August 2015 Whale Sightings

Click here for Map of August 2015 whale sightings.

August 31
(region-wide record-breaking summer windstorm)

August 30
7:30 p.m. - Another stunning evening in Haro Strait with members of all three pods in phenomenal, constantly changing lighting. I missed some but I think all of Ks and Js went north. More than I thought are here! Saw L84 too. Left them almost at Turn Point northbound spread all the way across Haro Strait. -Monika Wieland

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Today was spent with many members of all three pods! Whales everywhere in all directions! I rarely ever spend any time with L pod, so that was a nice treat. There was a lot of socializing going on and the whales were just milling about off Hein Bank. J46 Star (born 2009) surfaced in front of mom J28 Polaris (born 1993), J36 Alki (born 1999) and her son J52 (born 2015). In one large group, there were 4 whales hanging out with just their rostrums above the surface and there were some above water vocalizations at this point. There was some snuggling going on and it was a precious moment to watch. A pair showed off some seriously awesome synchronized tail lobbing. Lots of kelping! Today was my first real chance at getting some kelp shots! It was surprisingly beautiful on the water...today the family joined so I'm really glad we had such an encounter with so many whales! -Rachel Haight

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Trip report: The weather cooperated yet again, and the report was Resident killer whales near Hein Bank!! We headed past a seal haulout with a few pups still hanging out, then onward to Hein bank where we found members of all THREE resident pods - with beautiful calm seas - and unbelievable magnificence as these whales, spread out over several miles, graced us with their presence. Members of J-pod, including Granny, K-pod (K-16 Opus (born 1985, mom to K35), and L-pod, whales seemed to be all over the area. What a treat. After reluctantly heading homeward, we had harbor porpoise swimming very close to us, another treat. Amazing day, again! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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11:30 a.m. - Had an amazing day on a tour in the Salish sea! Saw orcas and a humpback! There were SO many orcas! Looked like multiple pods! Here's my favorite photo from the day! We were in the middle of the Strait of Juan de Fuca in between Sequim and San Juan island! We were with them for an hour or so and when we left they were still there. We were told there were two different pods. The whales were spread out but there had to be 20 or more of them. A couple babies, and a couple really defined males. They were all very active spy hopping, cart wheeling, and breaching! It was breath taking! -Grace Seidel

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Rainblows during a gathering of members of all 3 pods in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. -Steve Ellwood

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7:50 p.m. - Last visual on one male who was mid channel guy, he surfaced still mid channel Kingston/Point Wells (tank farm) transected, still northbound. Shallow surfaces.
7:42 p.m. - 2nd male mid channel at mid channel yellow buoy south of Kingston.
7:30 p.m. - spotted an adult male northbound at Jefferson Head...Kitsap side. -Alisa, ON

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Our 5:30 p.m. ferry departing Bainbridge Island just got cut off by a pod heading north back towards Bainbridge Island. So lucky to have been standing in front of all the cars on the floor deck with my two young sons and husband and we actually saw them before the captain of the ferry did and had a chance to cut off his engine. They casually came right in front of the ferry, to the great delight of everyone that caught a glimpse. One of the calves was with this pod, though I have no idea who they were. Awesome experience- we were about 20-30 feet from them and exactly on their level. -Chelsea Morgan Ramsey

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5:13 p.m. - Just spotted again from an Argosy tour, between Blake island and Bainbridge. Northbound. Too far to identify. -Cameron Quinn

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2:25 p.m. - Aboard the Point Defiance ferry, just saw spouts north of Gig Harbor to the west of Vashon Island, looked to be heading north. -Neil Hathl

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1:50 p.m. - Orcas just went past Salmon Beach, north of Tacoma Narrows, traveling north toward Point Defiance. -Zeno Martin

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1:45 p.m. - Pod of 4-6 heading north past the Tacoma Narrows bridge toward Gig Harbor. -Dale Blackburn

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11:35 a.m. - My aunt just saw an orca on the southwest side of Fox Island headed out towards Chambers Bay. That's all the information we have. -Kelly Lauricella

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11:00 a.m. - Boating south around east shore of McNeil Island, saw pod of 8 orcas (including 2 males) due west moving SSE on starboard side. -Matthew King

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10:00 a.m. - Pair of mature Orca, a large young bull and a female, nosing around the seals on the beach at Cutts Island. Presumably transients. Hunting but didn't observe any feeding. -David Paly

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8:58 a.m. - A little bird tells me that there is a large male off Raft Island/Allen Point (Henderson Bay, Pierce County) right now...there isn't much more bay north so he would probably have to head back southbound soon. -Aaron Hart

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We received a call reporting 5-8 orcas plus a calf in front of Rosario Resort in Eastsound from 5:00-7:30 p.m. "It was quite amazing and unusual to see them in Eastsound".

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These orcas were viewed from our deck just south of Rosario Resort in the Eastsound at around 5:00 pm. -Larry & Janet Munson

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2:00 p.m. - Humpback in the Strait of Juan de Fuca more towards the Port Angeles side but in between Victoria and Port Angeles. We stayed with it for probably 30-45 minutes. We saw it come up 4 times, the first splashing it's large fluke in the water! It appeared to be hunting, doing mostly short shallow dives and couple longer 5 minute dives! At one point made its way over to our boat before doing another deeper dive! -Grace Seidel

August 29
Today with L-Pod in Haro Strait - I've never seen L's this active! Breaches and more breaches, spyhops and more spyhops, with a bit of belly-flopping, tail-slapping, and cart-wheeling, too! -Michelle Rachel

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10:00 a.m. - Three Orcas, two male and one female passing Eagle Cove in the wild waves heading south in Haro Strait and moving so fast against the wind! They each breached numerous times. Same group was swimming together Friday evening as well. -Regina Feinberg

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9:37 a.m. - The pod came closer to shore, turned and now swimming north, foraging off Eagle Point.
8:49 a.m. - What a difference a day makes! The whales came by Eagle Cove last evening gliding through the glassy water close to shore. The conditions so calm and still, their exhales echoed loud and clear across the water. Wake up this morning to stormy skies, heavy wind and major whitecaps all across the strait. Far off shore I see huge splashes! The whales were porpoising over and through the whitecaps, breaching again and again, the wind carrying their splash high up into the air!
8:30 - they were headed Southeast towards Salmon Bank. -Lodie Gilbert Budwill

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4:00 a.m. - Woke to the canary-type calls on Lime Kiln. I heard them for over 40 mins. Ls? I recorded it. Very odd to hear those whistles and nothing else the entire time. -Barbara Bender

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T046E near Race Rocks. -Mark Malleson

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11:18 a.m. - 2 heading west past Lime Kiln.
11:11 a.m. - At Lime Kiln the last 15 mins, heading east now. Moving fast. -Michelline Halliday

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2:02 p.m. - In Case Inlet between Olman Point and Treasure Island--several adults and two juveniles. -Carolyn Treleven

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12:21 p.m. - Seeing pod of Orcas in Pickering Passage across from Harstine Point Marina. -Miche Ennis

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12:50 p.m. - Looks like they are headed up Case Inlet to North Bay or will they trick us and circle Harstine Island and head toward Olympia. Spotters on the shore up and down Pickering and Peale passages.
11:55 a.m. - Orcas heading out of Hammersley. Waiting to see if they turn toward Olympia or Allyn.
10:02 a.m. - They are moving up and down the inlet (Hammersley). From Walker Park down to Church Point and back. Thanks for the map addition. -Bivalves for Clean Water

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Noon: We saw maybe 5 orcas (I think 2 males, a female w/ baby and one other) in front of our place is the narrow part, and deep channel, in Hammersley Inlet. (Shelton) Neighbors in a wider place say they were playing (?) So I just saw them traveling by. -Meg Callea

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Noon: Orcas just passed under the Harstine Bridge and moved north in Pickering Passage, heading towards Jarrells Cove. Peaceful, gentle sight. Nice to see them without a dozen chaser boats. -Gretchen Stewart

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9:30 a.m. - 4 in the group (including one calf) at Hammersley Inlet. -Barbara Andrews

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9:00 a.m. - Four or five orcas in Hammersley Inlet just east of Shelton this morning. At least two large males and two or three others. -Thomas Pearson

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7:30 a.m. - We just saw three or four whales off Arcadia point this morning, they were approximately 15 feet offshore. It was amazing. -Cheryl Cerkan

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7:00 a.m. - In Pickering passage woke up to 4 Orcas slapping their tails heading south towards Olympia. There was one big one and one little one. All 4 were close to shore. They stopped slapping their tails once they got past our home. -Diane Sushak

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6:45 a.m. - this morning four orcas spotted coming south through Pickering Passage. Tail slapping and jumping completely out of the water! Beautiful! I thought the neighbors were putting their dinghy or kayaks in the water and making a lot of noise until I looked out onto the water. -Christy Rowe

August 28
Amazingly wonderful day with most of K pod including K44 Ripple and K21 Cappuccino, and a big part of J pod south of Discovery Island....long trip but well worth it! -Bonnie Gretz

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Js and Ks passed Lime Kiln heading north in spread out groups between 1415-1530. By 1600 Ls had "hit the island" but were milling in the Hannah Heights/ False Bay area. -Monika Wieland

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7:45 p.m. - We just saw 6-8 orcas traveling north in Case Inlet, heading up past the Herron Island ferry. -Marianne MacTurk

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There are seven orcas (three large males and at least one juvenile) in south Sound. They came down the east side of Harstine Island and through Dana Passage to the souther tip of Harstine. They then headed west, passing between Hunter Point and Squaxin Island and around Steamboat Island. They then headed south into Totten Inlet. Milled around to the far south end and then headed back out again. ...following the same locations in reverse. As of 6:00 they were heading north through Dana Passage. Thrilled lots of fishermen/women in the rain. Scared lots of seals and harbor porpoises. -Kim Merriman

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4:00 p.m. - 4 Orcas (including at least one adult male) playing in Dana passage where it meets Budd Inlet across from Boston Harbor. We saw the surface and spout for 20 minutes before they headed toward Hope Island. We saw large dorsal fins. What beauties they are. -Irene Dunlop

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3:00 & 5:00 p.m. - We saw 6 for sure and possibly 7 orcas off the north end of Steamboat Island then going south down Totten Inlet around 3 pm. There were 2 large males and 3 other adults with 1 or 2 smaller ones. About 5 pm we could see several by Hunters Point going toward Boston Harbor. -Chad Clinton

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3:00 p.m. - Orcas, maybe 5?, heading northwest past Hunter Point toward Steamboat Island in South Sound. -Betty Keller

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1:30 p.m. - Orcas headed south in Case Inlet, past Fudge Pt on Harstine Island...Not sure of exact number, but at least 2 males, 2 females, and a juvenile. -Dave Berliner

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10:30 a.m. - 4 orcas, One of the group of four was a male and they were patrolling the shoreline between two groups of seals approximately 400 feet apart. This activity was on the north side of Violet Point, Protection Island north of Miller Peninsula, Clallam County. It appeared they were feeding and attempting to scare seals off the beach. -Jeffery Corliss

