke whales - April 29 - Admiralty Inlet - 11:42 a.m. - Solo whale very near shore off Lagoon Point. I believe it is a Minke. Possibly travelling south, but unsure. Similar in size to an Orca. Smooth skin with no bumps on ridge of back. Curved dorsal fin, somewhat similar in shape to that of a female Orca but much smaller. Quite familiar with Gray, Humpback and Orca - definitely not any of those. Too small to be a fin whale, but similar dorsal fin. -Margaret Marshal

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7:15 p.m. - Humpback in Case Inlet (North Bay) just South of Allyn...Was milling about half mile South of Allyn. Notes: ...both later Friday and Saturday afternoon and evenings with incoming tide and stayed for several hours. He would arc his back tightly and appear to dive, then would breach mouth open and other times breach and roll. Other times barely break the surface and glide smoothly back down. He appeared to be feeding. We never saw tail slaps or fins. Case Inlet is pretty shallow with a bit deeper channel in the middle. From our house across is about 3/4's of a mile so he is a goodly distance from shore. -Beverly Lynch McCallum

April 28
7:20 p.m. - A friend of mine posted 20 min ago that the whales just passed Arcadia point heading towards town. -Many Sylvain

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Was this a pod of 3 or so? Just (6:30 pm) spotted more heading from the tip of Steamboat Island towards Hope Island. -Jenny Crum

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5:13 p.m. - Heading in direction of Johnson Point approx 3 miles NE. That's as far as I could watch them, but it appeared that they were headed in the direction of Nisqually
4:42 p.m. - Fudge Point moving south
4:30 p.m. - @ Mcmicken I now
4:17 p.m. - 2 miles N of McMicken Island. -Doug Olson

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4:12 p.m. - I think they turned around as I just saw them in Case Inlet swimming between Harstine and Herron Islands, maybe heading to Henderson Inlet.
3:30 p.m. - Group is heading south, between Herron and Harstine. They could go Henderson or Nisqually, but yes headed that way (Henderson Inlet). -Jerilyn Evans

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2:30 p.m. - They rounded Harstine Point heading towards the Harstine Bridge. There were 6-7 just swimming, hugging the shore across from Harstine. (Grapeview side). -Liz Wolk

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First 4 hour tour of the season and our Captain Christoper decided to try and find the T068's that were in Shelton the day before. We found them in Case Inlet, the T068's, T068B's and an Alaskan Transient! The water was flat calm, beautiful day with some gorgeous scenery! -Janine Harles, April 28, 2017

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11:40 a.m. - 1.5 north of Harstine Island pointed east of the island.
11:23 a.m. - Chilkat Express has Ts in Case Inlet. -Christopher Hanke

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April 28 - 4:35 p.m. - Spotted a single grey whale in the Mukilteo/Clinton ferry lanes right now. Headed North towards Hat Island. -Trent

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1:20 p.m. - The Mystic Sea called to report seeing 7 gray whales SE of Hat/Gedney Island #21, #22, #44, #49, #53, #383, and #723. #22 Earhart, who was hit by a small boat last Sunday, was looking healthy and raising her flukes like nothing happened, which is very good news.

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10:08 a.m. - Looks like all are headed south
9:55 a.m. - Grey whales at Southeast end of Hat Island. Possibly 3. I can see more spouts towards Mukilteo. One is hanging around. The others are southbound. -Greg Kenney

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Humpback whales - April 28 - Case Inlet - (reported as either gray or humpback, was humpback per videos- ALB) 7:24 p.m. - Saw a whale off of Vaughn Bay sandspit in case Inlet heading southwest towards stretch island. Many sea lions feeding too. Not sure if humpback or grey whale. Small dorsal but no tail on dives. -Leah Dittberner

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Looks like a [humpback] whale in Case Inlet at 4:30. Milling around but now sign of Orca reported earlier.large, slow and coming up to feed. Very close to shore. We have now seen two. Yes, very small dorsal, tight dives followed by breaches. Big gulping wide open mouths. We think there were two. Pretty sure Humpback rather than Gray. -Beverly Lunch McCallum

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3:30 - approx. 20 common dolphins heading north out of Eld Inlet toward the south end off Squaxin and Harstine islands. -Kim Merriman, April 28, 2017

April 27
Before this month, these two orcas (presumably AK female mother and calf) currently traveling with the Bigg's/Transient T068s and T068Bs had only been seen a few times near Alaska. Now that there is a bit more information on them, they will each be assigned an alphanumeric designation from researchers. At Walker Park on Hammersley Inlet near Shelton, WA. -Gayle Swigart

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Hammersley Inlet - Thank you for the updates it was such a blessing to get to see them! -Micah-Sylvia Caldwell, April 27, 2017

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Posted 3:45 p.m. - Was out with them on my kayak for atleast 2 hours , they stayed in Oakland harbor pretty much the whole time until they turned east towards Walker park and we thought they were leaving but they suddenly turned around and went back to Oakland bay and are there right now . Lots of splashing , spy hops , tail slaps , pectoral slaps , breaches etc. -Amy Schierhoff

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This same pod stayed in the west end of Hammersley all day. I watched all day except for about 3 hours so... But it looks like they may be fishing against the tide. (??) They swim quickly with the tide, without much action other than surfacing to breath, and then often hung out at one end of my view (with binoculars) Sometimes playing, splashing, breeching, swimming on their backs, tails in the air, and then they'd swim slowly back in the opposite directions, against the tide. The tide is extremely fast/strong in Hammersley but I don't think that was the full reason they were swimming slowly back against it. (I am on, and nearby, the Walker Park side, and can see from Shelton marina to the end of E Rose Valley Rd on the opposite side.) -Becky Wilson

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5:20 p.m. - They just went east away from Walker Park. My 2 year old is too cold so we headed out. They have been coming back every hour or so though.
5:00 p.m. - Tail slapping baby breaching just west of Walker Park. We can see them great here at the park. -Kirsten Story

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4:30 p.m. - The T68s, T68Bs and AK Ts return to Hammersley Inlet today. The Orcas become more active as the day goes on and begin to breach. - Hammersly Inlet. -Terrence Allison, April 27, 2017

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3:19 p.m. - Thrashed around in the distance for about 10 minutes and then swam back west in front of Walker Park. Mother and baby. (but passed about five minutes ago)
3:00 p.m. - Just passed >Walker Park heading east. One male four or five others. -Amy Lee Wierenga

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1:40 p.m. - They are hanging out in front the the yacht club. We saw a tail and bellys. We also see 6+ seals hanging out in the wood pilings by the mill. -Rachel Glenn Rygiel

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12:13 p.m. - Heading from Oakland bay toward Walker Park. (eastbound). -Mandy Sylvain

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11:45 a.m. - They went west towards the yacht club. Went by twice while we were there. -Kirsten Story

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11:21 a.m. - they were heading back out but just now returned - heading back to Walker Park. -Patricia Lambert

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11:05 a.m. - Just left walker park heading east. There was a large male, a few females (hard to tell how many), and a baby. -Kirsten Story

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10:08 a.m. - pod of Orcas same large one with 3 smaller heading into Shelton. I'm one Old Arcadia and can see them coming - they are taking it slow but so far no breaching or slapping. Heading toward Walker Park. -Patricia Lambert, April 27, 2017

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9:38 a.m - Spotted the same pod in Hammersley inlet again. Appear to be fishing - split into two pods on each side of the inlet as they slowly head back out to the Sound. Still closer to Shelton than the mouth. We are feeling very lucky! -Becky Wilson

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8:45 a.m. - Same group of Orcas have just made the turn into Shelton.
7:56 a.m. - pod of 5-8 individuals slowing heading out of Hammersley more on the Arcadia side just pass Church Point. -Jodie Johnson Pardi

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T68A came by eastbound at 7:30am. They turned around westbound and came back up Hammersley Inlet about 8am. -Pamela Burger, April 27, 2017

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Juan de Fuca - Orca in Dungeness Bay near New Dungeness Lighthouse. On April 27 at approximately 12:30 p.m. an orca (one definite; possibly two) was sighted in the waters of Dungeness Bay just south of the New Dungeness Light Station, Sequim. Traveling west and then returned to the east in Dungeness Bay. -Velma Reed

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April 27 - Mystic Sea left port this morning in search of Gray Whales and found them, 6 of them in fact! We cruised towards Gedney Island and when we reached the southeast side, we came upon our gray whale friends as they displayed various behaviors. Four of the six gray whales were identified by crew as numbers 21 (Shackleton), 49 (Patch), 383, and 723 (Lucyfer). The sky was mostly sunny and blue as we looked on at these majestic creatures. Four of the whales were feeding in the shallows while the other two swam and tail fluked out a bit further. Those on board got some nice looks at flukes of Patch and 383, rolls from each whale, and even a few heart-shaped blows....- Amy W., Mystic Sea

April 26
10:30AM - BC - Sighted 6 Orcas (2 large males, 3 females and a young one) Swimming off the NW tip of Amelia Island (~15 miles NW of Nanaimo BC) headed through the channel between Vancouver Island Gerald Island. They they headed toward Ballenas Island. Sight took place about 10:30am 26 April 2017. -Bruce Rousseau
(The T46Bs T46C2 and T11's were several miles north of Nanaimo heading NW)

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4:00 p.m. - Heading southeast into San Juan channel. Past Flat Top. 5-6? One big male for sure. -Peggy Mauro

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South Puget Sound - 6 orca just moved through Pickering Passage traveling south and passing under the Harstine Island Bridge. 7:30 PM 4/26/17. Looks to be T68A. Water was a little rough so difficult to take good pictures. Also, they were rather docile as they traveled through and were only breaking water with shallow surfacing. Their blows were even very peaceful and quiet. Still it is such an amazing treat to see them. Now we will get nothing accomplish again for a few more days as our eyes will be fixed on the water....-Gretchen Stewart

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Pod of at least 2 adults sighted southbound in Pickering passage just south of Jarrel Cove mid channel approx. 6:40pm. -John Murray

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Approx 7:30 a.m. - One single whale spotted on the Grapeview side of Harstine Island this morning. It was one orca I'm guessing a female. Swimming very quickly, only surfaces a few times headed headed north by walkers landing. -Taylr Thein

April 25
San Juans - A visit with two whales that have been on my whale bucket list for years---the T11s. Matriarch T11 "Wakana", estimated to have been born in 1963, was travelling with her 39 year-old son, T11A "Rainy". Rainy was measured during a drone survey and is 8.9 metres (just over 29 feet) long, the largest known killer whale we see regularly in the Salish Sea. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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Mom T11...We encountered the T11's North West of Beaumont Shoals in the afternoon heading NW. -Andrew Lees, April 25, 2017

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Today we finally got to meet the T11's! Today they came down Upright Channel about 9:30am perused Goose Island and Whale Rocks before traveling on to Canada. They were in travel mode up Haro Strait. We left them a couple miles south of Zero Rock at about 3pm. -Barbara Howitt, April 25, 2017

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9:25 a.m. - Mike from WS Ferries relayed a report of a single adult male orca south of Shaw Island, just milling. No direction of travel

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Hammersley Inlet - Alaskan Transient close to shore at Walker Park, Puget Sound. The Alaskans do not have alpha-numeric numbers because they are so rare. The T68s and T68Bs are regular west coast Ts. -Melisa Pinnow, CWR, April 25, 2017

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OMG - it was incredible. They were fishing the inlet hard, and have been for the past couple of days but today in particular. At one point they separated into two groups...and we look down and just a few feet from shore are two, sliding along just under the surface...couldn't be more than 8' deep and I'm guessing maybe 6'. They were swimming on their sides - we could see their white bodies - adolescent size. (Reminded me of Rubbing Rock) They circled around and must have joined the Shelton group and 3 large whales joined together and powered back towards Shelton (all this in front of Walker Park area). The 3 came up 3 times that we saw - altogether. Where they come so fast and hard that their heads and top portion of their bodies were out of the water - I'm guessing to get even more momentum. It took them 3 of these pushes to make it from around Chruch Point (tough to tell distance away) all the way to the opposite end in between Eagle and Munson Points near Shelton. At one point they "frolicked" jumping and turning and flipping, and just playing (along the same path that they had just hunted that I mentioned above)...went towards Shelton for a bit...and now I think they've headed out of the inlet. Like I said...they fished it hard!! It looks to me as if there is the large male, a couple of larger females, 3-4 adolescence, and 2 babies. I could see the two babies playing together a lot yesterday. -Becky Wilson

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Beautiful video of the orcas as they make a pass through Shelton's Hammersley Inlet and Oakland Bay. -Terrence Allison, April 25, 2017

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7:50 p.m. - 8 individuals have made the turn into Shelton. They swam under passed Church Point and didn't pop up until nearly the turn into Shelton. We noticed the seal at the base of our bulkhead keeping a close watch on the water. -Jodi Johnson Pardi

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6:24 p.m. - Just now at Acadia boat ramp headed back westbound towards Shelton. Jennifer Wentworth

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Approx 5:30 pm. - Orca sighting, Hammersly Inlet. Shelton, WA. Sighting of 5 whales, one adult male and one that appeared to be young. Heading East near Libby Point. They have been in the area since Sunday. Traveling. -Margie Jenne

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2:45 p.m. - They passed Walker Park and headed back east at a leisurely pace.
2:36 p.m. - They have bèen milling around over by the yacht club
2:30 p.m. - They appear to be heading back this way (Walker Park), at the moment.
2:05 p.m - see them from Walker Park, heading toward Shelton.
T68A and a little one - Hammersley Inlet. -Gayle Swigart

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Orcas have been my favorite animal since I was a little girl, and it's always been on my bucket list to see one out in the wild living free - as the should be! I was able to see them today and I couldn't help but to start crying! Such beautiful animals! Thank you so much everyone for your help!! We went between Walker Park and Jacoby Park! Both had great views. -Cate Lionetti

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We just saw them at 1:00 heading east. We are just east of Walker Park. -Rachel Glenn Rygiel

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12:50 - 1:00 A pod of adults heading out of Shelton - I'm on Old Arcadia. Might be 4 or 5. -Patricia Lambert

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12:05 p.m. - I just saw them! I'm so happy! Thanks so much for the help! They passed by Walker Park heading into Shelton. -Kristen Henderson

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12:01 p.m. - three returned...Three just passed Old Arcadia on the way out of Shelton. -Patricia Lambert

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11:54 p.m. - We have eyes on 4+ of them going west past Walker Park right now. Heading towards Oakland Bay area. -Jessica Labrum

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11:45 a.m. - Heading eastbound passing Walker Park - Hammersley Inlet. -BL Weeks, April25, 2017

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There are four orcas presently in Hammersley inlet off of Munson point at Shelton. Time 11 AM. At least one adult male. -Thomas Pearson

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10:50 a.m. - 3-4 Orca's in Hammersley Inlet now heading to the Oakland Bay direction into Shelton. Looks like there is a baby orca. -Patricia Lambert

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10:49 a.m - 2 pods. At least four in each separate pod. One pod left for the sound. The other pod is in Oakland Bay. -Pamela Burger, April 25, 2017

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10:36 a.m. - Passed Walker Park headed toward Oakland Bay. -Bivalves for Clean Water

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10:30 a.m. - T68A passing Walker Park - Hammersley Inlet. -Rachel Hansen, April 25, 2017

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10:28 a.m. - They are still here. Looks like two separate pods. At least 4 in each pod.
10:15 a.m - They are back in front of Skookum Point, T68A westbound heading to town!! Go!! In Hammersley Inlet west bound towards Oakland Bay now! -Pamela Burger

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9:50 a.m. - approx 6 orcas westbound 1.5 miles West of Cape Horn, Hammersley Inlet. -Warren Bayard, April 25, 2017

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9:32 a.m. - Now departing the Hammersley Inlet, Shelton, Wa, heading east towards the sound. -Pamela Burger

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April 25 - Juan de Fuca - Orcas due north of Chito Beach this a.m. Too far out for photos, but at least 7, with 2 males. Slowly heading west. (Chito Beach is west of Sekiu). -Amy Harmon Cramer

April 24
Some of the T68s, T68Bs and Alaskan Unknowns on one of their daily visits shuffling back and forth in Hammersley Inlet. -Michael Barnard

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Eld & Hammersley Inlets, south Puget Sound - 7:43 p.m. - There are 5 or 6 orcas hanging out in Hammersley Inlet all day. Around 6 came from Shelton past Church Point bend, turned around and headed back toward Walker Park. -Brenda Rix

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7:30 p.m. - Pod heading toward Oakland Bay. -Wendy Allan

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6:06 p.m. - Whales seen at Shorecrest headed back towards Arcadia. -Taylr Thein

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6:07 p.m. - Eastbound from Walker Park now. Might be swinging back around.
5:45 p.m. - WB video Walker Park (shows who looks to be T68). -Joe Penrod

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From Walker Park around 5:00 p.m. today. -Brittany Echols, April 24, 2017

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Photos taken at approximately 3:58-4:00 PM from Walker Park - Hammersley Inlet and others were taken at approximately 4:50 PM off of my property on Collier Rd, approximately 1 mile east of Walker Park. The T68s and others on one of the many passes this day in Hammersley Inlet. -Michael Barnard

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8:20 a.m. - Brisco Pt heading out Dana Passage- taken from Boston Harbor. -Chris Hamilton, April 24, 2017

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7:50 a.m. - 6+ orcas heading north out of Eld Inlet and traveling at a screaming fast pace toward Dana Passage. I thought I heard a blow inside the house. Looked over my shoulder and they were surfacing right at the sand spit of Cooper Point. -Kim Merriman

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There are at least EIGHT. They were moving so fast I could barely get out the door with a camera. The land in the photo is Boston Harbor - north end of Budd Inlet and as they headed out of Eld Inlet. -Kim Merriman, April 24, 2017

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About 7:20 - we saw 4 possibly 5 Killer whales in front our home on Eld inlet. We are across from Flap Jack point. There was 1 large male, and 3 possibly 4 smaller whales. No pictures, enjoyed the moment. -Sharesse Fowler

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April 24 - Juan de Fuca Strait - We went down to Salt Creek Beach (Crescent Bay) west of Port Angeles and saw 2 adult Grey Whales feeding. I am hoping by the photo's you may be able to find out which ones they are. Had a beautiful sunset to go with this wonderful sighting..-Sandy Thompson Watne

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April 24 - North Puget Sound - 8:10 p.m. - Grey whale, several spouts sighted off Madrona Beach mid channel closer to Camano. Slow southern movement, only appears to be one. -Michale Sarver

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This evening Joe and I saw 5 separate blows around 7:30. Three were pretty tight together between Hat Island and Camano heading to between Hat Island and Jetty. The other 2 were farther apart and on the other side of Hat Island and they seemed to be lingering in the same area with one fairly close to Hat. The sun was low and it illuminated the spray soooo nicely! Oh, we were at our usual park, Grand Ave Park in Everett. -Shelby Hight Fifield

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6:35-8:20 p.m. - From Rucker Hill in Everett, I'm seeing at least 5 (possibly 6) unique large whale blows (presumably grays). The whales are scattered from the reddish tree (left) to the right towards Jetty Island and north towards Tulalip. I finally landed on five total. As the tide changed and the Snohomish river flooded into the sound, two whales moved up into Tulalip and three stayed in front of the muddy Snohomish water and moved over to Hat Island. -Amy Willoughby

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Today, Mystic Sea was out near Gedney Island once again, with several of the gray whales from the day before. We had sun, clear skies and calm waters as 5 identified gray whales were feeding and showing flukes as we looked on. Passengers today got good looks at #21 (Shackleton), #49 (Patch), #53 (Little Patch), #383, and #723 (Lucyfer) before returning to the docks in Langley, WA at 2pm. -Amy W., Mystic Sea

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8:20 a.m. - Gray whale spotted mid-Passage @ Bells Beach, heading toward Langley. I didn't see any whale boats around that would report this, as I have when I've seen the grays this season, so I thought I'd report it. Unable to ID. -Peggy Sullivan

April 23
Included is a photo of an Orca taken just past Deception Pass - Rosario Strait - at around approximately 10:30am. We traveled from Deception Pass area to Lopez Island between 10 am and 11 am. I think the whale is traveling north. This photo is not the greatest... I had no idea there was even a whale around. I only noticed it when I got my picture up on the computer. -Jamie Bartram

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6 fins - South Puget Sound -T68s plus - Orcas in Oakland Bay, Shelton as darkness falls. -BL Weeks

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6:45 pm - Orca Sighting. 3, saw 2 adults one juvenile in Hammersley Inlet, South Puget Sound. Traveling west towards Shelton. -Barbara Andrews

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6:00 p.m. - Two and possibly three orcas in Hammersley Inlet now heading west towards the town of Shelton. Now! -Pamela Burger

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6:00 p.m. - Orcas! Pod of 5, one very large male, traveling into Hammersley Inlet and Oakland Bay. They'll turn around in Shelton and head out. It's a dead end. They came by at 8am this morning too. -Carolyn Lockmom

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5:55 p.m. - Orcas in Hammersley again, heading into Shelton. -Jodie Johnson Pardi

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5:45 p.m. - All 5 just headed back into Hammersley inlet towards Shelton. Definitely at least 1 male and 1 calf. 3 others medium size. -Angie Koellner

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3:00 p.m.- Headed south in Case Inlet past McMicken Is. and Fudge Pt. on east Harstine Is. -Dave Berliner

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1-1:30 p.m. - 4-5 orcas (including adult male) in lower Case Inlet almost to Allyn on Sunday at 1pm slaping tails and small (baby) coming out of the water. turned around and went my stretch island state park about 130. Playing and traveling. After they left 3 seal swam by I am sure they were happy they were gone. I am on the north end of Stretch Island. -Lori Norman

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A pod of 5 arrived at 11:00 AM in Pickering Passage traveling north around Harstine Island. Yes, we saw them both Saturday and Sunday. -Gretchen Stewart
(ID's by Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research: "Yep, that's T68 and T68A again. And definitely the right fin shapes for T68B and maybe T68B1. There also seems to be a T68B look-a-like in there too so maybe those U's might be still with them too.")

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10:48 a.m. - just went under the Harstine Island bridge toward The Pointe (Harstine Point is the housing development on Harstine Island on the top of the island. Looks like they are headed to Allyn)
10:15 a.m. - Heading up Squaxin Island toward the Harstine Island bridge. -Mia Bosetti
9:55 a.m. - Heading out of Hammersley with the tide- Huge Bull. (T68A) -Maria Bosetti, April 23, 2017

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9:25 a.m. -Passed by our place back out of Hammersley. -Jodie Johnson Pardi

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9:15 a.m - about 6 orca heading east out of Hammersley inlet. One lage male with young one as well. -Cole Glenn

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9:00 p.m. - Wooohoooo! Fishing at Walker Park. They just passed me! Headed out- Away from Shelton. (Eastbound) T68A included. -James Gresham

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8:08 a.m. - 5 orcas (including adult male) off Skookum Pt in Hammersley Inlet. -Kristi Larson

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8:02 a.m. - Just entered Hammersley Inlet and are heading into Shelton. We saw them going west into Shelton and there was clearly one large adult male, and 4 or 5 smaller ones. We saw the male again on the eastbound trip out of Hammersley, though we didn't see the entire group of the smaller ones at the same time. -Jodie Johnson Pardi & Bill Pardi

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7:52 a.m. - 4 orcas seen passing through Hammersley Inlet (going towards the bay in Shelton) (westbound)- approximately 5 miles from the bay. One smaller orca with 3 larger in the group. traveling with frequent surfacing and expelling from their blowholes - maybe feeding? I am not too familiar with Orca behavior. -Angie Koellner

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Hammersley Inlet - 10:00 a.m. - Sighting Hammersley Inlet @ Libby Point. We watched them ride the tide out - so they were headed East. We spotted 4 or 5 orcas riding the tide out of Hammersley Inlet on 4/23 at 10:00AM. One very large dorsal fin was dominate. Perhaps a younger orca was with them? Traveling. -Mary Beth Peterson

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Sighted a group of at least 4 Orcas traveling west through Hammersley Inlet at 8:35 AM on 4/23. They were moving steadily west, but relatively slowly. We watched them until they rounded Miller Point on their way to Oakland Bay. Two appeared to be juveniles. -Tim Archer

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San Juans - Legacy and Peregrine found a group of transient killer whales in Haro Strait and observed them cruising right past a huge Steller Sea Lion who didn't look too comfortable about their close proximity. They split ways to explore the area and found a myriad of other species throughout their respective trips. J1 spent time with another group of transients to the north, including two young calves. On the way back they checked out the beautiful scenery of the BC Gulf Islands. -Mayas Legacy

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2:06 p.m. - Saratoga Passage - Gray whale is now by the bridge. About 100 feet off shore.
1:50 p.m. - Grey whale in Crescent Harbor close to shore near the exchange side right now. Tried to get good pictures but it's super windy and rainy, unfortunately. -Janna Harmon

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Possession Sound - Gray whale #383 is one of my faves this season. He's the first gray I have ever seen spyhopping! He was one in a group of 3 (22, 49 and 383) who may have been hit by a private boat today. We encountered 21 and 383 (after the incident) northwest side of Gedney if I recall correctly. We started on the southeast side with 53 and 723, then left them to see if we could find the others. We were almost all the way around the island when we found 383 and 21. -Renee Beitzel

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One of the North Puget Sound gray whales was struck by a small recreational boat this morning before 11 am near Hat/Gedney Island. Erin Gless and Stephanie Raymond, Naturalists from the Victoria Clipper, messaged and called us, reporting that a cabin cruiser ran over the back of one of three gray whales that were feeding together off Hat Island. No blood was observed - the whales were surface active both before and after the boat strike, so they didn't observe any behavior change. They were not sure which of the whales was actually hit. Present were gray #22, #49, or #383.

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At the time of the incident Chilkat was with grays 53 and 723 per Renee Beitzel.

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Whales here, there and everywhere with tail flukes prominent on our morning trip. Patch #49, #383 and #723 were positively identified south of Gedney (Hat) Island, with #21 spotted later swimming towards the Gedney shoreline. April showers and a chill breeze did not dampen passengers' spirits as the Saratoga grays displayed their grace and splendor both together and apart, once again enabling us to marvel at the sheer magnificence of these incredible creatures as they make their way north on their annual migration. -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist

April 22
San Juans - 2017 Earth Day Sail with the T124As - a total of 8 transient orcas. It was exciting for us to meet the two new calves, T124A6 and T124A2B, first seen on December 30, 2016. (Note the differences in eye patches). We met the whales in Harney Channel traveling between Shaw and Orcas Island in a tight group aiming for the sun. They decided to head north through Pole Pass, turned south of Yellow Island, then north again to see the sunset at Jones Island before heading for President's Channel. -Barbara and David, All Aboard Sailing

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Juan de Fuca, Sooke - T65 & T63 - We encountered T63 "Chainsaw" and T65 travelling east from Becher Bay to Race Rocks during our afternoon tour on Earth Day. -Andrew Lees

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YOU NEVER KNOW! T063 - "CHAINSAW" off Sooke today! What an amazing encounter...We were cruising out west of Sooke near the traffic lanes in some light rain and out of the corner of my squinting eyes I thought I had a glance of a small dorsal a 1/2 km off our starboard...Never second guessing myself I stopped and was excited to find his mom T065 (I believe) and knew that there had to be more around...We had the pleasure to be the only vessel around visiting these special Transient Killer Whales! Then off to Race Rocks Light House to visit some Sea Lions, Bald Eagles and our local Sea Otter....Another great day to be on the water! -Paul Pudwell

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8:07 p.m. - Puget Sound - T68s + Orcas in Hammersley heading into Shelton...At least one large male and two smaller ones. -Jodi Johnson Pardi

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8:05 p.m. - Orcas in Hammersley Inlet half way between Arcadia Point and Oakland Bay (dark photo showed what appeared to be T68A plus 2 - ALB) -Brena Rix

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5:30 p.m. - Last seen heading south into Totten Inlet in pouring rain - after going around the north tip of Steamboat Island. Same MO as earlier in the day. 3-4 surfacing series and then LONG down times. -Kim Merriman

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5:00 p.m. - Southwest side of Squaxin viewed from Boston Harbor. Yes, definitely one adult male. Last seen northbound going past Steamboat Island. -Jeanne Majercin

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Posted 3:57 - 1 adult and 2 juvies headed back north as of about a half hour ago (approx 3:30 -Dana Passage) -Holly LaConan

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2:00 p.m. - 4 orcas heading south (traveling) from Dana Passage. Long dive/down times in between surfacing series. -Kim Merriman, April 22, 2017

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11:11 a.m - Harstine area Earth Day sighting. I saw what appeared to be orcas (min. 3), at least one adult and two little ones, in Case Inlet (between Harstine and Herron islands) headed south toward Olympia. Traveling. -Stacey Smith

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8:30 a.m. - 4 orca in Pickering Passage off Harstine Island headed north. 1 male 1 very small. Traveling. -Gretchen Stewart, April 22, 2017
(ID's from Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research "yep, that's T68 and T68A. I can't confirm the other two-perhaps T68Bs")

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Sighted on 4/22/17 at 7:07 AM in Hammersley Inlet at 47.205721, -123.007178 - Feeding-3, possibly 4 Orcas with 1 male and 1 youth - Heading out with the tide (East) -Tricia Swanson

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9:04 a.m. - Humpback whale entering Saratoga passage from the south. East of Langley right now heading north. It is very close to the shore. Dorsal seen. -Denise Johnson