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9:18 a.m. - Five Orcas hunted seals near shore in a meter or less near Eagle Island Seal Haul-out in Balch Passage. The large male several times approached the colony which numbered between 80 to 90, with many pups. The Orcas remained in the area near shore for approximately 10 minutes. I did not see the initial strike but from the splash the orca apparently came out of the water. -Paul Proctor

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8:15 a.m. - 2 Orcas sighted traveling east through Carr Inlet between Fox and McNeil Island. -Cory McCool

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7:55 a.m. - 2 orcas (dorsal fins spotted) off norther sand spit Fox Island traveling south. -Dave McEntee

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7:45 a.m. - this morning, 2 orcas heading south on Carr inlet just south of Kopachuck state park, very close to the eastern shore. Hoping to get some pictures from my neighbor tomorrow. -Sarah Richey Guenther

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7:00 a.m. - I just saw what I think were 5 or 6 orcas out by Cutts Island, in Carr inlet. In noticed what looked like 2 orcas at the north part of the island, close to the sand spit. They looked interested in the seal sleeping on the beach? Then I noticed 3 more orcas south of the island. All of the orcas were swimming south past Kopachuck State park. -John Falskow

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5:34 p.m. - Just saw a humpback whale in Elliott Bay off the Seattle Aquarium pier, heading north. -Barbara Owens

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9:50 a.m. - Spotted a humpback off Sunnyside Beach in Steilacoom (between Tacoma and Olympia). -Brown Ian

August 27
9:53 p.m. - calls on both Lime Kiln and OS.
8:54 p.m. - Calls on OrcaSound hydrophone. -Barbara Bender

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6:10 p.m. - Lime kiln hydro is picking up whales right now! -Shelly Shima Cordis

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4:00-5:30 p.m. - Been listening to SRKWs on Lime Kiln hps. Nice loud vocals started around 5pm, and echolocation. Sounds like Ls then some Ks? -Alisa/ON

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4:35 p.m. Hearing whales on Lime Kiln hydrophone now. -Patricia Prochaska

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7:00 p.m. - All flipped south. Probably at Hannah Hts now
4:45 p.m. - Whales way offshore at LK, northbound
4:05 p.m. - I heard some calls on Lime Kiln hydrophone. -Barbara Bender

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2:02 p.m. - Off of Point Roberts' Lighthouse point right now and heading south. -Jennifer Porter

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8:00pm - 8:30pm - At least 5 orcas sighted at once from the West Point Lighthouse at Discovery Park in Seattle. At least 2 were adults and 2 were calves, not sure about fifth. They played for at least 30 minutes, jumping out of the water, splashing, and rolling. Sighting lasted from about . -Heather Wilcox

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7:30 p.m. - Just saw a mother and young Orca heading south towards from northern Vashon Island. From my house just south of Wingehaven Park. -Andrew Hollingsworth

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7:07 p.m. - Orcas from the Vashon/Fauntleroy ferry, headed south, 2 males in the lead, with females and possibly baby following. They were SUPER close to the ferry. -Amy Rutherford

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7:13 p.m. - They're headed southbound now.
7:03 p.m. - orcas STILL off Rolling Bay near mid channel. No direction yet
5:13 p.m. orcas in Rolling Bay still might be chasing something? Lots of surface activity and diving back and forth.
5:05 p.m. - 5+ orcas in Rolling Bay - Bainbridge side. Slowly northbound. -Lynn Batson

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5:00 p.m. - Heading northeast, they were pretty much out of sight when we left Skiff Point/Rolling Bay Walk. The group was right off Rolling Bay Walk, so close we could hear their blows and percussions. T65A2, T65A, one of the kids in Rolling Bay off Bainbridge Island, T37A, possibly T37A4, T65A2 (ID help by Sara Hysong-Shimazu) -Connie Bickerton

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4:55 p.m. - With Connie Bickerton off Rolling Bay, Bainbridge. She got a positive ID on T065A. Lots of tail slapping. Shots to come. They are now trending northeast. -Susan Marie Andersson

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3:55 p.m. - Tightly clustered, heading south, spotted in the shipping lanes between Meadow Point (Golden Gardens) and Point Monroe (Fay Bainbridge). -Ben Blankeship

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3:35 p.m. - The pod has slowed and shifted more to the west, transected between my location and Faye Bainbridge park. In general still trending south.
3:05 p.m. - from Richmond Beach Saltwater Park in Shoreline can see pod south of yelliw mid channel buoy still southbound steady pace.
2:10 p.m. - I see a pod of 6-10 (including 2 large males and a young one) southbound mid channel sightline out from Edmonds ferry dock. -Alisa, ON

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2:11 p.m. - east of Eglon in shipping lanes still southerly
2:04 p.m. - small group of Orcas in shipping lane / mid channel off shore kit sap side between Pt no Pt and Kingston. Slowly moving south. -Stu Davidson

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12:25 p.m. - T's split into 3 groups (two groups with 5-7 in each and a small group of 2 males), one about to pass Point No Point, one group Useless Bay and some males in the middle heading all heading South! -Janine Harles

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12:06 p.m. - Mid channel off of Mutiny bay heading south. A lot of breaches and cartwheels. -Helen Shamenk

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11:44 a.m. - they are nearing Foulweather Bluff and look to be closer to Kitsap side. Now looks like they are heading towards Point No Point.
11:19 a.m. - Whales are still off Bush Pt. I'm pretty sure the other whales are a separate group.
Active transients! While they weren't super close to shore, they were so active, with lots of tail lobs, cartwheels, and breaches (at least one juvenile breached 8 times in a row!)! One of the males did a massive breach a few different times, and one of those times...They stayed off Bush Pt for nearly two hours before heading off to the south, breaching happily as they went... -Rachel Haight

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10:13 a.m. - Just got to Bush Point and what do my eyes see....a pod of Orcas in the Sea! -Sherry Joyner

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9:55 a.m. - Orcas in Admiralty Inlet! -Port Townsend Marine Science Center

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8:09 p.m. - Caller reports six orcas off Pt. Monroe on Bainbridge Is including one male.

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7:49 p.m. - Just saw what I believe was a Humpback heading north up Case Inlet off Harstine Island near McMicken Island. -Dave Berliner

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6:50 p.m. - Five minutes after departing the ferry dock on Vashon in the early evening the captain announced an orca whale was swimming in front of the ferry. The ferry paused to let the whale swim by, and when we continued we saw another one with it, both of them now off to the starboard side. A few minutes later a group of three whales, including a calf appeared on the starboard side. 5 orcas, no males, they were probably all females. What an amazing sight! -Melanie Austin

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I left Solo Point, DuPont around 4:30. Humpback was still heading south.
3:30 p.m. - watching from Steilacoom. Past Sunnyside Beach, trending south. -Jessica Pagan

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We watched this whale from a distance, it traveled south and stalled a bit in front of Chambers Bay. Lots of porpoise rolling around too. From our boat we saw it head further south towards Steilacoom/Dupont. Very cool to hear it's very loud blows as it surfaced. We were too far away to get photos.... -Cindy Faker

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12:58 p.m. - Humpback off Titlow Beach (Tacoma) heading south. -Kathy Kerber

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These are very late....taken from our fireboat Endeavor, West Pierce Fire & Rescue, off of Pt. Defiance. We have seen this Pacific White-sided dolphin before, in fact he has come and checked out our divers in the past. This day there were two. -Rick Snodgrass
(The dolphin in the photos has been seen and photo ID'd in this general area for over a year-ALB)

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John Miller of WSF reports six orcas heading S just west of southbound ferry lane off north Vashon Island.

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Day report- I had an amazing experience with a transient killer whale superpod that congregated in front of my house. The night before I was out on my own with the T37As, and the T65As at sunset approaching Smith Island from Lopez Island, so I expected they might be somewhere in northern Puget Sound the next morning. Sure enough, in the morning I spotted them swimming southward near Lagoon Point. Later, just north of Bush Point the T37As and the T65As appeared to chase and kill a few harbor porpoise (judging by the speed at which they had to chase)! The gulls were circling and the celebrating began with tons of tailslaps, spyhopps, and some breaches. Then I noticed that T102, T100C, and one other male swam in to join the mix and that's when the party really began! Between Bush Point and Point no Point the killer whales put on an acrobatics clinic, including probably 200 breaches, cartwheels, and lunges!!! In over 20 years of photographing killer whales this was the most action packed transient experience I've ever seen, without a doubt! It was so exciting that I was shaking as I took pictures, in total awe of being able to witness such amazing behavior. At Point no Point the T37As and T65As split off from the others and they swam right next to the beach to make another kill, probably a seal this time, with salmon fishermen watching from the shore. Then the breaching started up again as they continued to travel southward past PNP. As I left the scene they were spreading out and appeared to be heading toward Edmonds. -Bart Rulon

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1:46 pm - Vessel Sea Eagle reports an orca pod heading S at 47.49.9 122.29.0.

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12:00 p.m. - Karen Anderson reports orcas off the north side of Mutiny Bay active and breaching.

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11:19 a.m. - Pat reports they may be heading north.
10:50 a.m. - Pat Scott reports 2-3 orcas off Bush Point. Spyhopping and splashing around. Females seem to be baby sitting.

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10:30 a.m. - Anonymous caller reports four orcas in Admiralty Inlet due west of Bush Point by .5 miles.

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Several humpbacks at the mouth of the Columbia River at Hammond. We were salmon fishing and had this one surface just 20 yards from our boat. Pretty sure this was a juvenile, was quite a bit smaller. Was amazing! -Alyson Bowen Savage

August 26
9:43 p.m. - I just got home from the park. I heard blows at 9 in the darkness after sunset and I'm hearing whales on LK! Ls I think. -Barbara Bender

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9:14 p.m. - Squeaks on Lime Kiln hydro if you can stand all the boats too. -Shelly Shima Cordis

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We watched L119 and L77 torment a neonate harbour porpoise near Salmon Bank for an hour west of Salmon Bank before they moved on to join the rest of their pod at north Hein Bank. -Mark Malleson

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A close pass from J- and K-Pods of the endangered Southern Resident Community of killer whales, right off the rocks at Lime Kiln Point State Park on San Juan Island in Washington State. Js and Ks went north, Ls got to land bank and turned south- looks like everyone's still here. -Monika Wieland, Orca Behavior Institute

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9:18 a.m. - Just turned volume back on, not sure how long but echo and calls on Lime Kiln. -Alisa, ON

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Wow! Just spent an hour with so many whales!!! At least 40 whales went by Eagle Point from 8:00 - 9:00. They are still in view nearing Pile Point (southwest San Juan Island). Breaches, tailslaps, kelping, up into the rocks on shore, sea-snakes (! ) . So amazing. -Jenny Stands Wilson

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Heading out of Roche Harbor into Open Bay (Haro Strait) to circle Henry Island....We moved our kayak as close to the cliffs and in the kelp as possible to be out of their way and stopped paddling while we watched them in Open Bay -Michelle Feis