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7:16 p.m. - just saw multiple large blows (either humpback or gray) northbound off Madrona Beach, Camano Island. -Ron Strandin

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7:10 p.m. - 2 small greys? Spotted in mukilteo not 150 yards from the ferry dock headed south towards Edmonds. -Sandra Robinson

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11:19 a.m. - watching blows from Mabana Beach (south Camano), mid channel. Appears to be northbound. Haven't seen back to determine if humpback or gray. -Krista Paulino

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We watched three gray whales (723, 53, and 383) mingling together near Hat Island from Chilkat Express. #383 came up with an impressive spyhop. This is a spot where we often see gray whales spyhop for some reason, especially late in their stay here. -Bart Rulon, naturalist, Puget Sound Express, April 22, 2017

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Beautiful morning on Hood Canal. Anywhere from 5-10 harbor porpoises hanging out near King Spit. -David M Mullbock

April 21
Puget Sound - We watched the T124As traveling between Vashon Island and Three Tree Point on April 21, from Chilkat Express. They were swimming along at a leisurely pace until a harbor porpoise surfaced in front of them. The chase was on, and it didn't take very long before they dispatched of the porpoise. One of the killer whales was pursuing from behind, and immediately after the porpoise came up for air, T124A exploded out of the water from right under the porpoise! She flew completely out of the water with the prize in her mouth, and water spraying everywhere! Amazing! -Bart Rulon, naturalist, Puget Sound Express

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T101A & T102 in tandem in Colvos Passage off the shores of Camp Sealth on Vashon Island. -Camp Sealth, April 21, 2017
(IDs confirmed by Melisa Pinnow, CWR)

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Bigg's killer whales Puget Sound - Three big beautiful Biggs killer whales (Transients) pass closer to shore off Point Robinson,Vashon Island under blue skies and the big beautiful mountain - Mt Rainier. -Marla Smith

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Rosario/Boundary - T49As, T65As & T65Bs - T065A's/B's and the T049A's head out Boundary Pass this afternoon. -Mark Malleson

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I finally got a chance to meet up with one of the many groups of transients that's been seen in the area in recent weeks! This afternoon I saw the T49As, T65As, and T65Bs in Haro Strait. -Monika Wieland Shields

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T101s afternoon Colvos exit and northbound travels and continuation of T124As northbound afternoon travels (and possible meet up with T90's & T2B in the evening approaching/entering Admiralty Inlet)
8:35 p.m. - Just saw at least 5-6 orcas heading from Point No Point toward Norwegian Point; closer to the Kitsap side. We were able to hear their breaths and blows as it's such a calm evening. -Amber Brust

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8:29 - Orcas are heading North near Useless Bay. -Patty Michak

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8:05 p.m. - Here is the currently location of the northbound group. Still heading north. (image: map pinged in southbound shipping lanes just east of Point No Point - ALB) -Danielle Pennington

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7:40 p.m. - Seeing northbound orcas across Admiralty Inlet from Possession shores ahead of Island Explorer. Fantastic background of Olympic Mountains on a beautiful evening. -Sandra Pollard

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7:20 p.m. - I believe pods are now in close proximity to one another. Mid channel with trailers being (T101s) as seen from Ocean Ave north Edmonds sight line between me and south of Point No Point. Steady northbound angled more towards Admiralty. Looks like Clipper and Island Adventures on scene. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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1857 - Last spotted NB trailing group mid channel about 1.5 mi NNW of Edmonds ferry lanes. Admiralty inlet bound so far as I could tell. (T101s). -Ariel Yseth

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Around 6:35 - Arrived in Edmonds at Marina Beach to see the T101s slightly north and east of mid channel. They stalled out, made a directional change...looked to be hunting. Went to park and upon return about 6:50 they had continued northwest bound. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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April 21st was a pretty fine day in Puget Sound! The sun was beaming across our beloved region and many matrilines of mammals eating orcas were all over the place. Here's a brief video, primarily of the T101s in the afternoon passing Alki. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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1830 - Not sure if leaders or trailers, but north of Kingston directly in the lead of the tug boat. Northbound. -Ariel Yseth

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6:27 p.m. - See them now...Mid to east channel northbound, Apple Tree Point sightline to Edmonds ferry. Very long down times. -Sara Frey

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6:20 p.m. - Arrived at Kayu Kayu Ac park in Richmond Beach a bit too late but did see the T101s ahead, east of mid channel approximately out from Point Wells in Woodway, northbound. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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6:01 p.m. - Two groups. One behind barge mid channel approaching Kingston. And another group north of Kingston mid channelish (T101s southernmost group, T124As probably northern group). -Brandon Anderson

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5:53 p.m. - in front of Richmond Beach, heading to Kayu Kayu as they slowly are moving north. (would be T101s- ALB). -Janelle Lynn

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5:52 p.m. - In the ferry lane between Kingston and Edmonds, closer to Kingston side heading north. -Sid Barajas

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1745. Orcas in Kingston ferry lanes midchannel. NB at fast pace. (At this point could be T124As or T90s w/T2B - ALB). -Ariel Yseth

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5:39 p.m. - Just spotted them about mid-channel between Port Madison and Carkeek Park. Power boat seemed to be following them. (probably T101s). -Kelly Green

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5:34 p.m. - Heading north rapidly, main channel between Port Madison Bay and Golden Gardens. (probably T101s- ALB). -Deborah Jensen

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They swam by us sailing near Pt Monroe about 5:30pm (blurry photo showed 2 bulls- T101s?- ALB). -Sheila Guard

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5:31 p.m. - NB, viewed from Fay Bainbridge, east of my location, have definitely picked up the pace. Hard to track with longer down times. -Connie Bickerton

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5:15 p.m. - Just out from the spit at the tip of Bainbridge. Still headed north. NOAA headed in, looks like. Passing out of my view! This group has at least 8 individuals. (T124As?)
5:00 p.m. - Ok they are moving more rapidly northbound now. -Sandra Prow

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4:30 p.m. - watched NOAA as they came on the scene after a kill and were using the skimmer to pick up remains or something?...Orange zodiac, all in orange jumpsuits. NOAA is with the the northbound pod, not the Agate Pass pod. -Kimberly Sylvester-MAlzahn

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4:27 p.m. - Ok, I see them, mid channel across from Discovery Point, no direction of travel. Look for a sailboat with sails up and a smaller craft following. they appear to be hunting. -Sandra Prow

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4:20 p.m. - Jen called to report two adult males and at least one smaller orca off Suquamish, with breaching and milling/hunting behavior witnessed, now heading north. (presumabely T101s)

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4:15 p.m. - orca are north of West Point light, changing into more of a traveling mode. They passed on the west side of, but close to, the yellow channel marker at Westpoint. NOAA with them. (Could be T124As or T101s or both).
4:04 p.m. - this group is slowly trending north, but seem to be actively hunting based on the gull activity.
3:30 p.m. - watching a group either feeding or post feeding celebration from Valley Rd on Bainbridge, whales are south of me. Lots of splashing. -Connie Bickerton

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2:50 p.m. - Northbound smaller pod, T101s, powered north at steady clip, rounded Alki around 2:45 and headed into/towards Elliot Bay, then turned back out and now paralleling south end of Elliot Bay heading northbound.
2:00 p.m. - Colvos group has exited and is now north of Southworth with another group in front (T101s). Turned out to be large group loosely spread. The T68+ turned east then southbound east side of Vashon. T101s are currrently powering steady northbound mid channel heading towards Alki Point. (Three Tree group T124As got past everyone in West Seattle somehow and were next encountered Elliot Bay around this time.) -Alisa Lemire brooks, Orca Network

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Northbound pass at Alki Point around 2:45 pm. -Kersti Muul, April 21, 2017
("Looks like T102 and T101B" - Melisa Pinnow, CWR)

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2:19 p.m. - Directly west of Blake Island now. (T101s- ALB)
2:15 pm. - I see spouts 2/3rds between north end of Vashon, toward south end of Blake Island. Hard to see from land at Schmitz viewpoint off Beach Dive. But I see them! (T101s -ALB). -Julie Penezic

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2:15 p.m. - saw sprays, tails and splashes off of Southworth terminal. I'm on the west Seattle side on beach drive near Mee Kwa Mooks park. Very far away and hard to see even with binoculars. (Could be either or both groups before split at north end of Vashon -ALB) -Joy Nichols Bratton

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2:16 p.m. - Passing Tillikum, research boat with them, heading north. (T101s)
1:57 p.m. - Finally see them after about 3 hours of looking! I'm at Lowman Beach. Spouts just north and west of Vashon, hard to see how many. No apparent travel direction - assume north per previous comments. -Trileigh Tucker

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Bremerton/Agate Passage group T90s &T2B - T90's after exiting Agate Pass and traveling up Port Madison... 5:00 pm. - They are here! I live on Point Jefferson in Kingston. They just went by at a good clip. -Chris Beamer Otterson, April 21, 2017 (ID confirmation by Melisa Pinnow, CWR)

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4:00 p.m. - Two (neighbor thinks three) females (no adult males) went through Agate Pass .... First sighting for me in 14 years here. -Dave Strang

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4:00 p.m. - Just swam northbound in Agate Pass and under Bainbridge Bridge. They were moving fast. -Julie Gerke Middleton

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1:15 p.m. - Ilahee dock heading towards Liberty Bay. (northbound) -Heidi DeCarli Brown

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12:05 p.m. - Saw them off Enetai (south of Ilahee State Park). -Debra Noland Shirzuru

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Meegan M. Reid/Kitsap. Pod of transient orcas swim out through the Port Washington Narrows in Bremerton (ID'd by Sara Hysong-Shimazu as T90s and T2B).

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Noon - They swam under Manette bridge and headed east toward Seattle (Video from Rich Passage (not including) shows 5 including young calf - ALB). -Steve Scholle

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11:55 a.m - off Bachmann heading towards Rich Passage. -Christian Vosler

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11:44 a.m. - Under Mannette Bridge now.
11:39 a.m. - At Evergreen Park... they are here!!! Heading back towards Manette. -Cindy Campbell Russell

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11:30 a.m. - Just saw them heading south past Lion's Park. -Christian Vosler

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11:21 a.m. - They are at Tracyton Beach! 2 adults and baby. Heading south. -Nonna Milkat

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9:40 a.m - Orcas: Sighting of 3 to 5 individuals heading west in the Bremerton inlet going under the Warren Ave. Bridge. -Erik Berman

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9:15 a.m. - Orcas in Sinclair Inlet by the ferry dock! At least 3. They are just hanging out in the same spot. Not moving much at all! -Brenda Billiet Glisson
9:05 a.m. - Orcas in Sinclair Inlet straight out from Bremerton Marina. -Ron Billiet

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3 whales sighted in Rich Passage. Seen during the 8:45 ferry crossing from Bremerton to Seattle. They were headed toward Bremerton. -Tad Standing Bear

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7:10 a.m. - Three Orcas spotted this morning at 7:10 am at the north end of Yukon Harbor! -Vivian Altree

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Puget Sound -T68s plus others - Afternoon Southbound Vashon to Tacoma Narrows at nightfall
8:45 p.m. - Still southbound. One spyhop. Too dark otherwise. (Map ping shows across from Titlow Beach on Kitsap side -ALB)
8:23 p.m. - Just passed under Narrows Bridge, southbound close to Gig Harbor side. -Jill Clogston

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This is the large pod that's been heading south all evening and this was shot about a half mile north of the Narrows bridge going south close to the Gig Harbor side, at 8:20 pm. (Susan's distant video showed at least 10, 4 with large male and another family of at least 6-7 tight, just close just to the east of them -ALB). -Susan Dynes

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8:02 p.m. - they are still southbound in the Narrows, close to Gig Harbor side. They are about to round the bend. If you can get to Narrows Park, they should be by soon.
7:52 p.m. - they are mid channel southbound in the Narrows. Almost to Salmon Beach.
7:45 p.m. - from Gig Harbor viewpoint (at Pt Defiance 5 mile drive), they have passed viewpoint and are entering the Narrows, close to Tacoma shore.
7:41 p.m. - they are right off Point Defiance. -Melissa Burke

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1922 - I just saw them heading SW towards Pt. West of ferry lane. -Mark Baker

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1908 hours - Off south end of Vashon near the ferry lanes. -Gene Kuhns

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5:00 p.m. - Point Robinson Pass, just just south of the point. They were traveling steadily South/west at this time.
4:56 p.m. - 5 or 6. One big male, almost to the lighthouse (Point Robinson). Close to Vashon side. --Heidi Armstrong, April 21, 2017

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3:45 p.m. - lots of blows well south of Dilworth heading towards KVI (which is between Dilworth and Point Robinson) I believe that is. Very close to Vashon steady southbound.
3:15 p.m. - Large group is southbound nearing Dilworth, in tight group.
2:20 p.m. - Large group turned south at Vashon Head. Smaller pod with 2 males powering NE bound towards Alki! -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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From Brad Hanson NOAA: We followed the group that came out of Colvos and went south, T68s + others. Candi still needs to go through photos.

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Puget Sound - Morning east Vashon to Colvos - T124As, T101s, & T68s plus -
1:55 p.m. seeing blows, dorsals and backs of Colvos pod steady northbound north of Southworth dock. (This group included the T101s who continued north Puget Sound and T68s who with others rounded on the eastside of Vashon and went southbound -see above posts). -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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1:50 - Maia at WS Ferries relayed a report of about 8 orca 1/4 mile off Vashon Head, heading east.

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1:45 p.m. - pod of 6 or so, with large bull exited Colvos Passage, traveling at a fast pace , went on the east side of Blake Island. Research boat caught up with them just north of Lincoln Park/ heading toward Alki (NOAA may have first gone on scene with tthe T101s then dropped back with this larger group that included the T68s -ALB.). Lost them behind Blake Island, I'm on Kitsap side (but really could be either group NB or SB). -Kathe Bradley

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1:35 p.m. - Just saw the group heading north in Colvos Passage ! It appears to be approx. 5-6 adults and one juvenile, 2 large males. They are heading north just south of the Southworth Ferry terminal. -Noreen Ferris

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1:39 p.m. - Some are at Southworth ferry leaving Colvos, very large male couldn't get a good pic.
12:25 p.m. - They just swam past ALs in Olalla , still moving moderately slow it seems. -Amy Schierhoff

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Earlier in the afternoon, Friday April 21st, there were 2 separate pods in Colvos Passage, in front of Prospect Point. The pod closest to us in Prospect Point, had 3 Orcas. One was small. The other pod closest to Vashon had significantly more Orca's, including one which was remarkably large. They were all headed North....-Nancy Radle Cahen Owen

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T102 - Noon off Lisebuela Park, Vashon Island.-Davie Earl, April 21, 2017
(T101A & T101B have look-alike dorsals. Hard without saddle patch sometimes to ID. Notes by Melisa Pinnow, CWR: "I think it's T101A")

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11:37 a.m. - About 4 or 5 orcas heading north up Colvos Passage in Paradise Cove close to Vashon! There was a group of two to three ahead of another grouping. Looks like at least two males with a few females in the lagging group.
11:25 a.m - slowly trending Northbound in Colvos Passage, close to Camp Sealth now.
11:14 a.m - Some are heading north up Colvos Passage, Spring Beach, close to Vashon shore. -Melissa Burke

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10:50 a.m. - group of about 5 heading toward Gig Harbor. I'm watching from Pt. Defiance Marina. -Jessican Pagan

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10:51 a.m. - they have turned again, heading west towards Colvos Passage right off Vashon shore. Another second hand report has at least 2 individuals close to Pt. Defiance proper.
10:38 a.m. - A gentleman at Owen Beach reports seeing some of this group off The Point of Pt. Defiance, towards Gig Harbor, heading for the Narrows. I have only seen 6 in the group I have been reportin on, so sounds like they split.
10:33 a.m - they have turned, are heading east towards Vashon Ferry terminal/Commencement Bay. Sailboat following.
10:28 a.m. - from Owen Beach they are up against a Vashon shore, still westbound but milling, off the furthest little white beach house.
10:08 a.m - from N. Stevens street, can see them off south tip of Vashon Island approaching Pt. Defiance/Talequah Ferry terminal, close to Vashon side, westbound towards Gig Harbor. -Melissa Burke

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Orcas viewable from 9:40AM Tahlequah - Point Defiance ferry. Heading north towards Colvos. Last seen at 10:00AM near Point Dalco, Vashon. -Andrew Casad

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9:27 a.m - Now just south of Sandy Shores!
9:20 a.m. - There is a pod of at least six orcas heading south past Sandy Shores on East side of Vashon Island. -Barbara Webber

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Orcas passed Point Robinson at 8:50, still heading south, three groups, 12 total. -Kelly Burns Keenan

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8:30 a.m. - Pt. Robinson beach pass by early this morning on Vashon Island. Lots of males, and such unique dorsals! There were two pods that swam through right before that, I just caught the tail end of the second pod and was able to photograph the third pod that came through. T102 (L) born 1984 in the early morning light - Point Robinson. The male pair is T102 (background) and T101A (foreground) - Point Robinson. -Marla Smith
(IDs by Melisa Pinnow, CWR)

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One of the groups who passed Dilworth, Vashon Island early this morning. -Noah Izzard, April 21, 2017
(possibly T68s)

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7:20 am - 7 Transients still off Dillworth. They have been here for nearly an hour. Mid channel - closer to Vashon side. May be heading south? There were actually 3 groups. (2) of about 5 orcas and (1) with 3 orcas. The smaller group arrived later. Lots of tail slaps and a few lunges. It looked like the adults were teaching the baby how to tail slap. I heard them before I could see them because I was blinded by the sun.
6:30-6:45 a.m. - 5-7 transients straight out from Dilworth. No real direction but may be heading south? Mid channel - but closer to Vashon side. Lots of tail slaps. -Aimee Demarest

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April 21 - Commencement Bay- Three Tree Point - Elliot Bay T124As around 2:00pm. They stayed put for sometime on several kills while we watched them. One of the photos you can see some kind of prey in the action. The main group during and after each kill slowing kept moving northerly... we left the area when they were still a bit south west of West Point around 3:00pm. T124A and her newest offspring T124A6 (born Dec 2016) mid day off Elliot Bay, downtown Seattle. T124A1 (T124s eldest daughter, born 1996) mid day off Elliot Bay. T124A4 (born 2010). -Stu Davidson (ID confirmed by Melisa Pinnow, CWR)

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12:09 p.m. - Just passed Burien, looks like they're headed to Alki. -Margery Spears

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11:27 p.m. - Just saw about 5 heading north from Three Tree Point....there was a whale watching boat with them. They were mid channel and moving quite quickly. -Kim Rouse Baumgartner

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They stopped to kill a harbor porpoise north of Three Tree Point. There are 3 sailboats with them. The two groups with the babies merged after the kill to share! they are slowly headibg north mid channel. We had 3 groups, 2 groups had females and young ones, one of them a baby. The third group has what looked like to or three females or sprouter.
10:59 a.m. - Just found another group of 3 heading north with this group which is now NW.
10:50 a.m. - We are just 2.5 miles south of 3 Tree Point, Burien heading northeast with 4 orcas, 2 young ones!! They are heading NE to 3 Tree going about 6 knots. The group with the tiny baby is T124A's!. -Janine Harles

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We had at least the T124As down here off Three Tree Point. -Bart Rulon, Naturalist on Chilkat

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7:30 a.m - Orca Sighting Commencment Bay: I witnessed a pod of orcas feeding on seal in Commencement Bay near Port of Tacoma. I took video of what seemed to be 2 adults and multiple juveniles. I was workin on a boat at the time. (cell video looks like could be the T124As- ALB & SH-S). -Carl Anderson

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A great way to celebrate Earth Day, with magnificent gray whales off Langley and Gedney Island. First found #44, Dubnuck just north of Langley, then #56 and friend off Gedney. Later in the afternoon, we found #53 Little Patch, and #383, who is sporting a nice wide, white new scar on his back, making him more easily identifiable! They were bubble blasting as they surfaced, and exhaling stinky whale breath. Wet and windy with choppy gray seas, making taking photos of gray whales in gray seas with a gray sky a bit challenging! The sun finally appeared about 4:45 p.m., April 22. -Bonnie Gretz, Naturalist, Mystic Sea

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3:01 p.m. - Just saw several blows at Mission Point -The mouth of Tulalip Bay! -Carol Pom-Arleau

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8:50 a.m. - looks like a grey whale just off Hat Island between the ferry and Hat. (cell photo from ferry shows tall blows, possibly heading east). -Melissa Simmons, WS Ferries

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8:15 a.m. - Larry Nichols is watching a gray whale travel west from Whidbey Island toward Hat Island.

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Coastal & Juan de Fuca gray whales - 2 gray whales at La Push feeding possibly cow/calf as only one blow was very visible around 3:30 PM. -Alethea Leddy, April 21

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Puget Sound - Case Inlet - May I ask, are they ever in Case Inlet. There are at least two whales of the East side of Harstine Island, near the north point, right now but I don't know how to I.d. Them....There were at least two, they had rather large fins like Orcas but I did not see any white, and it seemed the fin was rather wide at the base compared to my memory of past Orca sightings (20+ years ago) I was in a kayak, my vision is not great, and they were a fair distant. I watched them hunting for about a half hour. Their blow was quite loud. I am thrilled about this but would love to know more. I really thank you for your help. -Kathleen Tucker

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7:26 p.m. - Several dozen porpoise heading south in Saratoga passage. Camano Islan State Park. -Bryan Hansen

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Not my day to see the Orcas, but my Son & I sat at the beach for 4 hrs and saw Harbor Porpoise - off Brown's Point, Tacoma. -Desiree Sauve, April 21, 2017

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11:30 a.m. - Scanning from Rockaway Beach, Bainbridge... Large group of harbor porpoise just south. -Kimberly Sylvester-Malzahn

April 20
Puget Sound - T124As & T68s - 7:30 p.m. - now headed south again. They may be hunting if that's the case...just north of Golden Gardens on the west side of mid-channel.
7:20 p.m. - Milling just north of Golden Gardens, west mid channel. not moving forward...She says they're headed back north! Third party report (friend of mine on cliff above GG) -Sandra Prow

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6:40 p.m. - two groups that I can see right now: lead is mid channel mid Sound Carkeek/mid Port Madison. 2nd group is west of and trailing them.
6:10 p.m. - lead mid channel group is south of Indianola/Richmond Beach at a good clip. Rain squall and sun glare making for tough viewing. I am heading home. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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5:56 p.m. - group has stalled out east of my location at the end of 2nd Street in Kingston. Visibility is pretty bad while squall passes.
5:40 p.m.- orca southbound line of sight from north of Kingston ferry dock, whales are south of Point Wells tank farm. Mid channel. -Connie Bickerton

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5:40 - Marie Waterman at WS Ferries relayed a report of about 8 orcas frolicking their way southward in the Kingston/Edmonds ferry lane.

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5:45 p.m. - correction. Several groups. One large 8-10 grouped. Few more trailing short distance behind and just found third group of 4-5 including small calf closer to mid channel. All past Kingston (sightline)
5:37 p.m. - surfaced again in front of dock... all grouped together now. Slow steady resting pace southbound.
5:30 p.m. - been watching them past 15 minutes steady southbound last surface was just north of Kingston ferry dock (sight line from Richmond Beach /Wood way border . Pods Grouped loosely. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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5:30 p.m. - In the ferry lane between Edmonds and Kingston , heading south. -Sil Barajas

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5:17 p.m. - 8-10 Orcas just passed Apple Tree Point headed south. Closer to Kingston side. -Gina James Vigna, April 20, 2017

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Also able to still see them from our Whidbey Orca Network outpost through the Big Eyes - seeing their spouts and tiny fins south and east of Point No Point at 5 pm. -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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4:45 p.m. - finally located them. West side of mid channel steady southbound looking pretty grouped together out from Eglon area give or take. Viewing from Ocean Ave, Edmonds. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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3:30-4 PM - Orcas off Point No Point - Hansville - There were multiple orcas spotted off of Point No Point in Hansville with breaching starting around 3:30pm today. There appeared to be multiple males in the group with large dorsal fins. They were heading east towards Edmonds and began to get out of view around 4:00pm. -Denise Seaman

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4:15 p.m. - Left Point No Point and drove to Eglon at approx 415...Orcas were spotted continuing their travels south! So Beautiful.
3:30 p.m. - Standing on the beach at Point No Point, looking across at Whidbey Island, and the Orcas are breaching out in the Sound. -Chelsey Clare Rogers

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3.00 p.m. - Approaching green marker pre Point No Point as seen from Mutiny Sands on Whidbey Island. -Sandra Pollard

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12:52 p.m. - Another group coming in from Marrowstone now, looks like a T-party. Great socializing, possibly traveling steady south again towards Point no Point
12:40 p.m. - Turned north, heading towards South end of Marrowstone Island in the middle of shipping lanes.... Looks like another group coming south to meet with these guys! -Nathan Bowden

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...southwest side of Whidbey Island! We took the chance and made the journey and much to our delight, Captain Nate spotted some scattered transient orcas coming our way! This pod was soon joined by another pod, the T68's. There was lots and lots of activity - breaching, rubbing, tail slapping, and tons of other social behaviors! Throughout our encounter, these two pods were joined by two MORE pods to make a super pod of four different families. IT WAS AWESOME!!! We're still working on the ID's of all the animals involved in this sighting. -Island Adventures
(Looks like the T124As were other whales present in their BLOG)

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11:08 - 5 or 6 orcas with one adult male, traveling south just south of Bush Point toward Point No Point, including T68 and 33-year-old T68A ...just steady travel. -Howard Garrett, April 20, 2017

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10:50 a.m - ~4 orcas, including one male, heading south in Admiralty Inlet between Lagoon Point and Bush Point, more on the Whidbey side, in an fairly tight group. Called in by Michael Waitt.

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9:00 a.m. - report from WS Ferries of four orcas heading south in Admiralty Inlet just south of the Port Townsend/Coupeville ferry lane.

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April 20 - Rosario Strait - T65As, T65Bs, & T49As. We had the T65 A and B's, and the 49A's in Rosario. -Michael P Colahan

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Marie Waterman at WA State Ferries called at 3:57 pm to relay a report from the Captain of the Elwha Ferry, of a pod of 3 orcas southbound at James Island in Rosario Strait.

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April 20 - Samsun Narrows - T86As & T124Ds (w/new calf). So on today's tour I managed to get shots that show T86A3 (Tyndall) is a girl! I was excited. This is the sequence, no edits aside from cropping and adding a watermark have been made. It was just north of Samsun Narrows around Booth Bay, Saltspring Island around 1:30pm. We had the T86A's and T124D's with a new calf. -Ashley Keegan, April 20

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NEW CALF! T124D and T124D2 and T124D and T086A1 northbound in Sansum Narrows this morning. -Mark Malleson

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April 20 - Rosario - T49As & T65As. We headed south of Lopez to look for Transient Orcas coming down from Rosario Strait. When we found them there appeared to be 4 separate groups traveling parallel to one another in the shipping lane. We were able to identify two of the groups as the T65As and T49As. T49A1 was traveling with the 65As while his family was 1/2 mile to the North. We left them passing the RA buoy before sailing for home. -Barbara & David Howitt, All Aboard Sailing

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Whales further south today... With all eyes on the water after leaving Langley Marina, our first sighting was of gray whale #383 off the south end of Gedney (Hat) Island, soon to be followed by spotting Patch (#49) and traveling companion #56 keeping us guessing as to where they would surface next. Being downwind of the pair brought its own reward with the unique aroma of whale breath carrying on the wind to heighten our wildlife experience! #21 and #22, often seen together this spring, also delighted passengers as the duo moved in leisurely fashion to their next feeding spot or, perhaps, to meet up with other visiting Saratoga grays under the afternoon's sunny skies. -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist.

April 19 Juan de Fuca Strait - 2:30 p.m. - A sighting of a pair of orca, just offshore the petroglyphs at East Sooke Park. Feeding/traveling. (T11 & T11A) -R Bruce Brummitt

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12:25 a.m. - Biggs killer whales (Transients) - Well, they're still around, but I gotta get to bed, been listening since you posted, pretty cool. (Transients on Lime Kiln) -Sean Clinton

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Around 1800-1820 - Saw 2-3+ orcas at Cattle Point. We were at Cattle Point power station looking east. There were around 3 orcas swimming north through the channel and behind Goose Island. -Lucy Wang

April 18
11:28 p.m. - still chattering. -Sara Frey

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10:05-10:45 p.m. - tuned in and hearing Transient calls right away. Listened for about 40 minutes, calls intermittently faint and loud. -Alisa Lemire brooks

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10:00 p.m. - hearing orcas faintly on Lime Kiln hydrophone. -Ursula Renteria

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We left the T36A's, T99's and T49As just off the Patos light milling, socializing and vocalizing non stop at 6:30pm. It was epic! The 36's and 99's had been there for a couple hours before the 49A's joined. And the party continued probably long after we left... -Barbara Howitt

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9:00 a.m. - WS Ferries reports 4 orcas off the Orcas Island ferry dock heading west.