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Here are a couple of pictures from my experience with the T37A, and T65A pods. I started with them at the north end of Lopez Island and when I arrived there was a distinct smell in the air as if they had just made a kill. T65A2 spent a lot of time upside down attempting to get frisky. They swam southward along the western shoreline of Lopez Island, then out Cattle Pass as a tight knit group. Next they tucked inside the rocks and kelp and aimed toward Long Island. At the east end of Long Island they finally made a kill on the edge of the kelp, then they breached and played around for a while, followed by a session of logging at the surface as if to decide what to do next. They turned around and pushed offshore aiming toward Smith Island as they spread out into smaller groups at sunset. -Bart Rulon

August 25
...amazing calm weather continues, so off we 'sailed' towards Hein Bank after learning that some of our endangered Southern Resident whales were in the area. What a nice surprise to find members of L-pod in the area, spread out over several miles, we had wonderful views of many of them. We could ID L-22 Spirit and her son L-89 Solstice, and excited to see L-84 Nyssa, L-88 Wave Walker and L108 Coho - that's the first time I have seen these males in our area this year!! Many other whales were off in the distance but too far for identification. What a special treat - which also included harbor seals, bald eagles, harbor porpoise and a seal floating on his own personal raft! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist

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5:11 p.m. - Lots of whales offshore in big groups! Whales and mountains = beautiful. All south of Land Bank now heading south. -Barbara Bender

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3:09 p.m. - I hear orcas on the Lime Kiln hydrophone right now! Sounds like J and L pods. -Joshua Glant

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3:15 p.m. - J's on Lime Kiln hydrophone, I'm attempting to make it! (to the park)
3:00 p.m. - lots of whales on Lime Kiln now, sounds like they are AT the park So loud! I only saw the J22's at Land Bank milling earlier - for an hour going nowhere
11:47 a.m. - Whales at Land Bank milling, J34 is here and J22, that's all. J38 appears offshore -I think the rest are still south. -Barbara Bender

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In Haro Strait, near Lime Kiln this morning. Lots of breaches, spyhops, etc. Members spotted from all 3 pods. -Janine Harles

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T37A, T37A3, and newest kiddo, T37A4. Beautiful day with beautiful whales. T37As and T65As right in our backyard, near Allan Island (southwest of Anacortes). -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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2:08 p.m. - Just went through Bellingham Channel left them off north side of Guemes Island. -Kathy Perkins

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1:11 p.m. - Finally caught up to them. North of Washington Park now. East-ish direction. -Rachel Haight

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12:15 p.m. - Orcas just off Edith Point in Langley Bay , heading slowly north. Saw 5 or 6 maybe more. (Edith Point is between Langley Bay and Burrows Bay on Fidalgo Island, Rosario Strait). -Ann Hazen

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Sailing east from Boundary Pass toward Sucia Island, approximately 3:30pm. A single gray whale passed us going the other way. First spotted her about 200 yards off our starboard beam. We followed her visually by tracking the spouts as she cruised past the north shore of Orcas Island and turned south down President Channel. Didn't expect to see a gray whale in Puget Sound this late in the summer. -Robert Williams

August 24
4:00-6:00 p.m. - Another wonderful afternoon of orca viewing from the shore of Galiano Island. From 4 pm to 6 pm, small groups of orca leisurely went east through Active Pass. Some tail slaps, breaches, spy hops, and body rolls. Very exciting for our guests who have never before seen the whales so up close and personal. Cheers. K37 Rainshadow, K13 Skagit (ID'd by Sara Hysong-Shimazu). -Karoline Cullen

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2:15 p.m. - They were far offshore off Land Bank, but I thought I saw L54's L84 and L92. south bound passby. -Barbara Bender

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2:00 p.m. - Have been listening to calls (LOTS) on Lime Kiln hydrophones for the past hour +. There are also whales on the web cam! -Kim Merriman

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12:50 p.m. - I hear vocals on lime kiln for a few hours now! -Lore Borras

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12:31 p.m. - Vocals on OrcaSound hydrophone. -Jack Cillins

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11:38 a.m - Some chatter starting on Lime Kiln. -Jill Clogston

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7:51 a.m. - Hearing faint calls on Lime Kiln, louder by the moment. Visual on webcam. -Alisa, ON

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6:25 a.m. - One squeak at and faint echo briefly on Lime Kiln. It's great waking up to whales! -Barbara Bender

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During the approximate month long duration of this tag deployment the whales spent the first couple of weeks in northern Southeast Alaska primarily targeting harbor porpoise and harbor seals. As they moved southward they spent time at three or possibly four Stellar sea lions rookeries. As of 24 August 2015, the T100s were located in the Strait of Georgia. -Map courtesy of Marilyn Dahlheim, National Marine Mammal Laboratory

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4:00 p.m. - We saw 3 orcas just west of Foulweather Bluff/Hood's Head! -Holly Graves

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6:15 a.m. - It was a calm beautiful day & I heard the sound of whales breathing about 6:15am from Bells Beach on Whidbey. I spotted between 9-10 Orcas spread out in 3 groups heading SE towards Langley. The 2 adult males & 1 adult female stayed out in the center of the passage, while 2 adult females came in closer, then to my delight, the 3rd grouping of 2 adult females & 2 juveniles came into the shallow for about 20 minutes or so, very close to shore seeming to be playing together, slapping their fins & tails & tightly circling together. I thought they were Biggs Transients, but not certain. It was such a treat. -Kristin Carlson

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4:35 p.m. - Saw a grey whale half way though the strait of San Juan de Fuca headed north. Just past Point Wilson about 8 miles. Smaller whale came up blew, then dove and disappeared. -Niboreel Sreyas

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Another windless day and we were fortunate to find both minke and humpback whales - so easy to find in mirror-like sea conditions. First was a minke feeding near Smith Island...Continuing on, we spotted harbor porpoise, and another minke when heading to Castle Rock, where we also found eagles and harbor seals. -Jill Hein

August 23
A big spyhop from K16 Opus this afternoon off Battleship Island. -Monika Wieland

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As always, it was a great day with the southern resident orcas; however, today we saw something very rare: J35 Tahlequah and her son J47 Notch were babysitting little J51 for most of our afternoon trip, and during that time J35 Tahlequah brought a huge salmon over to the boys before she'd eaten it. I love how even though J51 is not her son, she still took the time to let him see, touch, and experience the salmon before prey sharing with her son J47 Notch. What a surreal experience! We also witnessed lots of breeding and social behavior between members of each pod. -Heather MacIntyre

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One of the pods (4) in Penn Cove has been ID'd as the T99s. -Jill Hein

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6:40 p.m. - Holmes Harbor, Whidbey Island, Honeymoon Bay. Watched pod of at least 5 orcas (one small dorsal fin) for at least 20 minutes in front of Honeymoon Bay. Feeding, circling back and forth in one area, birds circling above. First time spotted this far into Holmes Harbor in 43 years living in this spot! Exciting. -S & W Campbell

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2:44 p.m. - Saratoga pod: They are east of Long Point now and out of the cove. (after having gone into Penn Cove)
1:00 p.m. - About 8 whales passed by the Coupeville Wharf on their way out out of Penn Cove today. I'd been checking Penn Cove for whales all morning, and when I came back after lunch, I found them as soon as I came into view. Not a bad day! -Rachel Haight

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2:30 p.m. - Admiralty Inlet - pod of orcas off Fort Worden - looks like 3 of them. -Erin Johnson

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12:36 p.m. - I observed 6 Orcas in Penn Cove, heading north on Sunday. It appeared to be 2 males, with 2 smaller, possibly female, and 2 babies. They were porpoising, with no spy hops, or cartwheeling. I lost sight of them as they neared the North end of the cove, but did see 2 small whales, or dolphins, heading south shortly after. 10 minutes later, a harbor seal poked it's head up near the north east shore of Penn Cove. -Anne Tilmont

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9:40 a.m. - Saw 2 Orcas breaching off Otis Perkins Park, at southern end of Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island. -Fausto Poza

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9:30 a.m. - San Juan Islands - These three were see near Otis Perkins Park on Lopez Island this morning. They appeared to be fishing and seals were hiding on shore. -Carrie Lin Rawlins,
(Male is T137A-ID by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, Naturalist & ON volunteer)

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7:20 a.m. - Group heading north in Saratoga in front of house. between Cama Beach and Camano State Park, Camano side close to shore. -Will Murphy

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0710 hours, I observed a small pod (2 or 3 adult orcas and 1 baby) heading northbound at Camano Island State park. They were 30 yards off the boat ramp and swimming northbound with the baby by them. They got to the point just to the north of the park (close to the shore line), then they heading directly out to the middle of Saratoga passage. That's the last we observed them and what a thrill it was. -Mike Brady

August 22
The L54's near Point Roberts on Saturday evening. L54 Ino in the middle with her offspring L108 Coho to her left and L117 Keta to her right. 5 yr old L117's gender is still unknown. K26 Lobo with members of J and K pods.-James Gresham

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L54 and her calf L117 - Look who finally showed up on the west side of San Juan Island! The L54's, L88 and L84 have been seen out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca several times this summer, but Aug 22nd was the first time they have been in the inland waters this year! -Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research

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Phenomenal morning with nearly all the members of the Southern Resident Community - only the L12 sub-group was absent. Yep, the L54s finally showed up in Haro Strait for the first time this summer! It took me a few minutes to believe my eyes when I saw these big boys - L88 Wavewalker and L84 Nyssa. -Monika Wieland

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9:10-10:00 a.m. - From the rocks at middle Land Bank we watched whales coming from the south, spread out far and wide some in very large groups. We could tell there were a lot more SRKWs than had been around the past week. All of J, K and Ls (except the L12s) in big groups spread out northbound. Gorgeous morning watching from shore these magnificent traveling with a purpose, north. Short time later I was out with Orca Behavior Institute assisting with the hydrophone while Monika collected behavioral data. We first spotted some of the leaders (J pod) in large family groups in Open Bay. Profoundly moving to be in the presence of them, in their world, watching them travel so closely connected and in sync. Sweet surprise when a short time later realized we were also in the presence of the L54s. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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(August 22 Notes: Two groups were reported through out the day in Puget Sound area. Based on sightings times, it is believed the Saratoga Passage pod turned up into Port Susan and later moved down into Possession Sound. And the Admiralty Inlet group moved southbound into Puget Sound making their way to Tacoma before flipping and traveling back north)

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6:30 p.m. - Puget Sound - Three orcas rounded Dash Point, Browns Point, and observed from Cliff House Restaurant for awhile. Lots of tail flapping (playing or feeding?) before they headed back out of the east mouth of the bay toward Browns Point. -Eric Elgar

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6:20 pm - Possession Sound - Three orcas north of Mukilteo seen from ferry! -Christy Korrow

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7:39 p.m. - Puget Sound - They JUST went north past Browns Point Lighthouse! -Lisa Wysocki

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7:40 p.m. - Puget Sound - They passed the lighthouse headed north
7:31 p.m. - See them again from the lighthouse, coming out of the bay.
6:49 p.m. - 4 orcas just headed into Commencement Bay, watched from Browns Pt lighthouse. -Emily Cressman Blakeway

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6:45 p.m. - Possession Sound - 8-10 Orcas, including 2 juveniles about 500 yards off the new Mukilteo beach...at least 10 breaches. Moving west. -Rick Lovorn

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6:22 p.m. - Possession Sound - Between Boeing dock (Mukilteo) and Hat Island in the middle. -Jason R Bourne

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5:30 p.m. - Puget Sound - spotted 4 Orcas. They were traveling southward along the shoreline past Redondo. At one point maybe in less than 80 feet. Appeared to be 2 large adults and smaller juveniles. Also of note were pair of porpoises spotted at various points to in Quartermaster harbor. -Rob Phaneuf

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4:07 p.m. - Port Susan - Pod of six, five adults and one juvenile, off of Kayak Point, headed south. -Joshua Jensen (ID notes from Dave Ellifrit, CWR: The shape of the fins me wonder if it might be the T36B's and T99's but, I can't really confirm from that photo)

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4:57 p.m. - Puget Sound - Chilkat leaving Transients at Saltwater State Park. Still heading south. Just made a kill. 2 males close to shore at Saltwater. 3 others were further off. -Renee Beitzel

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3:40 p.m. - Puget Sound - Orcas just passed Three Tree Point in Burien going south. -Elston Hill

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2:00-3:00 p.m. - Port Susan - We are at Tulare Beach, near Marysville on vacation. Neighbors told us they'd seen at least 5 orcas quite a ways north in Port Susan about 2 pm today. About 3 pm we saw them from the beach, headed south, with about 5 boats following them. -Rob Walton

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2:50 p.m. - Puget Sound - Received a message from Richard Shelmerdine who saw two from the Fauntleroy ferry dock heading south down the east side of Vashon.