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8:30 a.m. - They are 4-5 orcas passing by right now through Harney Channel. One large male, one juvenile male and 2 females and one young one. A large yacht plowed right through the pod seemingly without ever seeing them or slowing down. They seemed to come back up through the boats wake just fine, I think. Possible transients? They seemed busy milling around for a few minutes before disappearing (this group was westbound). -Cheers, Mariann Carrasco

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Unidentified Orca sighting - Western Juan de Fuca- Bullman Beach/south of Neah Bay @ 4:30 - 4:45 P.M. I spotted a pod (At least five; one male) about 400 yards off of Bullman Beach. Fishing boats had been fishing in the area earlier in the day. There is a reef and drop off about 300 yards off of the beach and these were just beyond it; this was also the area the fishing boats had been working in the morning. First became aware of them when one jumped, clearing the water, landing on his back/side. The rest of the pod were in the area and they held position for some time, ten minutes or so, before heading east, remaining within 1/2 mile of shore. I continued to watch them move slowly south, though they would stop at times, seemingly "working" an area before continuing east. -Scott Hartman

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10:00 a.m. - Janet Bartlow called again from Chito Beach (Strait of Juan de Fuca, 50 miles NW of Port Angeles) to report 6 orca heading west, splashing and tail lobbing, several miles out from shore.

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10:30 a.m. - Discovery Bay/Eastern Juan de Fuca - A small pod fed right off Beckett Point, west of Port Townsend. The most amazing thing I've ever seen. I cried. I am grateful! I have videos of it, little ones breaching all the way out! My best guess was around 5 or 8 whales. It was hard to tell and I was pretty excited. There was one male in the group with the larger dorsal fin. They came in to the point where I am working and left heading north back toward Protection Island. -Spencer Clanin, April 18, 2017

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Approx. 8:30 pm (4/18) a humpback surfaced slightly to the south of me, heading S into Eld Inlet. No photo. It surfaced 2 more times after long down times. Last seen near Flap Jack Point. At 10:30 - when it was silent and flat calm - I heard it surface to the south of me, as it was heading N out of Eld Inlet. Saw its back on the next surface near Cooper Point. It surfaced one more time heading north - toward Dana Passage. -Kim Merman

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(Humpback) swam past Toy Point on Fox Island headed south around 2pm... it happened to quickly...I heard his blow and looked out in time to see his tail flip at me. A breath later he was a good 1/2 mile or more away. -Glenn Hansen

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Sharing some images of transients T49A's, T36A's and T99's from 4/18/17 who were having a T party near Patos Island for several hours. -Barbara Howitt

April 17
7:30 a.m. - Janet Bartlow called Orca Network to report seeing 30-45 orcas heading east past Chito Beach (western Strait of Juan de Fuca) close to the south side of Juan de Fuca.

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7:00 p.m. - Possession Sound - Seeing maybe three Gray whales between Hat and Everett now. -Greg Heiss

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How many whales today? We thought we counted 7, and have ID photos for 5 of them. What an amazing day - at one point 3 passed us swimming together! It seemed like whales were everywhere. So happy to see #44 Dubknuck back in town, and thrilled to see #723 Lucyfer has finally shown up (confirmed by us today) - making TEN of our local "Sounders" who've been seen in and around Saratoga Passage this year. The others we ID'd were #53 Little Patch, #56 (no name), and #383 (no name)...-Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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1:50 p.m. - Gray whales 44, 56 AND 723 off Everett!! -Renee Beitzel

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12:55 p.m. - Sweet News! Jill Hein aboard Mystic Sea confirms gray whale #723 as the 10th North Puget Sound gray whale inland this Spring! He is with #44 and #56 off Hat/Gedney Island and we are so happy! We have been wondering about 723... he was the first one confirmed inland last year 2016 but he didn't leave last May with the others. He had been seen many times through out the summer and fall around the San Juans and down in Puget Sound, but had not been seen this spring until today.

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San Juan Channel - There was an unusual sighting today... a gray whale in San Juan Channel! We scooted out the door in a hurry to see him. Together we moved swiftly through Cattle Pass on the ebb and said good bye as he swam away toward Salmon Bank. -Barbara Howitt, All Aboard Sailing

April 16
2:58 p.m. - From IE3. #49 Patch and #53 Little Patch are together between Everett and Hat/Gedney. -James Gresham

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Once again Patch (#49) and Little Patch (#53) delighted passengers on both trips as the duo headed south from Camano Head towards Hat Island, their synchronized exhalations carrying on the breeze to give everyone on deck a whiff of pure whale breath! Barking California sea-lions rafting near Baby Island were a source of fascination as they glided by on the current, and their playful antics made the day for the kiddies on board. -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist.

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11:23 a.m. - Fred Lundhal just called LWC. Three grays across from Langley, including #49, no direction given.

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5:00 p.m. - North Saratoga Passage - gray whale off Woodland Beach, Camano heading south, slow diving. Nice Easter present! -Krista Paulino

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11:20 a.m. - from my deck, in the distance I can see a pair of gray whales northbound in Saratoga. Slowly approaching Crescent Harbor area. -Rachel Haight

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10:50 a.m. - Grey whale spotted in middle of Saratoga passage, headed toward Penn Cove. -Kirstin Niedzwiecki

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7:35 p.m. - 1-2 whales headed north under Tacoma Narrows Bridge. (several videos viewed showing at least one humpback -ALB) -Mark Hansen

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Spotted this whale at Cape Flattery this past Sunday at 1:05pm. Is it a Gray? Looks like the fluke of a gray, but I'm a total novice so appreciate any help. While we were standing on the western edge at Cape Flattery, this one swam by right underneath us. As we were facing north, we only saw it for about 5 seconds before it submerged. We never saw it surface again. Unfortunately I only had time to raise my camera and snap one photo before it was gone. It never did completely break the surface....It was hugging the coast at CF and appeared to be heading into the Strait of Juan De Fuca. Thanks much for your response. We moved out here from Colorado a couple of years ago. Trying to learn all we can about these magnificent creatures. Always a delight when we see whales from land. And, to see this one so close to the shore was very special! -Russ Stamp

April 15
T102 (born 1984) cruised the shoreline exceptionally close while passing Alki Point in West Seattle with his mom T101, while his 2 brothers and the T100s traveled further offshore. -Kersti Muul

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San Juans - T049A1 and T065B in Rosario Strait on the morning of April 15th. -Mark Malleson

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Orca pod between Buckeye Shoal and Peapod Rocks, east side of Orcas Island. Appear to be transient. S/V Carlyn on Salish Sea Expeditions student trip. -Ryan Danforth Downs
(These turned out to be the T49As, T65As, & T65Bs. See Jeanne Hyde's blog Whale of a Porpoise April 15th, 2017)

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Puget Sound - T100s and T101s - Received a call from WA State Ferries at 7:20 pm, they received a report from their Fauntleroy dock in West Seattle of 5 orcas off the dock heading North.

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6:38 p.m. - 3 orcas off Vashon Island. They were headed north.... on the the east side of Vashon. -Tiffani Myree Arthur

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6:10 p.m. - Large pod of Orcas feeding off 3 Tree point for the past hour. -Robert Leonard

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5:35 p.m. - They are south of Three Tree Point now.
4:43 p.m. - They are being very active now.
3:45 p.m. - They are about a mile offshore Three Tree Point. -Connor O'Brien

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Members of the T100s and T101s stalled out off shore off Three Tree Point, Burien this afternoon. (taken just after 5:00pm) -Connor O'Brien

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4:15-5:15 p.m. - As I reported, I took pictures this afternoon of orcas at mid afternoon...The orcas spent about an hour in the sound between Burien and Vashon, a little north of Three Tree Point. Unlike previous sightings from our house, they orcas were mostly under water for the first half hour and were barely visible. Then they moved toward the beach at Three Tree Point (which is very popular with scuba divers) and became much more active. -Elston HIll

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5:07 p.m. - One group may have a kill as they are staying in the same place a couple of hundred yards off of Three Tree Point even after a barge came through
4:30 p.m. - They have turned back towards Three Tree Point. I am watching from my deck in Shorewood on the Sound.
4:10 p.m. - Turned around just before Three Tree Point. Now heading Nortbound. -Howard Labanara

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3:50 p.m. - 2 orcas just passing north side of Three Tree Point (Burien) 2 boats following them. Orcas just seem to be strolling along!!! -Teri West

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2:43 p.m. - Large male off of Lowman Beach Park, West Seattle. Heading south at a good clip. Heading to Lincoln Park now. -Julie Penezic

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2:30 p.m. - They are still north of the Vashon ferry lane. A westbound ferry from West Seattle passed them. Orcas & small boat were north of the ferry lane
2:18 p.m. - from Magnolia Boulevard Viewpoint can see blows & dorsal fins near the research boat. They are west of Alki Lighthouse. North of the Vashon ferry terminal. Heading south. Two or three orcas in group. Need binocs from here for sure. -Jon Scanlon

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2:30 p.m. - leaving the T100s still mid channel north of Vashon Head, with T101A & T101B east of mid channel spread loose approaching Lincoln Park/Fauntleroy, with T101 inside and north of them and big boy T102 even further inshore and a little north of her trolling the shorelines. All still southbound. Thanks to Bart Rulon, Chilkat for IDs
2:15 p.m. - T100s are mid channel traveling in tight group, sightline Blake Island and Alki Point, research boat with this group. 2 more males east of mid channel south of them (later ID'd as T101A & T101B) , and T101 and her son T102 even further inshore north of Fauntleroy. All still southbound steady pace.
2:10 p.m. - T101 & T102 passing Alki super close in! Southbound.
1:50 p.m. - looks like groups have somewhat merged since I last saw them up north. Some directional changes out from Elliot Bay east side of channel. All at this point spread loose north of Alki Point currently southbound with at least one bull way in shore approaching Alki. All in steady travel mode. Research boat now on scene.
1:20 p.m. - one pod powering southbound mid channel out from Elliot Bay. Not sure yet which group. Assuming trailers T100s. As you will see in video, they made some directional changes and some activity. We thought they were in hunting mode but after several minutes they turned and resumed steady southbound course. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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T102 cruising close to the shoreline at Alki Beach on April 15 2017, as seen from the Chilkat Express. One family sure got a fantastic view of this big male transient killer whale (Bigg's killer whale)! -Bart Rulon

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2:15 p.m. - T102's left side taken from Shore, Alki Point. T101A as he traveled further offshore w/his brother T101B while passing West Seattle. Giant Bull in the rear of groups. Closest I have ever been to an orca. I was shaking, people on shore were screaming and so happy. Best day ever! -Kersti Muul
(ID by Melisa Pinnow, Center for Whale Research)

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Teenager male T100C (born 2002) in the midst of his mom and siblings. -Janine Harles

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I was on the late 1:10 boat traveling from Bainbridge Island to Seattle...so it would have been between 1:20-1:25ish.... Saw two groups or pairs. -Donna Green Van Renselaar

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1:15 p.m. - update. Off Magnolia, Line of site from Creosote, BI. More westside. Foraging. Harbor porpoise also in area. -Susan Marie Andersson

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12:25 p.m. - There is a big male in the pod, appears to be about 5 total?
11:55 a.m. - immediately in front of Kingston terminal with Red Head vessel. (sightline as viewed from Carkeek Park). -Steve Smith

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12:30 p.m. - The pod is now off the north side of Discovery Park still heading south.
12:15 p.m. - Watching 4-5 swimming south straight east of Fay Bainbridge Park in the shipping lane. They are continuing south and should be going by Golden Gardens Park in 5-10 minutes.
11:15 a.m. - Spotted fins and a couple breaches looking north from the NE corner of Bainbridge Island. Orcas were south of Kingston but not yet in Port Madison. -Tim Cuddy

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11:00 a.m. - Went out with Island Adventures Whale Watching out of Everett, WA for their gray whale tour and we came upon a pod of Transient/Biggs orcas instead around 11 AM off of Kingston, travelling south. There were four in this family group; One mature male, one juvenile, and two that looked like females. (T101s). -Melanie Rullman
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11:09 a.m. - there are at least 2 groups. Lead group (turned out to be T101s) is between Kingston and Jefferson Head/Indianola west side of channel steady southbound. (WW boats are with T100s west of mid channel north of Apple Cove Point/Kingston. Southbound)
10:45 a.m. - I see an adult male, female and possibly 1 more... (turned out to be T101s) southbound just out from Kingston dock, steady southbound. Viewing from shore across at Kayu Kayu Ac park in Richmond Beach, Shoreline. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network
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10:52 a.m. - Maia at WS Ferries reports three orcas between Apple Tree Cove and Jefferson Head, heading south. (Leaders T101s - ALB)
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10:35 a.m. - We found them, T100s (mid channel north Edmonds) Also, a male elephant seal was just bottling nearby as we passed!! (T100s are the trailers at this time- ALB) -Renee Beitzel
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10:35 - Spotted them from the Kingston Ferry. Passing Kingston heading south. -Don Van Doornik
(leaders T101s) - ALB
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10:20 a.m - One male (T101A) plus southbound. That was at Apple Tree Point, Kingston...from the first group (T101s). There was a male and I believe just one more. -Sara Frey
(Id by Melisa Pinnow, Center for Whale Research)
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9:30 a.m. - Susan sees at least four blows south of Point No Point, seemingly heading south. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network
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9:12 am ...towards Kingston as of now...just passed Point No Point within 200 yds of shore headed south around point. (cell video shows T101 & T102)
8:48 a.m. - Group of several orcas off Point No Point headed south east. Too far for me to tell number and type but at least 3-4 I think. -Toby Black
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7:00 p.m. - Saratoga Passage - Spent about 1/2 an hour watching a gray whale (Most likely 1, but maybe 2) that seemed to be hunting in Saratoga Passage, off Bells Beach Rd. Started closer to Whidbey, about 100 yards from shore, then moved over towards Camano. Stayed in the same area for quite awhile. Nice view of the tail fluke and dorsal fin! Feeding most likely. -Lynne Meddaugh
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After dinner about 6:45, decided to go check for whales across the street...there was a gray blowing away, coming right towards Baby Island and then made a left and about 7:05 headed southeast towards Fox Spit. Gray whale #53 (Little Patch). Surfacing around Baby Island/Fox Spit, Saratoga Passage.I spent an hour and a half watching 2 grays...once they got to Fox Spit, they were only 50 ft off shore from me feeding. I needed some whale energy...and I got me some. -Marilyn Armbruster
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3:00 p.m. - 2 gray whales, 1 large and 1 smaller spout travelling north in Saratoga Passage mid channel off Madrona Beach. -Michele Sarver
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Saturday gray whales off Camano and Whidbey, gray whale #44 (Dubknuck). Saratoga Passage, beautiful sun, calm water, rain blows! Lovely day! Plus some crazy barking sea lions by Baby Island. -Bonnie Gretz, Naturalist, Mystic Sea
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8:19 a.m. - A gray whale in Saratoga Passage near Baby Island and Fox Spit!! -Kim Dammann
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7:20 a.m. - 2 grey whales going towards Polnell Point / Crescent Harbor from Strawberry Point headed west , in Oak Harbor at 0720 am this morning. -Brian Goldberg
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Humpback BCY0324 Big Mama, off East Point, Saturna Island, BC -Jeff Friedman, Maya's Legacy
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Elephant seals - Saratoga Passage - Mike Huggins (neighbor) told me today the Elephant Seal is back on Baby Island. -Marilyn Armbruster
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10:35 a.m. - Puget Sound - We found them, T100s (mid channel north Edmonds) Also, a male elephant seal was just bottling nearby as we passed! -Renee Beitzel, Naturalist, Puget Sound Express, April 15, 2017