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2:48 p.m. - Puget Sound - Orcas passed Lincoln Park and Fauntleroy ferry heading south. We saw 3, one really big. -Doerte Mahanay

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2:20 p.m. - Puget Sound - West Seattle Blog is reporting them along beach drive, heading south. -Trileigh Tucker

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1:34 p.m. - Puget Sound - Single orca headed south toward Alki light. -Jason Mihok

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12:45 p.m. - Puget Sound - Orcas just passed Golden Gardens then Discovery Park, headed south! -Jessica Clayton

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Noon - Puget Sound - saw at least two orcas surfacing and blowing water, off the northern end of Golden Garden beach, about 300 yards off the beach. Saw two at same time, they appeared large. They surfaced (fin and back) about 10 times, lasted about 15-20 minutes. There was quite a few boats around, they kept distance. They swam southward toward Magnolia/Seattle. -Theresa Geijer

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Puget Sound - Two large orcas were just sighted off of Meadow Point that surfaced near a group of salmon fishing boats heading south to Golden Gardens. Can anyone ID the whales? -Michael Hamm
(Dave Ellifrit, CWR- male certainly looks like T102 but complete confirmation is tough with that photo)

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11:00 a.m. - Puget Sound - Left them south of Richmond Beach headed south approximately 5kts.
10:44 a.m. - T101s, 5-6 animals, southbound at 5 kts at Point Wells. -Anna Lieding

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10:45 a.m. - Puget Sound - still moving south on Edmonds side, passing Richmond Beach as viewed from President Point, Kitsap. -Joanne Graves

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10:35 a.m. - Puget Sound - I saw them heading south close to Edmonds shore. They are now south of Pt Edwards. -Sherman Page

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8:37 a.m. - Saratoga Passage - Orcas in Saratoga Passage! Heading south, seen from Pebble Beach on Camano Island. -Sarah Malmstead

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6:50 a.m. - Admiralty Inlet - Pod of orcas just southwest of Bush Point. Close to Whidbey side of Admiralty Inlet. Heading south, but maybe just milling around. -Mike Meyer

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Another windless day and we were fortunate to find both minke and humpback whales - so easy to find in mirror-like sea conditions. First was a minke feeding near Smith Island, then on Hein Bank where we found "Split-fin", a well known humpback whale. He appeared to head straight towards the boat (most likely passed under us) and gave incredible views as he fluked heading right towards us!...(Minke report)...and then - in Rosario Strait - another humpback! No ID on this one, but a delight to see. Such a spectacular day again. -Jill Hein

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Spent this morning with the T10 group which is mom and her two adult male sons, T10B and T10C. T10B is such a large and incredibly beautiful male orca. We watched them hunt several seals near Darcy and Little Darcy island today in British Columbia. -Traci Walter

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10:50 AM - From cabin at Land Bank watched 3 TBigg's/Transients (later ID'd as T10 and her sons T10B, T10C) moving steadily northbound west of mid Haro. For a short period I timed their surface and down times: surface time avg. 1.5-2 minutes; down times avg. 3-5 minutes. They were visible to us until they were north of Kelp reef marker. -Alisa, ON

August 21
3:52 p.m. - Hearing calls on Lime Kiln now 3:50. Lots of boat noise! -Ann Hazen

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9:25 a.m. - start seeing blows to the south, spread out in 1-2s, coming northbound towards us. At about southend of Land Bank they veered off shore. Lead groups stopped at Lime Kiln milled around for a bit then turned out, grouped up and turned back southbound. Much surface activity (tail lobs, rolls, peduncle throws, breaches) as they continued southbound about ½ mile off shore. -Alisa, ON

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1430 - Numerous orcas off the Coal Dock and Ferry Terminal, Tsawwassen, BC. Peter Hamilton

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We saw 5 Orcas at the Sechelt Inlet, on the Sunshine Coast BC. -Cornelia van Berkel

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Unbelievable evening! Heading home after watching residents off San Juan Island and we bumped into the the T18's and T100's in the Strait of Georgia. They all split up and then BAM! simultaneous porpoise kills! We hung out with T19C and T100C most of the time...Here are some shots of them playing around. -Gary Sutton

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3:00 p.m. - Found them. Headed south towards Bush Point close to Whidbey side. Still a ways off, barely visible with binoculars. -Rachel Haight

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2:40 p.m. - Orcas off south Whidbey between Lagoon pt and Bush pt heading south. -Courtney Smith

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Found Transient orcas North of Bush Point, followed them south for a bit, stopped by Port Ludlow to look at wildlife then found T's again in Useless Bay on the way home! -Janine Harles

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2:26 pm - Saw them just now southbound off Lagoon Point. -Patricia Prochaska

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1:33 pm - The earlier Ts has now met up with another group! Heading south back into Admiralty Inlet last seen south of ferry lanes, closer to Whidbey side.
12:03 p.m. - Chilkat just left T's in Admiralty Inlet, just south of Port Townsend heading north. -Renee Beitzel

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10:30 a.m. - Orcas traveling in north Port Susan, looked like a pod of 3. -Anthony Soldato

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A pod spent time in front of Lagoon Point (Admiralty Inlet). I think there was a baby with them. They were quite a ways from shore when they came by our place. -Paul Kukuk

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1:30 p.m. - Humpback, NW of NAS Whidbey. Only saw it blow twice, the saw its back glide along before seeing the tail submerge. Approx straight west of Deception Pass. -Kim Adams

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12:51 p.m. - Welcome! We are leaving two humpbacks feeding in the Strait just northwest of Smith Island. Split Fin and another that she's been hanging with the last several days! -Renee Beitzel

August 20
Spent this morning with the T10 group which is mom and her two adult male sons, T10B and T10C. T10B is such a large and incredibly beautiful male orca. We watched them hunt several seals near Darcy and Little Darcy island today in British Columbia. -Traci Walter

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10:50 AM - From cabin at Land Bank watched 3 TBigg's/Transients (later ID'd as T10 and her sons T10B, T10C) moving steadily northbound west of mid Haro. For a short period I timed their surface and down times: surface time avg. 1.5-2 minutes; down times avg. 3-5 minutes. They were visible to us until they were north of Kelp reef marker. -Alisa, ON

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8:00 p.m. - spotted three harbor porpoises just south of Elliott Bay Marina heading west. Noticed them because we could hear them coming to the surface to breath. One followed the sail boat and swam just under the surface so that we could identify the grey top and white underbelly. Not close enough to see any unusual markings or gender and no photographs unfortunately! -Casey Herron

August 19
Later that evening, around 6 I saw 3 orcas heading up the west side of San Juan Island just north of False bay maybe 300 yards off shore (there may have been more, they were moving quickly), and saw 4 or 5 more from San Juan County Park at sunset around 8:30. -Kevin Marshall

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Approx. 8:00 p.m. - surprised again by the K13s coming northbound, all passing in front of us by 8:20 but still visible to us at 8:30, back-dropped by the setting sun.
6:00 PM - here they come again, northbound orcas...Ls.
1:00 PM - From cabin at Land Bank, surprised by southbound whales, members of K and L pods. They all streamed by 1/4-1/2 mile off shore, very spread out. -Alisa, ON

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We were watching from a 200+ yard distance south of Lime Kiln were all of a sudden surrounded by Orcas. We cut our engines because it was unsafe to move. Two orcas changed paths to swim by us... maybe to show off the fish in the larger orcas mouth?...I don't have much experience with close up viewings, as you can tell from my reaction in the video (below). It really was one of the best days of my life. I would love to know who I met. -Lisa Kelly

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I'm just returning home from a kayaking trip. I launched my boat from Washington Park around 12:15pm. By 12:45 I was surrounded by at least 20 whales...They were traveling a decent speed south, riding the ebbing current. Then, one enormous mature orca began bobbing up and down, and one very small orca jumped, followed by a number of other mature orcas jumping. Their crash on the water was heard like thunder claps up and down Rosario Straight. -Kevin Marshall
(The J16s in Rosario Strait. ID'd by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, Marine Naturalist & ON volunteer)

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Day report: ...morning, we headed out in search of orcas. There had been a report by Lopez Island an hour before, so the search was on. We found the T065As tucked in shore on the west side of Blakely Island. They had recently made a kill as there was blood in the water. As we stopped on scene watching them, the family suddenly made a turn straight for us. They popped up right in front of the bow, one of them showing off some of their kill in its mouth right at the surface. They stayed right next to our boat for a few minutes while slowly drifting southwest. During this time, they created about 10 bubble rings beneath the surface (I have never seen this behavior, can anyone tell me how they do it? It almost looked like T065A2 was creating them with his flukes but I couldn't tell.) That was an absolute thrilling couple of minutes. We left them as they continued traveling south down the east side of Frost Island and Lopez Island. During the afternoon trip, we caught up with them again northwest of Blakely Island, and followed them for awhile as they continued west through the San Juan Islands. It was a beautiful day where I had a lot of fun just photographing the whales. The T065As never disappoint! -Rachel Haight

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6:38 p.m. - Three orcas moving quickly, near Black Point 15 km east of Powell River, BC. -Colin Palmer

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2:50 p.m. - Some orcas, probably 4 or 5, traveling south very slowly. Spotted off NAS Whidbey Island. -Brady Ward

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1:21 p.m. - 4 orca just south of Hastie Lake boat ramp, West side of Whidbey, traveling north. -Judy Dougherty

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I was out salmon fishing in front of my house in the morning when 6 transient orcas come racing down the shoreline with the outgoing tide, headed north. It was T37As and T124D and T124D1. I dropped all my fishing gear and photographed the pod as they swam northward. Eventually they circled and made a kill just north of the Coupeville/Port Townsend ferry traffic lanes, followed by lots of celebrating! They breached, lunged, spyhopped, and tailslapped over and over before they continued northward. As they neared Smith Island they went on the chase again, and caught a harbor seal. I could see at least one other killer whale swimming off in the distance during my visit, but it never came close enough to the others to see exactly who it was. -Bart Rulon

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11:45 a.m. - at least 4 whales seen from Libbey Beach, west side of Whidbey Island, mid channel, heading north. Whale watch boat is with them. -Jill Hein.

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9:52 a.m. - Mike Waitt of Greenbank called to report 3 - 4 orcas including 1 calf, 1 mile south of Lagoon Pt, close in, 100 yards from shore.

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9:40 a.m. - Bonnie from the Bush Pt. Bed & Breakfast called to report 3 orcas REALLY close to shore, heading toward Lagoon Pt.

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9:32 a.m. - Scott at Bush Pt. reported orcas north of Bush Pt, in the cove between Bush Pt. & Lagoon Pt.

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9:29 am - Orcas feeding in circles off our bluff near Bush Point this morning, 3 or 4 of them. -Beth Warner

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9:17 a.m. - Kathy O'Neil reported 3 orcas headed north at Bush Point, Admiralty Inlet.

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6:35 a.m. - 6 or 7 orcas off of Eglon, hung out for 25 minutes feeding?, with tail slaps, spy hops. One baby. Heading north now closer to Kitsap side. -Rebecca French Gerke

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We watched the T37's, 124A's, and 18's torture a harbour seal at Zero Rock, (north of Victoria in Haro Strait), this afternoon. -Mark Malleson

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Transient superpod this afternoon?! Yes please! The T018/19's, T034's, T37's (both A and B groups), and the T124A's killed helps of seals today off Zero Rock, BC -- all just across the strait from the resident orcas! -Heather MacIntyre

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9:30 a.m. - Cool! Beautiful humpback at my rock! ( between Eagle Point and False Bay ) Swimming out towards Hein Bank now. -Jenny Stands Wilson

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On the 6:30pm ferry from Friday Harbor to Anacortes a whale was seen that appeared to be heading south in Rosario Straight. Some people said humpback, but it looked like a Minke Whale to me, but I only saw it briefly. -Kevin Marshall

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5:30 p.m. - Was surprised by the surface of a Minke, heading northbound in Haro Strait. See from Land Bank, west side of San Juan Island. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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2:00 p.m. - I saw a Minke Whale that seemed to come from the east and joined me from the south eastern tip of Lopez and accompanied me from Colville Island passed Iceberg point to Long Island where it began to change directions and hover between whale rocks and mummy rocks. -Kevin Marshall

August 18
8:00 pm - Two larger and two smaller orcas around Teece Point on South Pender Island. Feeding and rubbing backs along rocks. -Joel Gregg

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8:55 p.m. - Spotted a pod of around 6 Orcas off the Bremerton ferry terminal at tonight riding the Bremerton - Port Orchard foot ferry. They were slowly heading toward Gorst along the PSNS navy yard waterfront. The skipper of the vessel said he thought there was a baby among the group. It was becoming dark so could not take a phone photo or identify markings on the dorsal fins. They were about 50 yards off our port beam. The skipper put the vessel out of gear and drifted to allow the pod to pass our position heading SW toward Gorst. I have lived in this area 60 years and have never seen an Orca in this area before! - Rick E Stingle

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8:10 p.m. - Orcas (5 - 10) reported off the Illahee docks and Illahee State Park. -(no name given)

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8:05 p.m. - Watching orcas heading south along shore across from Point White pier (Bainbridge Is.). Lots of breaching! -Sue Surowiec Larkin

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8:03 p.m. - 5 orcas by Illahee Park in Port Orchard Bay heading toward Manette and Bremerton just now. -Joanne Baas

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8:00 p.m. - Orcas were in front of Illahee State Park. -Claudia Hanson

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7:34 p.m. - a couple fins off Illahee. -Gwen Hall Detweiler

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7:00 p.m. - the orcas probably 6 of them were easily viewed from the Illahee Dock, in Port Orchard Bay. They frolicked around for what seemed a long period of time as they headed towards Illahee State Park. A sight to see and enjoy! -Irwin Krigsman

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7:00 p.m. - There was a group of 3-4 orcas spotted playing with a group of kayakers near Dyes Inlet in Bremerton, WA. They hung around for more than 30 minutes as they were heading towards the Port Orchard sound. -William Tucker

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7:15 p.m. - update. Orcas reached Illahee dock in Kitsap and then turned around. Last reported heading south and east in Port Orchard Channel.
6:45 p.m. - orcas off Crystal Springs made it as far as Illahee dock and then turned south.
5:20 p.m. - Orcas just reported off of Crystal Springs -- south end of Bainbridge. -Susan Marie Andersson

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Just spotted a pod of 5 or 6 orcas off of crystal springs drive south on Bainbridge Island (Point Drive). Playing around point White dock, just a bit north, staying put. -Janet Moody

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5:00 p.m. - About 6 Orcas ... including a couple young ones moved North past Point White dock (Bainbridge Island) this evening. -Scott Harrison

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3:30 p.m. - An encounter we had of transients hunting dolphins in Lagoon Cove, BC up in the Broughton Archipelago. A group of five transient orcas (1 male, 4 females) cornered and hunted over 100 pacific white-sides in a small cove up here, it was a dramatic encounter. -Tim Cole

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3:05 p.m. - Just spotted between Blake Island and Alki Point. -Cameron Quinn

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2:15 p.m. - They are between southend of Bainbridge and Alki- near the yellow buoy. -Jennifer Farley

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1:55 p.m. - Maia of WA State Ferries called to report orcas off Restoration Pt.

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11:17 a.m. - Just had a series of breaches and several calves in Elliot Bay . Looks like T037A's. Hard to get other ID's due to sun glare.
11:00 a.m. - Transients slowly trending south at Magnolia area. South of Discovery Park. -Renee Beitzel

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6:30 a.m. - Near Emonds, WA this morning , traveling southbound, on Edmonds side. -Toby Black

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Absolutely unreal evening on the water with Js, Ks, and Ls: Big groups of active whales slowly moving north near Open Bay on Henry Island in flat calm water with evening lighting - can't ask for better than that! At one point the J16s unexpectedly broke off and fanned out through all the boats watching - J42 Echo turned on her side as she passed along Serenity, then surfaced right off our stern! It was very special to be able to share this experience with my mom and my niece, too. We left them this evening off Spieden heading slowly north at 7:30. -Monika Wieland

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Late afternoon - The J16s were toward the front of a very large group of whales, reportedly around 60 SRKWs. Families were very intermingled, and many individual members tended to just kill time playing in front of the lighthouse and in the kelp beds on the north side of the lighthouse while they waited for other family members to catch up. The entire passing was at least an hour. Magical. -Ariel Yseth

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5:35 p.m. VERY LOUD and active vocals on Orcasound right now!
5:15 p.m. VERY loud and active calls on Lime Kiln. -Kim Merriman

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4:36 p.m. - Great clear vocals on LimeKiln right now. -Selena Rhodes Scofield

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4:35 p.m. - Hearing them on the hydrophone! -Shelby Hight Fifield

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4:00 pm - northbound pass-by at Land Bank including a breach, a couple spyhops, and some above water vocalizations. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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4:00 PM - From Land Bank, northbound whales. Amazing experience watching from the bluffs as they streamed by in large groups, stalling out in a line stretched from south LB to Lime Kiln, each group engaging in much surface activity (spyhops, breaches, tail lobs, tactile behaviors) and even heard above surface vocals on two occasions. Stunning! As is usually the case, this whole big beautiful clan of orcas was led by J2 (by a lot) who was more inshore than the others. The J16s were in shore as well but this pass J26 was well ahead of his family traveling along with the leaders. -Alisa, ON

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1:00 p. m. - We were watching whales at Land Bank thinking they were coming north, heard a blow to my right and the Ks and Ls blasted south past Lime Kiln. Wasn't even expecting them. Saw the L4s, L92, K13s, more offshore. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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1:00 p.m. - from middle Land Bank we watched northbound whales coming from the south. Around 1:30 they were nearly even with us when Sara heard a blow, we looked to the north towards Lime Kiln and were surprised to see a whole bunch of whales coming our way. A very sweet surprise to watch these southbound whales (K13s, and some Ls) pass and meet up with the northbound group just south of us. They all then continued on their way to the south. -Alisa, ON

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Good morning! Photos will never be able to do justice to some of the stuff we witnessed on the water ...Not only did we have orcas screaming down the four foot wake of a huge freighter for over 20 minutes (I have NEVER seen anything like it! RAW power!)...Then later caught up with the J16s and other orcas who were in quite the frisky mood - we watched the new babies catch "rocket rides" off the foreheads of adults - too funny! -Katie Jones

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...we also had a humpback outside of Friday Harbor ALL day, three more humpbacks down near McArthur Bank. (AND a DOUBLE breach). -Katie Jones

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Sending you a short video my husband Don Kernan made of the Grey whale. We named her "Sunshine " for now, she or he has been here at the Sunshine Coast (north of Vancouver BC) for many weeks now. Location Snicket park, Sechelt BC, Canada. -Cornelia van Berkel, Sechelt BC.

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3:30 p.m. - A group of mammal-eating, transient (Bigg's) orcas stalk and chase Pacific white-sided dolphins next to the Lagoon Cove Marina (northern Johnstone Strait) in British Columbia, Canada. -Video by Tim Cole

August 17
3 Generations of the J17 Matriline. J17 Princess Angeline (1977), daughter, J35 Tahlequah (1998), and grandson J47 Notch (2010). Taken from shore at Land Bank in the early afternoon while watching Js and Ks travel northbound in Haro Strait along the west side San Juan Island. -Connie Bickerton

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1:00 p.m. northbound passby of Js and Ks- Taken from shore at middle Land Bank, west side San Juan Island. -Ed Brooks

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I just got home from sunset tour with those J's & K's spread in family groups & a line from near land out into Juan de Fuca. We left them around Eagle Cove. Interesting there were transients out there to, nearer to Cattle Point & a group of 4 headed by Whale Rocks & Long Island, the other transients headed sw, I think. The J's & K's were chattering, so it makes me wonder & how the residents were moving in a line. -Caroline Armon

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We left Js and Ks southbound off Hannah Heights around 7:15 tonight - they went up almost to Stuart Island before flipping. I can't believe those other Ks and Ls were MIA today! -Monika Wieland

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5:50-7:10 p.m. - Earlier in the day Js and Ks traveled northbound up island then turned somewhere further up in Haro Strait. Much appreciation to the Orca Behavior Institute for having me along on the water to observe members of J and K pods as they made their way southbound along the west side of San Juan Island in the late afternoon. We spent some time traveling down island well outside of K21, K16 and K35 who were traveling in their usual tight group. The rest of the whales were spread out traveling alone or with their families. We continued south to Hannah Heights where we found the K12s, J16s hugging the shoreline powering along in now sloppy seas. Saw J34, J27, L87, J39 and others. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, ON