April 14
We saw Gray whales #21, 22, 49 and 53 from Mystic Sea today plus a large group of California sea-lions near Fox Spit. -Sandra Pollard

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Gray whales between Camano and Langley this morning at 11:00 am. -Jim Lovvorn

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Strait of Georgia - There have been some big groups of transient orcas in the Salish Sea this Spring. Yesterday we caught up with a large group made up of several families in the Strait of Georgia. This big guy is T102. He was born in 1984 and is definitely a handsome fellow! -Katie Jones

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Strait of Georgia encounter with 28 Biggs killer whales!! The families were the T049A's, T065A's, T065B's, T100's, T101's and the T124A's with their two new babies! -Ocean Ecoventures,

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4:25 p.m. - Gray whales 21 and 56 feeding in shallow off Kayak Point in Port Susan. 49 was seen around 3:00 pm off of Camano Head, did not re-aquire. -Tyrone Reed

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We have been seeing lots of gray whales 21 and 22 together. Over the years I've noticed that these two whales seem to hang out with each other more consistently than any other gray whales we see. The close up photo of the whale's head is of male gray whale 21. I've noticed that these gray whales have a regular tendency of lifting their heads higher out of the water right after feeding in shallow water when they just begin to swim out of the shallows. The tail fluke photos are from female gray whale 22 on 4/14/17. She has beautiful patterns on her flukes! -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, Puget Sound Express

April 13
Biggs killer whales (Transients) - Boundary Pass & Strait of Georgia - T101A born 1984, T102 with his younger brother, T101B cruise the Strait of Georgia. T065A2, T065B, and T065B1 along the bluffs in Boundary Pass. -Gary Sutton

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10:19 p.m. - They're still here (gray whales) - I can hear them! (Fox Spit, Whidbey Isl.) -Kim Dammann

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9:30am - Dristie Schaffer saw two or three gray whales heading south off Whidbey Shores, south of Fox Spit, Whidbey Island.

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9:16 a.m. - Two grays feeding off Fox Spit ...Since 8:45. -Megan Fantz Pyle

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Saratoga Passage - My neighbor Linda said she saw the humpback every morning approx April 9 thru 13th (certain not 14th) out in front of her home which is just to the south of Baby Island, Whidbey Island. -Marilyn Armbruster

April 12
8 orcas heading west through Boundary Pass tonight at 630. This was taken near Tilly Point on South Pender. Just poking along slowly. -Madison Duffy
(presumably the T123s and T99s. They were last seen around 5pm at Blunden Islet, just SE of South Pender Island - ALB per SHS)

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We found killer whales and a humpback whale!! We had two killer whale families known as the T123's and T099's. The humpback was one of our locals known as BCY0324 "Big Mama". (encounter location: Boundary Pass) -Ocean Ecoventures (Capt. Gary Sutton)

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Unidentified killer whales - 9:55 a.m. - ferry Kitsap reported a pod of four orcas at the confluence of Thatcher Pass and Rosario Pass, south of Blakely Is.,in the ferry lane. No direction of travel given.

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5:30 p.m. - Two grey whales, traveling north off of McKees beach (Port Susan). Going slowly and feeding. Doing some spy hopping, and staying about one hundred feet from shore. Took about 45 minutes before they rounded the point at Kayak and swam out of sight. Just beautiful. The blows were definitely two different sizes and when they came up the size of back before rolling down were significantly differently different. One was more active than the other. When they came up for a spy hop at the same time one seemed larger than the other. Just delighted to see them. There was a quad copter drone over head. Way to close, about 100 feet overhead. And this is when they stopped eating to stick their heads out of the water. I was wondering if the sound from the drone could have been disturbing them. -Nanci Bondelid Green

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5:00 p.m. - Gray whale sighting. We just watched a gray whale in shallow water in Skagit Bay, moving slowly from east to west as the tide moved out, possibly 'grazing'. Pretty exciting, as I didn't expect to see whales in such shallow water. Whale appeared to be lunging and feeding while traveling slowly back out of Skagit Bay as the tide came in. -Rose Orr

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3:50 p.m. - One gray whale close to Camano shore at Pebble Beach, heading north. -Sarah Malstead

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2:19 p.m. - Now heading east towards Spi-Be Dah.
1:47 p.m. - (Grays) 21 and 22 heading north into Port Susan. -Renee Beitzel

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11:30 a.m. - Dan Gulden reports at least one gray whale (Looked like two, couldn't id with the distance) off Langley, Whidbey Island.

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Humpback BCY0324 Big Mama - Boundary Pass -Gary Sutton

April 11
Global News: "A rare sight was caught on tape by a Vancouver man boating near Bowyer Island, north of Horseshoe Bay. While out on a joy ride Tuesday afternoon, Elliot Funt says he saw a pod of at least six orca whales swimming between boats and chasing an adult sea lion." A pod of 6 orcas chases sea lion near Bowyer Island in Howe Sound. Sea lion seeks protection from a pleasure boat during a Bigg's (transient) predation event in Howe Sound. -Elliot Funt
(Includes the T99s & T123s per Nick Templeman)

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Discovery Passage - Transient Killer Whale Predation Event: T023'S T011 T011A DALLS PORPOISE KILL. The event took place on April 11th 2017 @ 50'4.054N 125'14.842W in Discovery Passage by Steep Island (near Campbell River). Still going through everything for positive identification but for sure had T011 and T011A Wakana and Rainy again. Loner male T124c had joined them, along with the T023's known as the Motley Crew by researchers on the West Coast of VI. This gang experienced 4 deaths in 7 years, but is bouncing back. Encounter started as most do. Whales were idling along at approx. 5 knots Northwest bound. within 10 min of being on scene the dinner bell rang. They had been spread out in a line formation and all of a sudden two females initiated the hunt with first a fast leap across the bow, then all of a sudden 40 seconds in a HUGE dolphin like jump to cut off the porpoise as it was making its way to my hull. Thats the one frame thats in the posted photos. One of the off contrast ones. The hunt itself lasted approx. 25 minutes, with the food sharing portion taking up another 30 min. Once they finished everyone was on their way northwest bound again. Next morning April 12th there was a sighting of 10 plus Orcas Westing in front of Kelsey Bay @0730. Of note during the encounter I did not see T124C T011 or T011A actually participate in the hunting action. They were on the outside with tail slaps and things it seemed. They were in the middle of some of the foraging after as far as i could tell. -Nick Templeman

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Strait of Georgia - 15 Biggs killer whales all to ourselves. Spectacular day with 3 killer whale families known as the T046B's, T100B's and T018's. We also had a couple single animals mixed in the group known as T124A1 and T087. (left them near Parksville, BC) -Ocean Ecoventures WW (Gary Sutton)

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2:09 p.m. - Observing 1 gray whale from Mabana moving slowly north. for last hour, midchannel. -Krista Paulino

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12:53 p.m. - Two greys still hanging around Utsalady Pt. -Collen Johnson

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12:32p.m. - Puget Sound Express's vessel Red Head leaving 2 greys Utsalady Pt, North Camano, going east. -Christopher Hanke

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8:20 a.m. - our friendly Greys (2 of them) are headed towards Polnell Point or Crescent Harbor. Just passed by (I'm on Polnell Road near Polnell Point) moving quickly. So amazing. -Marcie Barney Goldberg

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4:00 p.m. - Dall's Porpoise Pod Approximatley 7-8, Guemes Island. While windsurfing past the southern tip of Guemes Island toward Hat Island, a pod of Dall's Porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli) were spread apart and then coalesced together. They are less interactive with humans it would seem than Atlantic bottlenose dolphins, and with their cute tiny dorsal fins, they are less easy to spot. Feeding. -Mark Reid

April 10
...a family of Bigg's (transient) killer whales near Victoria that have only been photographed on a few occasions in southeast Alaska. These whales (currently unnamed) were traveling with the T068B group and now that they have been seen in Canada will have ID names assigned to them. -Mark Malleson, Report by BC Killer Whale Research

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Juan de Fuca Strait & Haro Strait - It is not very often that killer whales never before documented in the Salish Sea appear in the region. However, on April 10th, Mark Malleson (a senior whale-watch skipper and whale researcher) photo-identified a family of Bigg's (transient) killer whales near Victoria that have only been photographed on a few occasions in southeast Alaska. These whales (currently unnamed) were traveling with the T068B group and now that they have been seen in Canada will have ID names assigned to them. -BC Killer Whale Research

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There was a bit of wind, but there were Bigg's (transient) Killer whales too!! I saw a group I have not seen before and a group that doesn't visit very often. (But perhaps they might take notice of our abundance of prey and stick around!) ...When we first saw them they had made a kill and we're socializing in Swanson channel. Then after a while they powered up and went south west to Morseby pass. This was the 10th about 1:30-2:30pm. The T68Bs plus others. -Traci Walter

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Around 8:30am a pod of 6-8 individuals headed east through the Strait toward Admiralty Inlet, where they paused and turned around, appearing to be heading northwest. Then we lost sight of them (from North Beach, PT). -Annette Huenke & Sebastian Eggert, Port Townsend

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At least 2 grays feeeding in Crescent Harbor. There were three spots at one time. I was told by the neighbors that the had been there from about five pm. We stayed until 7:15, the whales were still in the harbor but had moved closer to the island. What a blessing to be able to see them from our home. -Terr Parham

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6:03 p.m. - Several Greys east side of Polnell Point. -Georgia Marie Inman

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1:01 p.m. - Mystic Sea just left gray whale #53 little patch at Camano head feeding. Only one so far today made it all the way up to Baby Island and found nothing. -Eric Rosemore Captain Mystic Sea Charters

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10:15 - Caller reports 2 gray whales east of Polnell Point, in Saratoga Passage near Oak Harbor.

April 9
Approx. 1:45 p.m. - The T18s heading south of Active Pass. T18 was present, with her daughter and grandsons: T19, T19B, & T19C with Portlock Light Station in background. -Marcie Barney Goldberg

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8:18 pm - at least three orcas that appear to be hunting in Admiralty Inlet off of Lagoon Point. I believe one was an adult male. -Margaret Marshall

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7:40 p.m. - 2-4 Orcas are currently off Marrowstone Island, feeding I believe. I believe there was 1 adult male, 2 adult females, and 1 young one. Not sure though. They were south of Marrowstone Pt. about midway down the island I believe, just west of the lanes. -James Greenway

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4:00 p.m. - Gray whales #49 Patch, #53 Little Patch, and #383, off Elger Bay and Mabana Beach, Camano Is. April 9, 2017 about 4PM aboard the Mystic Sea with the Orca Network benefit cruise for Welcome the Whales weekend. -Howard Garrett

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What a beautiful afternoon for Orca Network's fundraising cruise - the weather - and whales - cooperated to make this a great event. We found several whales along the west side of Camano Island traveling in pairs, feeding, logging, and ID'd #21 Shackleton, #49 Patch, #53 Little Patch, #383 (no name), and possibly #22 Earhart. Several heart-shaped blows were witnessed, a few harbor porpoise joined us along with some harbor seals. Great food and drinks - a really grand day aboard Mystic Sea! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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3:09 p.m. - Spouts sighted just S of Cresent Harbor!! M/Y Serious Freedom

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1:10 p.m. - Grey whales off west Camano - Mabana. -Victoria Elizabeth Steed

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11:39 a.m. - 49 is further north. Headed south on Camano side. -James Gresham

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11:33 a.m. - Just saw Patch in the Saratoga Passage just off Camano island! -Megahn Finley

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10:53 a.m. - San Juan Clipper is on scene with 3 grays off Camano Head moving slowly north on the Camano Island side. IDs are #21, #22, and #53. -Justine Buckmaster

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10:45 - 11:00 a.m. - I viewed three grays off southern tip of Camano from Village Pizzeria in Langley. Noted that Mystic Sea and another boat peeled off and headed north so there must be reports of something further north in Saratoga. (Patch is up there) -Debbie Stewart

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Around 4:45 p.m. - Harbor porpoise in Saratoga Passage.... we were heading south from Mabana area, going towards Camano head, at the end of the cruise. -Jill Hein

April 8
T087 east bound in the Strait of Georgia. -Mark Malleson

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9:10 a.m. - My husband, daughter and I think we saw a humpback whale this morning swim by our beach at Fox Spit. It was headed east/south but we never saw it come up again. This was at 9:10. -Ann Brockenbrough

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Blustery weather did not deter hardy passengers after Mystic Sea left the dock to head north and 'welcome the whales' on Langley's official ' Welcome the Whales' day. Patch (#49) was spotted first near Elger Bay, Camano Island, celebrating yet another year's return, accompanied by traveling companion #383. We observed some lunge feeding with the whales raising their massive heads among the white-caps before sailing south to catch up with two more of the resident grays, #53 (Little Patch) and #21, equally intent on feeding closer to shore. Every year we marvel that nature brings these impressive giants to our shores to share the secret ghost-shrimp bounty known only to them. -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist.

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1:43 p.m. - 3-4 grays between Camano State Park and East Point in Saratoga Passage. -Bryan Hansen

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12:21 p.m. - Sandra Pollard from Mystic Sea reports gray whales in Saratoga Passage, closer to Camano side. #49 Patch and #383 traveling together and #53 Little Patch and #21 traveling together. Welcome the Whales Festival in full swing!