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Spyhop during late afternoon southbound pass of Js and Ks at Land Bank on the west side of San Juan Island. -Connie Bickerton

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Cappuccino (K21) and Sonata (K35) swimming side by side in Haro Strait off the west side of San Juan Island. Many thanks to the Orca Behavior Institute for making it possible! -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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Orcas were very spread out between Discovery Island and north San Juan Island, they met up and spent the afternoon at False Bay before turning back north, J-2 and J-14 passing closely by Lime Kiln around 4 pm. -Ariel Yseth

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1:50 to 2:30 p.m. - orcas in front of Lime Kiln. I heard echolocation and a few calls on the Lime Kiln hydrophone, and also saw them on the webcam. They headed north, and I heard them on the OrcaSound hydrophone, but not well enough to identify the pod(s). Strangely, they were seemingly quiet directly in front of Lime Kiln. Perhaps it was just a hydrophone effect of the boat noise, but I don't think so. -Joshua Glant

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...along the west side of San Juan Island where our Southern Resident orcas did not disappoint us. Many were traveling north along the shoreline, others further offshore. K-21 Cappuccino, K33, K26, J27, J34, J2, J28, L87 and many others were ID'd. Homeward bound we found bald eagles, a Tufted Puffin, and a giant bait ball with hundreds of birds with harbor seals feasting in the middle of the bait ball! A magical day for all. -Jill Hein

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Today, we found a minke just outside of Anacortes. Next, we spotted a pair of humpbacks south of San Juan Island. After that, we headed north up San Juan Island and caught up with members of J & K pod as they continued north. A large group including J31 Tsuchi, J19 Shachi, J27 Blackberry, J41 Eclipse, J51passed close to the rocks at Lime Kiln. Beautiful day spent with friends! -Rachel Haight

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L87, Oynx, Land Bank, Westside, San Juan Island, WA...My day off! -James Maya

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1:00 p.m. - From Land Bank, watched all of J and K pods (minus K13s), led by J19, aproach and pass northbound for over an hour. Initially in small groups spread out then tail-enders grouped up, closer to us on shore. Watched as they passed the lighthouse to the north. -Alisa, ON

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Southern Resident Killer Whales, including the J16s, J17s, and J22s (Group B) approaching Land Bank. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu,

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6:40 am - from cabin at Land Bank, west side San Juan Island, first spotted an adult male to the south of us with another male, 3 females and a calf milling farther south and/or off shore. J26 came north, stalled even with us at about middle Land Bank, breached twice in front of an oncoming cabin cruiser, then continued north a bit closer to us. He then swam in wide circles several times (as if going after salmon), took some long dives, then turned and headed back south, joining up with his family (J16s), all in glassy waters of Haro Strait in the still of early morning. -Alisa, ON

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6:30 am - What a beautiful way to start the day! Per-sunrise with the whales at Eagle Cove! At least two pods! Mamas and babies closer to shore in a tight group and many whales spread out as far as my eye can see looking across the strait with purple mountains as a backdrop! Several spy hops, lots of pec slaps and tail lobbing! It looked like the babies were trying to tail lob or do headstands, tiny little tails popping up next to the adults! Whales headed north past Eagle Point at 6:30 AM. -Lodie Laurieanne Gilbert Budwill

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6:00 am - about 25 to 30 orcas very spread out in groups of 2 and 3 going from Eagle Point to False bay. All had gathered slowly together by 9:00 and have come back in large, quiet groups of 6-10 in each group. Only three breaches in the 3 hours. -Jenny Stands Wilson

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...we had news of a humpback whale by Salmon Bank and after finding him/her, we witnessed the large "hump"back and flukes several times. -Jill Hein

August 16
A heck of a lot of splashing going on today...Mystic Sea encountered the K13's along with Crewser (L92) in a resting line off Henry Island. Once they resumed traveling northward the whales quickly picked up the pace with numerous cart-wheels, tail-slaps, spy-hops and double breaches creating LOTS of noise and HUGE splashes before tucking in close to the rocks foraging for salmon. Hopefully they found plenty to maintain healthy energy levels. -Sandra Pollard Naturalist

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K13s, L4s, L47s, L43s, and L26s - we caught up with them offshore in the middle of Haro in a resting line. They woke up at Kellett and were northbound from there at 2:15 p.m. -Monika Wieland

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11:20 a.m. - Sightings just south of Semiahmoo, they were heading North, couldn't identify pod or numbers. -Suzann Gunderson Vincent

August 15
One of the resident boys off Port Renfrew BC area. This fellow made 3 passes around the boat, it was incredible. This is a shot I could never recreate, taken right as he was about to turn. -Deanna Brett

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9:41 a.m. - Chatter on Lime Kiln. -Jill Clogston

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9:40am - Nice loud calls now, mostly S36s, likely Ks but not definitive. See them porpoising south on webcam. -Monika Wieland

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9:38am - start hearing faint calls, whistles, and echolocation of SRKWs on Lime Kiln hydrophone. Gets loud within minutes. -Ed Brooks

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4:40 pm - 5-6 orcas has been traveling between Pay Bay and south tip of Vancouver Island for the past 5 hours. -Karen Gray

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This morning I saw the minke whale Nick Jagger milling off Land Bank from 8:55-9:10 a.m. -Monika Wieland

August 14
Was it curiosity or compassion? I believe we witnessed Orca compassion for humans today! My husband and I noticed a sailboat with a tall mast pull into Eagle Cove for safe harbor during unexpected lightning. The two people on board anchored the boat and took their dinghy to shore. The lightning passed and the couple returned to their sailboat. We watched closely, ready to help them if needed. Once they climbed aboard, five adult whales and a baby surfaced right next to the sailboat, first port side, then again starboard and a third time at the front of the sailboat, like "Come on, its okay now, follow us"! The larger majority of the pod was far off shore while this tight group hugged the shoreline and swam north past Eagle Point, the sailboat carefully following their lead. Whether curiosity or compassion, it was amazing to witness their exchange so very close to shore! -Lodie Gilbert Budwill

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EPIC day with J2 Granny, L87 Onyx, J14 Samish, K26 Lobo and then some. Just off Burrows Island/Fidalgo Head...so no more than 45 min. from leaving the dock! A rainy (yeah rain!), gray day, but really beautiful, and no other boats with us! Every behavior, tail slaps, multiple breaches and spyhops, family groups, close encounters, even a sea snake from one of the young ones! -Bonnie Gretz

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7:20 pm - Just saw a pod of 5-6 orcas (including 1-2 adult males) at the northern entrance of Active Pass, they came from Strait of Georgia. Did a spy hop by green channel buoy, then hung out around the mouth of the pass. Appeared to be hunting in kelp a little bit. Then they all surfaced to breathe and disappeared. Not sure if they went in the Pass or not. Saw them from the ferry. -Roland Flutet

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My son, John Price of Seattle, was on his way to Poulsbo Friday, August 14, aboard his 58 foot wooden boat Shadow when he was treated to a show by a lone Pacific White-sided Dolphin. It was at 8 pm just off Point Madison. John was traveling due West at 8.5 knots. -Christina Price

August 13
We received a call from Eric Hudnell , reporting a pod of 4 - 5 orcas ~5 miles offshore of Ocean Shores, WA, sighted while he was salmon fishing. One large male,one calf and several females in the pod.
(ID'd as the T65As by Sara Hysong-Shimazu, Marine Naturalist and ON volunteer)

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5:30-6:30 pm - I went whale watching off west side San Juan Island. We saw J34-Double Stuff, J22-Oreo, K33-Tika, K22-Sekiu and K43-Saturna ...I believe the tall slap is Double Stuff. -Cathy Miller Scott

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6:20 pm - Off shore from just south of Eagle Cove. I've only seen J34, Tika (K33) so far but he's foraging and pushing offshore. It was a very nice surprise to find some residents off the west side this evening. I thought they had all gone north. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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Perfect/peaceful night as we watched members of J, K, and L Pod head north and through Active Pass, BC with K14 (mostly submerged) with K42 and K26 (her male offspring); J14 and her daughter J37 who was traveling with her son J49; and J41 with her son, J51 bringing up the back, L55's (L82 and her son, L116 in front) traveling with L95 who was bringing up the rear. Since the orcas were resting (a behavior where they slow, group up, surface often, and alternate different 'sleeping' hemispheres in their brain), we extended our trip an hour so that we would be able to catch them going through the narrow pass... -Heather MacIntyre

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2:20 pm - It was Js, Ks, and Ls that went north! Group B and others are still south. -Monika Wieland

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2:14 pm - Just spotted them headed north by LK! -Ann Ventic

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2:05 pm - hearing whistles
1:30 - visual on webcam then light calls
1:07 pm - Loud Calls on Lime Kiln now. -Melissa Bird

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4:22 pm -Bigg's/Transient orcas are in a tight group now heading west around the point (Possession). -Nicole Woltersdorf

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4:07 pm - Long dive, surfaced more towards Possession Point. Much closer to Whidbey side.
4:00 pm - They are in serious resting mode. Mid channel a bit spread apart coming up on Possession Point.
3:40 pm - from bluff above Mukilteo Lighthouse Park watched them move down mid channel at steady pace. A couple have veered over heading towards Possession Point. I am going to move further south.
3:00 pm - I'm on the ferry Kittitas, we stopped mid crossing because the pod was directly ahead! They did not surface while stopped but I saw them surface astern of westbound Tokitae. Pod southbound mid channel south of Clinton/Mukilteo.-Alisa, ON

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And we received a call from John Rogstad of WA State Ferries at 3:08 pm, relaying a report of 1 lg. male and several female orcas off Mukilteo southbound.

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2:30 pm - SW side of Hat Island just before they turned toward the ferry. -Melanie Proden

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Last seen at 2:30 at south tip of Hat Island heading toward Everett. 6 or 7 Orcas including 2 little ones. -Megan Lewis Boxman

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1:58 pm - pod still just north of but closer to Clinton but traveling southeasterly paralleling Hat Island.
1:25 - finally spotted them between Sandy Point and Hat Island. I'm viewing from Clinton Beach north side of ferry dock, they appear to still be traveling south easterly. In two groups latter includes two large males. -Alisa, ON

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12:35 - as I head homeward. pod last seen east of Sandy point heading southeasterly towards Hat Island. Was fun to see this group !!
12:01- about six or seven. A couple large males! Heading closer to mid passage still a couple miles north east of Langley.
11:30am Closer to Whidbey island side heading south slowly.. Still a couple miles north of Langley. -Stu Davidson

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10:19 am - Large group southbound Saratoga in front of house, between Cama Beach and Camano St park. -Will Murphy

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6:38 pm - Split Fin is moving up island not right in shore but cartwheels and breaches as he goes. Nearing Eagle right now.
5:48 pm - Split Fin the humpback is at Salmon Bank. Just kind of circling the area. On the outer side right now but pointed at the island. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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I went whale watching and these photos are off west side San Juan Island around 5:30-6:30 p.m...along with humpback BCZ0298 Split Fin. -Cathy Miller Scott

August 12
Chasing transients from shore requires enormous amounts of patience. Today, I caught up with the T046s. It seemed like they were angled straight for Penn Cove just before 1pm, and it was at that time I lost sight of them. Never did find them again. However, 5.5 hours later of basically nonstop looking, I was able to find T049A2 (the same whale from my close encounter a few days ago) as he entered Penn Cove heading west. After a close pass by shore, I completely lost him AGAIN. I figured I'd ought to check the mussel rafts, and when I arrived, I saw several seals tucked in close to shore who appeared to be watching something. A few minutes later, I heard that telltale blow. I watched this lone whale travel back and forth in between the mussel rafts for 1.5 hours before leaving due to the darkness...It was also quite the sunset too! -Rachel Haight

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5:47 - Two orca just leaving Penn Cove...dream fulfilled, watching orca standing on my deck! No time to run down to the boat ramp. I just caught a quick look as they were a bit east of the ramp, heading east. It was awesome! The closest I've ever been!! -Bonnie Gretz

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5:45 pm - This is the orca that was in Penn Cove today. Came up about 10 ft off the beach at Long Point! Came up close and then headed toward the wharf then circled back around on the oak harbor side heading back south and then we lost it. -Kari Habeck

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5:30 PM in Penn Cove. We saw three Transient Orcas. -Steve Hoffmire

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5:30 am - Solo orca along Whidbey heading north from Race Lagoon in Saratoga Passage. -Sarah Mueller

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5:18 pm - Single orca right off Snatellum point. (Saratoga Passage, Whidbey Island). Milling, and now heading into Penn Cove. -Erik Anderson

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4:55 pm - Orca in Saratoga Passage just south of Penn Cove extremely close to the beach on Whidbey Island. Off my parent's deck on Harrington Lagoon Road. Just 1, heading towards Coupeville/Penn Cove now. Not moving quickly, back and forth, looks like he is feeding. -Lauren Johnson

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2:41 - seeing fins around Penn Cove channel marker. -Krista Paulino

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1:14 pm - Still here!! Came about 40 yards from shore at one point! Beautiful orca! The lone orca outside of Langley. This was during that wicked awesome thunderstorm we were having. We enjoyed his company! But hope he makes it back to his pod. -Cara Hefflinger

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12:30 pm - Really loooong down times
11:55 am - 4 or 5 orcas still heading north, about a mile north of Cama Beach on Camano side. -Jill Hein

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12 noon - got a call from Matt reporting a single orca about 150 yards off the beach around Fox Spit and Bell's Beach, now just north of Fox Spit in Saratoga Passage. This is the same location where one has been seen at least twice in recent days.

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11:50 am - Watched them all morning through telescope from Bells Beach... Great way to start the day! -Carole Briggs Lewis

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12:01 pm - Last sighting around Onomac on Camano side. I've jumped ahead to Madrona beach.
11:37 am - Mid channel moving north/northwest. 5, I think.
10:59 am - I can see fins and blows south of sandy beach, Camano. I think they are slightly north of Monaco beach. -Krista Paulino

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10:15-11:15 am - Saw one orca swimming near Baby Island, heading toward Langley. Playing, maybe feeding. Stayed near Baby Island for over an hour before slowly making its way toward Langley. I was there from about 10:15 until 11:15 this morning, by the end the whale had moved out of view. -Sheila Weidendorf

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9:20 am - T46s were seen by Stephanie Raymond onboard the Victoria Clipper just north of Elger Bay, Camano Island, headed north in Saratoga Passage.

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Our encounters with the T036A and T075B groups of transient orcas have been off the charts lately! They moved into the Salish Sea together up Haro Strait on the August 11, and stayed for a couple of days. There are two adult females in these groups who are nursing calves...We watched them two nights in a row (Aug 11 and 12) as the orcas hunted the waters around the Cactus Islands and Johns Island (north of San Juan Is.). They would go up very close to the rocks and take their fill of harbor seals. Last night I lost count of how many harbor seals they ate! It was inherently sad to see the seals fighting for their lives, but predator/prey dynamics is an important aspect of behavior to document and record. The circle of life must continue! It was great to see the very young calves learning new lessons from their mothers. And, it's been even better to resight the new calf that I had found this spring when it still had fetal folds on it: T036A-3. -Heather MacIntyre

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About 5:30 PM to 6:05 PM, there were many orcas calling loudly on the Lime Kiln hydrophone! I heard echolocation, some S1s, a couple S2is, perhaps a few S16s, and many S36 calls. From that, I think I can conclude that members of J and K pods were in the vicinity of the hydrophone. -Joshua Glant

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7:07 pm - J group A with J2 Granny, J41 Eclipse came up island and went back south past Lime Kiln tonight. -Monika Wieland

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6:28 pm - not talking, singing! And they still are. so beautiful! 5:39 pm - They are talking loud on Lime Kiln right now! -Jean Karlsson

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We had a fantastic visit with the J16 sub pod late afternoon near Eagle Point. (San Juan Island) J52 spent most of his time entertaining himself with lots of rolling around, lunging, and multiple spyhops! During several of his spyhops he would have various seaweeds in his mouth. J36, and J42 were nearby, but he seemed to be most playful when he was by himself. -Bart Rulon, naturalist aboard Island Explorer 3

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Today was hard to describe. We ventured out to the Race Rocks area near Victoria, BC where we encountered J's and some K's. The lighting was so incredible with flat shimmery water with layers of the Olympic mountains in the backdrop. The whales were mostly slow, but incredibly social. -Traci Walter

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Spent a good amount of time observing J51. Looking healthy and full of energy today. Spyhops and breaches. We encountered them off East Sooke Park heading East at 8 km/hr. Two resting periods were observed. -Josh McInnes

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6:50 am - Gray whale near Second Beach, Stanley Park, Vancouver BC. -Greg Doughty

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We observed this animal this evening off Bainbridge Island. We can't figure out if it is a dolphin or porpoise. It had some grey markings on the fin. We never saw the underbelly. Today we say a very large seal - larger than we usually see - also off Bainbridge. -Kathleen and Julie, Yeomalt Point, Bainbridge Island
(Notes from Jessie Huggins, Cascadia Research: This is a Pacific white-sided dolphin; it looks very similar to one that Dyanna Lambourn photographed near Steilacoom in late June but from these photos I am not able to confirm that it is the same individual. It is difficult to compare the still photos to the video taken by the tugboat captain, but given the location I think it is likely to be the same one that he had recently seen.)

August 11
We spent the evening watching the sunset on the west side south of Lime Kiln. With perfect timing in the fading light, a pod of ~15-20 passed over the course of nearly an hour. This was the most magical sunset of my life. (And when I talk about babies on the video it's because I adore orcas and get more excited about them than puppies, not because all the orcas were juveniles. We did see two very young ones alongside others, though. -Kathleen Love

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Transients in Admiralty Inlet this evening were ID'd by Josh McInnes as T046, T046D, T046E, and the T046Cs...Hope they're still around tomorrow! -Renee Beitzell

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7:35 pm - 4 orcas between Useless Bay and Hanville. Played around for about 30 minutes then south. Don't know which pod but 1 with a large dorsal and two with small dorsals. -Chuck Clark

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7:00pm - Found them closer to the Whidbey side at Useless Bay, they were making a kill when we arrive and now they're just milling (7:20 pm). Group is split up. There were split up but just starting to come together as we had to leave. Probably 6-7 animals. Possibly T037 in there- working on IDs from photos. -Renee Beitzell, Chilkat Express

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Our neighbor spotted 3-4 orcas milling about and generally heading south in Useless Bay/Admiralty Strait in the shipping lanes. They were milling around for an hour or so (6:30-7:30 pm). The Edmonds jet boat that goes to Canada stopped and watched for some time (the whales swam up very close to the boat; the boat went dead in the water and just observed). One large ?male plus 2-3 smaller ones. They are too far away to ID. But, we rarely see whales from the Whidbey side of Useless Bay so this was a treat. We lost them as they moved south of the Point No Point Lighthouse. -Linda Ridder

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3:40 PM - Pod of 5 orcas seen heading south off Bush Point, Whidbey Island, traveling then stopped to feed. -Scott Doyle

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1:40 pm - (same?) Pacific White-sided dolphin from the other day. Hanging with us on our way to DuPont (WA). South end west pass. -Johnny Tugboat

August 10
Onboard Natsilane Monday afternoon, many L pod and K pod family groups were swimming down Rosario Strait. The 7' flooding tide was ending, then a 1' ebbing tide made for calm easy waters. I was able to identify the large L55 family, L92 & L90, L95 & L105 & frisky? L72. (The Whale Museum will tell you their names) The orca were very surface active, vocalizing and chatting! We witnessed all behaviors- powerful breathing, fishing, lunging, spyhopping, breaching, tail-fluke lobbing, pectoral fin lobbing, playing, resting, and whale 'flashes' suggesting mating! These whales made an uncommon choice to follow the ferry route west between the islands, taking their time, holding the attention of awed folks from San Francisco, Mexico, and on the ferrys! A memorable day, the many orca families traveling together, hoping they were getting enough salmon, knowing these whales need our help in restoring salmon abundance for their very survival. -Caroline Armon OnBoard Tours Whales

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What an amazing day, we headed out and find whales less than a half hour from port! LOTS of whales! We were so very fortunate to find many members of all three of our Southern Resident community, J-pod, K-pod and L-pod, right beside Cypress Island in Rosario Strait, with dead-calm conditions. Wow, whales everywhere. Some breaching, spyhopping, tail slaps, foraging with many great looks at these whales "in action". We took a break to find some harbor seals, then the whales caught up to us. We left them heading south between Cypress and Blakely Island. What an exceptional treat for our passengers, -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist

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I've always wanted to be out with whales with a fantastic sunset. Tonight, all the stars aligned. Part of K Pod and part of L Pod were hanging out in the middle of the islands, and after work some friends and I went out to catch up with them on our own boat. They came east and we were able to stay with them until the very last light during an incredible sunset. Such a wonderful night, I don't really have the words. -Traci Walter

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...was fortunate to be on the Chelan from Friday Harbor last night (7:45pm, August 10) rounding Lopez Island where we saw a large group of very active orcas. -Dan Kilmke

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K22 Sekiu and and son K33 Tika blew our minds aboard the Island Explorer 3 today in Rosario. They would continually breach on top of a harbor porpoise, and then lift the porpoise to the surface. And after this behavior, the porpoise would swim right next to them, seemingly unfazed. -Michael P Colahan

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11:00 am - This was from the (almost) superpod in Rosario strait just south of Lawrence point this morning. This is K22 and K33 harassing and eventually killed this harbour porpoise calf. They were quite excited breaching many times including this double breach.... -Karl Topping

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K22 and K33 were following or almost being followed by the little critter. Had to send these through. They were on the porpoise almost as soon as we got on scene, and last I saw were still nosing it around just before we left. -Andy Scheffler

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1:55 pm - Echolocation on Lime Kiln hydrophone and adult male orca in view on webcam, northbound then turned back. -Alisa, ON

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...Transients seen in the Strait of Georgia around 2:55pm involving the very cool T002c, T37/37B/37B1 and more. -Karl Topping

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Pod of 3 orcas at the mouth of the Columbia, ~3 miles in from the ocean, sighted last night, August 10th. -Marlan Zea.