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Chilkat left #53 and #21 heading southeast into Mabana at ~1130. -Renee Beitzel

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10:35 a.m. - Grays: reported 3 spotted due NW of Langley, south end of Camano Island. -Carol Knight Unidentified whales - Juan de Fuca Strait - 10:00 a.m. This morning, on a rising tide, we saw two small whales - (reported as: Minke, perhaps) within forty yards of shore, of of Bullman Beach, near Neah Bay. They both held their positions relative to the shore, they might have been feeding. The water isn't very deep where they were sighted. We really couldn't identify a color, per se, as most of the surfacings were quite quick, though no dorsal of any kind could be seen. So, I'll be calling them immature Grays. (...my girlfriend and I manage The Bullman Beach Inn, and we are excited about the natural possibilities of the area. I posted another sighting - small whales again, Gray, with a pod of at least five Orca only about 200 yards from them. Exciting viewing from our front lawn) -Scott Hartman

April 7
At 0945 this morning (Friday), while walking briskly in the rain and wind with my dog, I saw 1 gray whale 100 feet off the east side of Polnell Point located on the east side of Whidbey Island. -Steve Rothboeck

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7:30 a.m. - Gray whales sighitng, two whales, maybe feeding. For past ten minutes have watched from my house windows at least two greys spout. We live on Bob Galbreath. (north of Clinton ferry terminal) Siting is approximately 1/3 of Sound off the Brighton beach shoreline, about Hastings road intersect. Between Gedney and Brighton Beach. Whales slowly meandering south. -Marty Beert

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7:25 a.m. - Spotted 3 Grey's crossing from Whidbey to Hat Island. One is much smaller. -Kathy Scwhenn

April 6
Biggs killer whales (Transients)
So after going through ID's and photos for a few hours this is what i have from the encounter... Looks like we had 20 animals in the afternoon including the 011's 036's 086A's 099's 123's and 124A's. Makes more sense now with the amount of animals we were seeing during the encounters. Until I was able to see the pics on computer was I able to see the 124A's and others. I had 2 encounters, AM from 1100-1300 hrs and PM 1700-1900 hrs. During this time the orcas stayed in the area of the Willaby Shoals (near Campbell River) within 3 miles of GPS mark 50*1.230*N 125*13.161*W. They seemed to forage by bucking the currents both ways over a 10 hr period. There was much socialization, with all the juveniles frolicking together in the afternoon. -Nick Templeman

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I was with Outer Island Excursions today on their whale watching boat. We found the T-49As a couple miles NE of Sucia Island. They were resting the entire time and were holding a steady path NE. We were with them from about 1:10-2:30.(this pod came up Rosario and was not the Ts heard on the hydrophone - ALB) After we left them we found a humpback near Patos Island. It was sort of milling about and was likely feeding. We were with it from 3:10-3:30. On the way back we found a small pod of Dall's porpoises. This was from 3:58-4:08. -Connor O'Brien

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Haro Strait - About 9:30 switched over to Orca Sound hps, hearing them there until 9:54am when I needed to leave. Turned on Lime Kiln hydrophone and within a few minutes, around 8:45a.m started hearing Transient vocals. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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6:20 p.m. - Spotted 4 gray whales off the Langley waterfront (from a sailboat). Three close together and one further out. They were diving in the area for at least 20 minutes before moving away to the southeast. Feeding. -Timothy Onders

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Gray whale #56, one of 2 whales feeding about 100 feet from shore off Bell's Beach, Whidbey Island. -Marilyn Armbruster

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12:21 p.m. - Now we are with 49 patch and 53 little patch. Feeding off of Lowell point and Camano state park!
11:26 a.m. - With gray whales 383 and 21 in Saratoga passage mid channel between Bells Beach, Whidbey and Mabana Beach, Camano doing circles. -Eric Rosemore, Captain Mystic Sea Charters

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...After we left them we found a humpback near Patos Island. It was sort of milling about and was likely feeding. We were with it from 3:10-3:30. -Connor O'Brien

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I just got a message from Mike (neighbor) a humpback came around Baby Island and headed south into Holmes Harbor around 5:30 p.m. Another neighbor told me the Dave across the street saw a humpback out here earlier today. -Marilyn Armbruster

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3:58-4:08 pm - On the way back we found a small pod of Dall's porpoises. I think it was around southeast Sucia Island. -Connor O'Brien

April 5
Southern Residents
4:00 p.m. - Just got a glimpse of the orcas heading north up Admiralty, about a mile south of Bush Pt. -Susan Berta, Orca Network

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2:07 p.m. - they were heading west northwest when we left them at 1407. They were closer to Point No Point.
2:00 p.m. - Now just north of Point No Point, Kitsap.
1:37 p.m. - J17's with L87 again in southbound traffic lanes just north of Possession Point. -Renee Beitzel

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12:50 p.m. - J17s and L87 - Orca's passing Cascade View, Possession Shores, heading south not in a hurry looked like they were going to check out Glendale. Played a little. -Tim Anderson

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11:20 am-11:44 am - Orcas: 5 including 1 adult male, Possession Beach Waterfront Park. The orcas were headed Southbound. Blowing; Breaching; Spyhop-Only 1 whale 1 time during sighting; Flukes showing while on it's back; Flukes were up in the air but the flukes were lowered back down without any big splashes; Dive or Cartwheel(?); Head & pec fins underwater in vertical position but, tail flukes were tilted to the right. When the behavior was ending, the top left fluke was vertical in the air. -Carol Derusha

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9:40 a.m. - Riding with the Orcas, Whidbey Island ferry right this minute, Clinton / Mukilteo run. At least 4 Orcas that we could see. -Sarri Gilman

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3:30 - Mary Pacher in Greenbank reports three gray whales pit-feeding along Hidden Beach, Whidbey Island, and a humpback out about 300' from shore.

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8:27 a.m. - Whale went around Polnell Point and are now on the west side of the point and are in Crescent Harbor. They are on the east side of Crescent Harbor
7:40 a.m. - Looks like whales are heading into Polnell Point Cove about 50 yards off shore.
7:30 a.m. - 2 or 3 whales spotted about 1/2 off Polnell Point on Whidbey Island. They cruised into the beach area and it looks like they are heading east towards Mariners cove. They are currently out about 100-200 yards from the shoreline. Not sure what type of whales, could only see spout. -Jeff Humphrey

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At 0720 this morning watching in Saratoga Passage a tight cluster of 3-4 whales several hundred meters south of Polnell Shores (3/4 miles east of Polnell Point). -Steve Rothboeck

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6:30 p.m. - I believe a sweet little humpback just payed me a visit- I'm in Howe sound - Vancouver - I'm at Sunset Marina near Horseshoe Bay - he just stayed around area for 2 hours circling - yes there was a dorsal - definitely a humpback!! -Lori Payne

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7:42 p.m. - Saratoga Passage - Humpback in Holmes Harbor, in front of Saratoga Beach now. In good company with at least 30 seals. -Erin Masterson

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Fox Spit around 12:30 looking towards Greenbank, (North Bluff Greenbank in background). Humpback was just north of Baby Island looking like it may be headed towards Holmes Harbor? -Marilyn Armbruster, April 3, 2017

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...We spotted harbor porpoise to the north and acting on Captain Eric's hunch, headed that way and found a HUMPBACK whale. -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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Haro Strait - On the way to find the J16s I resighted a humpback who had been seen a short time earlier. I saw her a few miles off shore, due west Lime Kiln State Park around 1:15 p.m. This humpback was relocated by Mark Malleson and identified as BCY0324 Big Mama. Sometime in the next hour while in between viewing the Dall's porpoise and going to find J16s again another humpback surfaced well inshore of us off the False Bay area. We stopped, but this whale dissappeared! S/he never surfaced in sight again. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

April 4
3:45 p.m. - spotted them heading southbound off Point No Point, have not seen them a second time. -Sue Larkin

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2:40 p.m. - Renee Beitzel reports resident orcas the J17s and L87 southbound Admiralty Inlet at Useless Bay.

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From 1:00-1:40 p.m. - Watched T11 and her son T11A in Haro Strait today moving northbound on the west side of the Strait. Watched from Land Bank across the water on overcast but balmy morning. Long long down times...-Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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..."Orcinus" arrived on scene about three quarters of a mile southeast of Gordon Head at the bottom of Cordova Bay (8-10 miles north of Victoria BC) at 1241. T11 and T11A were separated by several hundred meters with T11A being inshore of and slightly ahead of T11 as they traveled north in forage mode. They were both taking very long, long dives of the 7-10 minute variety and coming up for their short dives separately. -See full summary report and photos at Center for Whale Research Encounter 28.

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Seeing small blows right off of Bells Beach. Whale isn't really surfacing so I can't tell, but I'm assuming gray. Just kinda milling about, no clear direction of travel. -Emily Wandres

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11:33 a.m. - now he's moving offshore. Heading North.
11:20 a.m. - Gray whale 383 was feeding in shallows off Mabana, Camano Island. -Renee Beitzel reports

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The right side of gray #383's head while traveling just south of Mabana, Camano Island this afternoon. -Janine Harles

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Saratoga Passage - My neighbor Mike texted me this morning saying he and Deb were pretty sure they watched the Humpback at Baby Island this morning. He said not much of a blow but it was very graceful. -Marilyn Armbruster

April 3
Haro Strait J16s - J26 headed for Mount Rainier in this evening. J16's looked like they were headed for Admiralty although left J26 pointed west, north west of Hein Bank. -Mark Malleson, April 3, 2017

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We're never really off the clock and that was the case this morning when Captain Spencer and Rachel were on their way to Sidney on the ferry. J42 off the west side of San Juan Island today, hunting salmon with her family in the sunshine. As they cruised across Haro Strait their sharp eyes spotted familiar black dorsal fins...they had orcas! With this relayed to the rest of the team we geared up for our mid-day trips and when we finally got out there we found members of J-pod--the J16s! J26 foraging by himself further offshore. Little J50 surfacing. It's always nice to see some of our resident orcas and even better when they were finding salmon, which Echo (J42) definitely did today! -Sara Hysong-Shimazi, Maya's Legacy WW

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On this sunny Monday morning, members of the J16s were spotted in the north end of Haro Strait coming down from the north. By the time we got on scene with them they were south of Lime Kiln State Park (about 1:30pm). We first encountered J26 foraging by himself a ways off shore and stayed with him for a bit as he circled the area, going on long dives, looking for salmon. We next headed a inshore where we spent some time viewing J16 and two of her daughters, J42 and J50, who were traveling and foraging together. (We never encountered J16s eldest daughter J36 and J36's son J52 who off on their own foraging) J16, J42, & J50 were making many directional changes foraging while in general making their way south. We started to leave the scene when suddenly they got on a salmon and there was a burst of activity. It was really cool to watch the chase play out and heartwarming to see little J50 get spunky tail slapping and breaching on our way out. Also on this trip we saw 2 humpbacks (one ID'd as Big Mama), a minke, Dall's porpoise all within a couple of miles along the coast. Down at Whale Rocks we encounter dozens of sea lions (mostly Steller but some CA), Harbor seals, dozens of bald eagles, and many other sea birds. A gorgeous day. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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..."Orcinus" found the J36s inshore right off Edwards Point at 1330. J36 and J52 were foraging separately at first but then they moved a small ways offshore and began chasing a fish together. They milled around for a few minutes before charging back inshore side by side toward Edwards Point and Dave ended the encounter there at 1338. -Dave Ellifrit, CWR
Excerpt from Center for Whale Research Encounter 27

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7:17 p.m. - Puget Sound J17s & L87 - got to see them twice today....Just returned from Elliot Bay...Odd behavior and lone whale at times, way behind the others. -Kerti Muel

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What a gorgeous day to be on Puget Sound today! Took a cruise up north to Langley on Whibey Island (had lunch and watched Grey and Humpback whales in Saratoga Passage. On our way back south we heard that there were Orcas West of Seattle - we found one of the split-off groups in Elliott Bay.
5:00pm today - L87 Onyx in Elliott Bay, with the Seattle Space Needle and part of the city in the background. Another great day in the Pacific Northwest! -Stu Davidson

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4:43 p.m. - southern most pod, from Stephanie Raymond watching from Duwamish: pod looked like they made a kill near N end of Myrtle Edwards Park, heading N towards Magnolia now.
4:28 p.m. - North Elliot Bay. -Rufo HIll

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4:16 p.m. - Pretty sure I see a couple of orcas in Elliott Bay, viewing from a high floor condo. Almost in the ferry lane, Bainbridge ferry (The Wenatchee) is heading in now. -Donita Gier

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4:00 p.m. - Orcas in Elliot Bay headed towards Seattle waterfront. -Daniel Lipinski

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3:50 p.m. - We just got a phone call from a reader who says he's watching them from Don Armeni Boat Ramp. (east side Alki, West Seattle). -Tracy Record, West Seattle Blog

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1:38 p.m. - Pod of orcas north bound off of Alki east side. -Ryan Johnson

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12:18 p.m. - Orca(s) playing south of ferry lane just now, about half way across between Fauntleroy and Vashon. The boat was treated to a breach and several dorsal fins. -Kathleen Barry Johnson

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Just returned home from watching at Mee Kwa Mooks, saw at least 6 with very large Bull in the lead. Long down times. Last saw passing Vashon ferry terminal heading south. Did not see again after 9:00 am. THey were very close to Vashon side (east side). I was in west seattle looking west to east side of vahson. Last I saw they were heading south at a fast clip. Very long down times, may have made a kill. Last sighting was as they passed the vashon ferry terminal heading south. Very far west. 8:45 was about the end of it. They must have made a kill. they were down for a long time! -Kersti Muul

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Coastal J19s - Out at Cape Flattery today (4/3/17) saw 3 gray whales near Tatoosh Island one looked like a cow/calf pair by the size of the blows together..around 2 pm a group of outbound orcas showed up looked like 3 together with 2 trailing .. at first i thought they were transients but when i got home even though the pics were distant i could see an open saddle on one...they headed SW and passed behind Tatoosh Island and i never was able to reacquire them. -Alethea Leddy
While the J16s were in Haro, and the J17s w/L87 were in Puget Sound...it appears the J19s were on the Pacific coast. -Alethea Leddy, April 3, 2017
("Looks like J19" - Ken Balcomb, Center for Whale Research)

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7:39 p.m. - Still there.
7:30 p.m. - remain stalled and feeding just north of the Edmonds Kingston ferry. Lots of milling about tail lobs and breaching. Kingston side mid of mid channel.
6:48 p.m. - Have stalled out - same line of sight Apple Tree Point to oil farm - Seem to be surfacing, feeding activity.
6:40 p.m. - I see them mid channel, north bound. Line of sight Apple Tree Point to the oil farm. (Woodway) -Sara Frey

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7:20 p.m. - Just leaving them. They are NB. about 2 mi north of Kingston proper. LOOONG downtimes. Kingston side. Probably admiralty bound tonight?
6:40 p.m. - Too early to tell. (which side of Whidbey) Orcas passing Kingston now. Midchannel. 1840
6:23 p.m. - Just found them. Just south of Kingston Edmonds run. Mid channel. Heading NNE. 1823. -Ariel Yseth

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6:03 p.m. - now well past Ferry lanes still charging North towards Eglon.
5:41p.m. - I see orcas near Kitsap side across from Carkeek, approaching ferry lane. (Kingston/Edmonds). -Steve Smith

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6:02 p.m. - Just went by us near the ferry route but somewhat evasive and really moving quick. (from a boat mid channel).
5:58 p.m. - huge fins, probably 4-6, just passed our boat and probably close to ferry runs now, moving very fast mid channel.
5:41 p.m. - They're mid channel flying up north...Edmonds/Kingston in 10-15 minutes? -Samuel Hilbert

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5:14 p.m. - This is the NORTHERN pod, not the ones that were reported in Elliott bay.
4:45 p.m - almost to the Bainbridge Spit whatever it's called. Yes, headed north. Looking for the other pod now. I'm very near Ray's Boathouse.
4:30 p.m. - Ok I've got them, 4:30 west visible from Fay Bainbridge. west of mid channel. Small boat following. -Sandra Prow

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4:18 p.m. - watching a pod of orca northbound just west of mid-channel north of West Point Light house. (This sounds like it is the most north group.- Danielle Pennington). -Connie Bickerton

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Transients were sneaking thru Rich Passage @ Manchester today after they played around at Dyes Inlet in Port Orchard. -Noelle Morris

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2:49 p.m. - whales appear to have stalled between Bainbridge and Blake Islands.
2:37 p.m. - pod has exited Rich Passage still headed east.
2:24 p.m.- Research boat off Fort Ward fish pens. Still heading towards the sound.
1:50 p.m. - Orca entering Rich Passage Southbound. Researchers with them. -Connie Bickerton (T65A, T65A2, T65A3, T65B, T65B1)

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2:45 - SE of Bainbridge Is.; Heading north. -Don Van Doornik

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2:20 p.m. - Bremerton pod passed Bainbridge fish farm heading south. (Fish Pens are at Fort Ward). -Sue Surowiec Larkin

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2:07 p.m. - Off Pt.White headed out of Rich Passage. -Phyllis Macy Putnam

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1:39 p.m. - I just saw them in Manette Bremerton. They got spooked by the ferry and they were sort of headed out towards Port Orchard. -Katie McClelland

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Per Kitsap Sun Page, at about 12:50 they were at Lions Park headed out of Dyes Inlet. -Connie Bickerton

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12:38 p.m. - Was watching from Old Town Silverdale they were pretty far off and seemed to be heading back out of Dyes Inlet when I left them 5 mins ago , but who knows they might turn around. -Amy Schierhoff

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Noon - Transients cruising the Traceyton area of Bremerton. -James Wrataric, April 3, 2017
(ID notes: "That's T65A2 in the lead", Sara Hysong-Shimazu)

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This was at my house on Tracyton Beach RD where I live about 11:00AM this morning. -Melinda Duryea, April 3, 2017

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Chris Dunagan called to say the Ts went past Evergreen Park toward Dyes Inlet at 10:30. See Kitsap Sun photo gallery HERE.

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8:50 a.m. - report and photos sent to me from a friend on Crystal Springs, Bainbridge Island. She counted 4 orcas off CP. Hunting like behavior, now slowly headed north. (Crystal Springs is just north of Point White, on Port Orchard Pass). -Susan Marie Andersson

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8:50 am Orcas near Point White Pier, Bainbridge Island. -Joanne Schoener Scott

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8:02 a.m. - Six Orcas spotted this morning on the Bremerton -to-Seattle ferry route. Four were in Rich Passage headed toward Bremerton and two were in the main channel of Puget Sound! The two were headed toward Rich Passage as we had just exited there. The captain said they were adult males and they did appear much larger than the four we had seen ten minutes earlier in the Passage. My first whale experience!!! I'm in awe. -Rachel Pfeiffer Hayden

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7:40 a.m. - Small Pod (I counted 4 or 5) of orcas in ferry lane between Bremerton and Bainbridge Island just now, headed inward West towards Bremerton. Long dives and traveling quietly and quickly. Transients? -Yvonne Wachutka Lunceford

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7:29 a.m. - Orcas seen from the Vashon to Seattle water taxi heading west.. we are over half way to Seattle on our route.. one or two, maybe more.. the captain probably got a better look! Best way to start a Monday!! They were north of the water taxi lanes, not too far. I'm bad at distance. Not close enough to get a good photo with a phone but close enough to clearly see them coming out of the water for breathing!! They were definitely south of say Magnolia (if magnolia stuck that far out) hope that helps. Swimming west toward Bainbridge or Bremerton. Hopefully we will all see them on our commute home. -Molly Jordan

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7:25 a.m. - On the ferry fr Bremerton to Seattle we encountered more than 3 orcas heading towards Bremerton, at the green channel marker or so. I saw the first group/pod of 3 whales, others saw more of the group/pod a few minutes later. Sighting time approximate. Orca traveling. -Mary Klein

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3:00 p.m. - Unidentified killer whales - Orca sighting on south side of Sucia island near Fossel Bay saw 3 (one male and a mom and her calf) just cruising. Male stayed while mom and calf cruised into second finger and going into Echo Bay then out. Traveling. -Tom Stanton

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April 3 - (Grays 21, 49, 53, 383 plus 2, and a humpback. I watched them from Fox Spit out in front of Bells Beach as they traveled northwest towards and past Fox Spit to Baby Island from 6 pm to 7:30 pm as they turned back east again. Thanks Alisa and Jill for ID's on #53 and #383. -Marilyn Armbruster

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5:57 p.m. - Currently watching at least 2 grays mid channel heading south. They're between Fox Spit and Baby Island Heights. From Camano Island State Park. -Shelly Greybeck

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5:56 p.m. - A couple of greys in Saratoga Passage east of Sandy Point. -Lisa Callen Farrell

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5:25p.m. - I should clarify, it's blows from 3-4 separate whales. Saw some heart-shaped blows, so probably grays. I'm now at mabana but hard to see as they are directly in sun glare.
4:35 p.m. - 3-4 blows midchannel between Fox Spit and Elger Bay area. Too far to ID or get direction yet. -Krista Paulino

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12:20 p.m. - Not quite to Mabana Shores, Camano Side. My vantage point from Fox Spit. Definitely heading southeast.
Noon - 2 grays in south Elger Bay, Camano Island, no direction discernible. -Marilyn Armbruster

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Whales at our doorstep! We left the dock on a beautiful sunny day - with reports of SIX gray whales just north of Langley we headed northeast and found three sets of two whales, feeding along the Camano shore and also mid channel - it seemed like we had whales in every direction! #53 "Little Patch", #21 "Shackleton", and #383 were easily ID'd. We spotted harbor porpoise to the north and acting on Captain Eric's hunch, headed that way and found a HUMPBACK whale, what an amazing treat! He breached right in front of us (see video on Mystic Sea's facebook page). We had to head home, but were escorted part of the way by more gray whales. W.O.W.What a day! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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10:55 a.m. - Chilkat Express with 6 gray whales just off of Fox Spit. -Wendi Robinson

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Watched 3 diff grays from Fox Spit nearer Camano side spreadout from Elger Bay to Mabana Shores (8:30-9:00)...a calm and beautiful morning. at least a dozen porpoise and a few sea lions and seals rounding Fox Spit. -Marilyn Armbruster

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8:33 a.m. - The two greys are still moving very slowly towards Polnell Point/Crescent Harbor....just went by my house now. -Marcie Barney Goldberg

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7:15 a.m. - 2 or 3 Grays very close to shore in Saratoga passage between Bells Beach and Fox Spit feeding on this beautiful Monday morning while a lucky kayaker quietly floats nearby. -Kristin Carlson

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7:00 a.m. - Grey Whale Sighting: Two adults feeding only 1/4 mile off the entrance to Mariners Cove on Saratoga Passage at the entrance to Crescent Harbor/Oak Harbor! First sited 0645 and are still here at 0715. Appear to be heading north. Feeding, slowly traveling. -Robert Hood

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Around 2:30p.m. - As we were heading south after watching J17s, 2 humpbacks and some Dall's off the west side...Sara Hysong-Shimazu spotted a minke whale maybe a couple miles offshore out from the False Bay/Eagle Point area. We hung out for a few minutes, I saw a whale surface once (which probably was the minke) but it never surfaced again, so off we went... -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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Around 2:15 p.m. - We encountered a nice pod of Dall's porpoise in Haro Strait off shore around the False Bay area on the west side of San Juan Island. They appeared to be actively feeding. One individual started to engage out bow, darted over but then cruised right back over and joined up with her/his pod. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

April 2
Breaching "Big Mama" - Humpback BCY0324 - off the south end of San Juan Island, Washington. -Capt Alan Niles, Maya's Legacy, April 2, 2017

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Haro Strait Off south end San Juan Island - We are so well known for our Orca out here that sometimes its easy to overlook the amazing humpback whales that grace or sea. This is the whale that began the return of the humpbacks back in 2001. We call her Big Mamma and she is big as well as at least a 6 time mamma that we know of. Today she gave us a surprise by breaching twice during our encounter with her. What a treat! -Alan Niles, Maya's Legacy WW

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It was really cool to watch the T36As and T99s work the shoreline trying to get at the harbor seals. T99, matriarch of the T99s, front and center with her kids & the T36A family. Just north of Active Pass, Galiano shoreline. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu, April 2, 2017

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Thanks to awesome spotting by another vessel, we headed up all the way to the mouth of Active Pass in beautiful British Columbia and had a fun encounter with Bigg's (transient) Killer whales, (T36As and T99s). -Traci Walter, April 2, 2017

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Orcas spotted in between Pender and Salt Spring Islands around 10 am headed northward. -Natasia Ilkiw

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11:04 a.m. - Still vocalizing.
10:49 a.m. - hearing faint calls again past few minutes after about 40 minutes of quiet (or missed any if I was out of the room)
10:03 a.m. - Haro Strait - hearing very faint calls on Lime Kiln hydrophone. Sounds like Transients. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network

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With a blustery wind out of the north-west and whitecaps greeting us as Mystic Sea headed north in Saratoga Passage from Langley Marina, it wasn't long before we encountered California gray whale #21 and, we believe, #22. Tail flukes were not prominent on this occasion making identification more difficult in the choppy seas, but spy-hops (when the whale's head comes above the surface to look around) were! Time after time we watched as one or both whales checked out the surroundings, displaying an intense curiosity seen more often in the warmer waters of Baja where they are born. After leaving these two whales to continue on their way north, we encountered another of our returning Saratoga grays, #53 (Little Patch), traveling in the same direction with purpose. Maybe all three whales eventually met up with the two gray whales reported earlier feeding near Oak Harbor, and that's where the party is today. -Sandra Pollard, Author/Naturalist

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1:00 p.m. - Eric from Mystic Sea reports 2 gray whales off Mabana Beach, Camano Island; one of them is #21. Gray whale #53 is off Sandy Point, near Langley.

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7:49 a.m. - A couple of Greys still hanging out at Poinell Point on Whidbey Island. This morning they are on the West side of the point about 200 yards off the shoreline. -Jeff Humphrey

April 1
Southern Residents - Js heard on Lime Kiln around 2:30 p.m. Unidentified killer whales - Jan at the Portico restaurant on First St. in Langley reports she saw some breaches and thinks she is seeing orcas...the Clipper made a turn and stopped mid-channel in Saratoga Passage at 10:30.

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7:40 a.m. - Several orcas and gray whales in Saratoga Passage. Orcas were swimming in circles. Gray whales appeared to making steady progress south but we're all together for about 10 minutes. Bell's Beach 48.078394,-122.469881 -Jeff Vanderpham

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7:15 p.m. - Just received a report of one lone male orca, sighted off Skunk Bay, Fouleather Bluff, heading South. -James Green

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Howe Sound - I was driving south on highway 99 from Squamish on Saturday, April 1st around 1:30pm when we spotted a pod of orcas swimming southward along the shore of Gambier Island. It was a pod of several orcas and we watched them for about 15-20 minutes until they were out of sight. We observed their fins and breath spray, no breaching. They were clearly orcas as distinquished by their tall dorsal fin visible even from our vantage point across the water from them. It was a beautiful sighting! They appeared to be traveling south together as a pod. They were mainly just swimming as a group in the south direction near the eastern shore of Gambier Island. We watched them from across the water on highway 99, just north of Brunswick Beach. Any adult Males seen?: I believe so. There were several with dorsal fins taller then the others. -Alissa Turtletaub

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5:15 p.m. - Gray whale (at least 1) sighted from shore on Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Seaplane Base. Appeared to be feeding in shallow bay at Crescent Harbor. -Mike Davis

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4:40 p.m. - Two whales (Gray I believe, not orcas) heading north along Camano Island at Madrona Beach. -Lance Aasness

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2:58 p.m. - Watching three spouts close to west side of Hat Island heading North...We are are watching from Whidbey. -Jeannie Majercin

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12:15 p.m. - Still seeing two grays swimming north through Saratoga Passage passing Camano Island State Park, and saw some DIFFERENT water spouts across the passage much closer to Whidbey Island. (approximatley between Hidden Beach and Baby Island) Multiple whales out here to watch today! -Annie Hilen

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11:11 a.m. - Greys at Bells Beach heading to Langley just now. (southbound). -Angela Johnson Zink

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9:48 a.m. - 2 Gray whales at East Point/Fox Spit, Whidbey Island in Saratoga Passage traveling north. -Jim Lovvorn

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Video (unable to link) received at 9:40 a.m. by Ann Brockenbrough of a 2 Gray whales feeding at Fox Spit just off the bulkhead.

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7:40 a.m. - Several orcas and gray whales in Saratoga Passage. Orcas were swimming in circles. Gray whales appeared to making steady progress south but we're all together for about 10 minutes. Bell's Beach . -Jeff Vanderpham

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7:00 a.m. - We are here at Bells Beach in Saratoga passage and we have a solo gray whale about 40 to 45 yards just off our shoreline and very shallow waters we believe it's just feeding in the kelp beds it's amazing. April 1 this is no April fools folks. (It was amazing to see and the Gray stayed for a few hours (7-10) and then moved further out and more towards Langley when another Gray whale joined early this afternoon) -Kristin Carlson

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Around 7:00 p.m. - 2 gray whales there in the same spot tonight. (Crescent Harbor, Oak Harbor). -Shelley Jackson

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A beautiful day for whale watching! Nice smooth water, some sun, finally, and almost no wind. We quickly caught up with "Sounders" gray whales #383 and 22, just north of Langley. We followed these two 40+ ton beautiful giants south toward Gedney Island, watching them roll and dive together. We then turned north toward Camano Head, and found #56. On the afternoon trip, we spent more time with all three, even watching them sleep. They sleep with half their brain still awake, so they can surface and breathe, while they gently bob just under the surface. Captain Erik also found 4 bald eagles on the north side of Camano Island, and we caught glimpses of the elusive harbor porpoises. Another incredible day with lovely whales! -Bonnie Gretz, volunteer naturalist

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Around 4:00 p.m. - Saw a number of grey whales off of Cape Flattery. It was hard to say they, seemed to be feeding around that island with the lighthouse. We could only see spouts. Everytime we they surfaced there were quite a few spouts, like 5 or 6 every surface. I don't know how many whales that equates to though. -Nathan Michael

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Elicia Fritsch wrote: Sighted 4/1 in Penn Cove. These were viewed from Lovejoy Point. They were across from the Coupeville Wharf, near Monroe Landing (about a mile away). It was about dusk. Humpback(s?) surprised us all showing up in Saratoga Passage, swimming deep in Penn Cove, Whidbey Island. -Bill Frisch