August 9
Members of J, K, & L pods passed by Lime Kiln for nearly 2 hours in the morning. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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A unique encounter between K13 and Sailor the Dog written up by :GrindTV
"Kate and Jaycee Butler on Sunday enjoyed a magical encounter with endangered Southern Resident killer whales, especially an adult female who turned upside down to inspect the boaters, and even flipped water onto them with her fluke. But the real connection appears to have been with the Butlers' dog, a yellow lab named Sailor, who wagged his tail and seemed as intrigued by this strange beast in his midst as the orca seemed by his presence at the bow of the Butlers' 22-foot boat."

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During our evening trip I got photos of the underside of L121 showing that he is a boy! Confirmed later by the Center for Whale Research. -Bart Rulon

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K22 with Harbor porpoise calf. -Jill Hein

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Had a wonderful evening encounter tonight with Lolita's suspected Mother, Ocean Sun (L25). She was all off on her own, the closest whale who was a little further away was L41, Mega. Taken 45 years and a day later than when her daughter was stolen from her. -Traci Walter

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We had an awesome late afternoon encounter with L119 Joy and L113 Cousteau babysitting L121 while mom Calypso was off a little ways fishing. The youngsters were playing at the surface and very active, and then did some fishing themselves before mom rejoined them. This was off the south end of San Juan Island. -Carrie Sapp

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L85 Mystery throwing a big cartwheel in front of the Center for Whale Research boat. Near Cattle Point on Sunday evening. -James Gresham

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4:30 pm - What wonderful whale viewing today from the shore of Galiano Island. L pod ( I think) + ?, about 30 orcas in all, very actively went east through Active Pass. Many spyhops, breaches, tail slaps and cartwheels. -Karoline Cullen

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Orcas in Active Pass. An excellent show today of J and L pods shot from Galiano Island. Our guest Kim saw them for the first time today and was very excited as you can hear! (and who wouldn't be seeing them like this for the first time!) -Gary Cullen

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A spectacular encounter with Southern Resident orcas today off Stuart Island Lighthouse... On yet another glorious day of calm seas and blue skies, members of all three pods (J, K and L) were represented as they headed north in their family groups. We witnessed a number of natural behaviors, milling and feeding, breaching, spy-hopping and tail-slapping, against the stunning backdrop of Pacific Northwest mountain and forest scenery. With the whales having been sporadically searching for food in smaller, spread our groups, it was truly rewarding to see so many of them where they belong - together. -Sandra Pollard (Naturalist)

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During our evening trip I got photos of the underside of L121 showing that he is a boy! Confirmed later by the Center for Whale Research. L121, L119, Joy, and L113 Cousteau were all playing around with each other, chasing what looked like pink salmon, and playing with the salmon during our visit. They had salmon in their mouths, salmon on their rostrums, salmon on their dorsal finds, and salmon sandwiched in between them at times!...It was definitely a day to remember out there! -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, Island Explorer 3.

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3:55 pm - L12's at Eagle Cove. -Barbara Bender

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Today was great! We had members of all three Resident pods (J, K, and L) in the Salish Sea, as well as Transient orcas. The majority of Residents went north to the Fraser River...K12 Sequim erupted in a full breach as she crossed Boundary Pass with the L4's...and some stayed south off the Salmon Bank area, like the L12's. L55 Nugget (1977) with her daughter, L118 Jade (2011) traveling with K12 Sequim (est. 1972) with her daughter K43 Saturna (2010). -Heather MacIntyre

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12:30 pm - Many Js Ks Ls! Left them northbound off Spieden at 1230. I heard there were still some south of LK too. -Monika Wieland

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Lime Kiln must be a magical place where the separation between water and air thins and the orca seem to come in to check us out, as we are watching them. Sunday's morning pass lasted close to 2 hours as somewhere around 65 whales passed the lighthouse. One group of whales made several passes very close to the point where we were watching them. -Connie Bickerton

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Suttles (J40) was one of several whales that came in close to shore this morning, swimming back and forth in front of the LK lighthouse seeming to delight in the kelp and company of her kin. She was swimming with Tahlequah (J35) here and as she passed rolled over on her side so we could see her eye. Whether she was watching us, staring up at the sky, or doing something else entirely it was a moment that will stay with me. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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9:00-11:00am - Echolocation and S1, S4 calls then many calls erupted from Js, then Ks and Ls as they passed close to the rocks at Lime Kiln. Stunning visuals on the webcam of close passes, syphops, tail lobs. 10:00am turned on OrcaSound and began hearing faint S2iii calls. -Alisa, ON

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Pretty awesome morning. We headed out on the water at 8:00AM and headed west into Juan de Fuca Strait. We were close to Sooke when a report by Dan and Paul Pudwell via a fisherman came in of six orca inbound off Sooke BC. We ended up with a sub group of Lpod including L089, Southern resident orca. They were spread out over 3 km moving at an average of 4.5 km/hr and dives lasted from 4.5 to 5.5 minutes in duration. We left them heading East at Beacher Bay. -Josh McInnes

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Sunday evening (7 p.m - 7:30 p.m.) we watched 4 maybe 5 Orcas feeding and swimming along Marrowstone Island's eastern side. As they headed past East Beach they started moving out toward the shipping channel and we watched as they continued to move toward Whidbey Island. We islanders had a phone chain going and the first call came from folks up near Nodule Point telling us the Orcas were swimming south. -Patti Plevin Ivers

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We saw the same group of transients today- crazy that they stayed virtually in the same area for a 24 hour period! (Haro Strait) They must have been finding ample marine mammals to prey on. Transients included: T002C's, T034's, T037, and T037B's. -Heather MacIntyre

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4:55pm - Ts heading north in Haro Strait from Hannah Heights, San Juan Island. -Monika Wieland

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4:16 pm - Single orca, small in size, off the bluff below Langley city center, Whidbey Island. Last seen headed north. -Jennifer Hemeon

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2:00 pm - Spotted 3 orcas in the Squally Reach part of Finlayson Arm (west of Willis Point/Brentwood, Victoria BC) at about 2pm. One large male, one female, one smaller (juvenile?) They were slowly traveling north, mid-channel, but swimming back and forth with long periods under water (foraging?). Locals said it was very rare to see them here. -Dan Kilmke

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1:17pm - pod in a long dive at the moment.
12:53 - Boat pulled right up to them, people in front of boat looking down at the orcas from the bow! Orcas still in same general area (hunting) south of Scatchet head.
12:15. Breaching and tail slaps, might be on a kill. Still southeast of Scatchet Head.
11:54 am - Pod spotted heading southwesterly maybe a mile or two off east Scatchet Head, spotted from shore north Edmonds. -Stu Davidson

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9:00-10:57 am - Lone orca off S. Bell's Beach very close to shore. Looks to be a very small juvie. Been here since 9am and haven't seen an adult, he was moving towards the Bells cove towards Fox Spit. -Kathy Carr

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9:17 am - Stephanie Raymond on Victoria Clipper saw 4-5 orcas just south of Camano Head, moving south toward Everett.

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8:25am - They are approximately 1 mile north from the Mabana public boat launch. Still southbound, Camano side.
7:51 am - 3 whales Camano Island moving south near Mabana...2 adults 1 youngster. They seem to be feeding...very close to shore, ambling along playing. -Sally Olin

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7:15 am - We saw him (the single orca) this am right off Baby island, he was hanging around here and towards Fox Spit for a couple hrs. Never saw any others! -Stacy D Hansen

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A minke foraged nearby during a late afternoon encounter with Southern Residents off the south end of San Juan Island. -Carrie Sapp

August 8
Tika K33 in Haro Strait -Christie Fierro

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1:30 pm - K12s and K13s passed LK heading south.
8:44 am - Ks southbound in Boundary Pass. -Monika Wieland

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2:15-3:30 pm - Just wanted to share some photos with you of my encounter with the T37A's, we were in Boundary pass and it was 2:15pm when we got on scene with them. The hunting portion of the tour was at the end of our hour with them so it was around 3:30 pm. It started out very relaxed as they traveled along together. As we were about to leave for the day they decided it was time for a snack and Harbour Porpoise was on the menu. This Harbour porpoise looks to be either a neonate or a late term fetus. Just another example of the circle of life in the wild. I also got a shot of one of T37A's calves bellies. I believe the calf is T37A3, which looks to be a boy, with T37A2's dorsal fin in behind. I am fairly certain of the ID but would only hazard to say that I'm 90% sure. -Ashley Keegan

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1:30-4:30pm - 9 Transients, including the T2cs, 34s and 3 T37s, back and forth in front of Snug Harbor Resort Marina, Haro Strait. -James Mead Maya

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2:00 pm - An hour before the waterside ceremony to honor the orcas stolen from Penn Cove 45 years ago, there was word of orcas in the cove. This pair came quickly porpoising across the cove from west to east, eventually heading all the way out and back south into Saratoga Passage. How special to have whales visit on a day like today! -Rachel Haight

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Transients went north past Lime Kiln lighthouse at 1200. -Monika Wieland

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Sending you some pics of a Grey Whale. It seems she or he has been going back and forth feeding between Gibsons BC, and Sechelt BC on the Sunshine Coast Canada. It has been two weeks, and so close to the shore, it has been so magical! -Cornelia van Berkel

August 7
Spent the day with the K12's and K13's today right outside of Vancouver, with K12 "Sequim" and her daughter, K43 "Saturna" double syphopping by the north arm of the Fraser. -Gary Sutton

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Many up by the Fraser, but J Group B and the K16s were going back south in Haro St. at sunset last night. -Monika Wieland

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Members of the T065A's and T049A2 spent the morning in the north end of Saratoga Passage, close to the shores of Whidbey Island. By afternoon in their southbound journey, they turned into and traveled deep into Holmes Harbor. -Janine Harles
(ID's by Josh McInnes)

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2:15pm - it not an orca but you don't see to many Dolphins off of West Point, Seattle. -Johnny Tugboat
(Jesse Huggins of Cascadia Research viewed the Twitter video which unfortunately cannot be linked here: "Definitely a Lag (Pacific White-sided dolphin), but I couldn't say with any certainty if it is one of the two loners that have been in the south Sound....would be good if one of them decided to head north though, maybe meet up with other Lags next time they are around the San Juans or something!")

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Minke roaming the sound end of Rosario Strait. -Connie Bickerton

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A minke's head off Whidbey Island at the south end of Rosario Straits. -Connie Bickerton

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Day report aboard Mystic Sea: We motored up in between Lopez and Blakeley Island, moving in an out of the fog and sun, with a few reports of two humpbacks out in a fog bank toward Victoria. Moving through Cattle Pass, the sun was out, but as we searched in vain for the humpbacks in a heavy fog, reports came in of two to three minkes feeding off Salmon Bank. We did get some nice looks at the minkes feeding through the bait balls, and also saw magnificent Stellar Sea Lions on Whale Rocks. One highlight was seeing two tufted puffins, as they are scarce in the area these days. On the way back to port, two bald eagles were spotted. -Bonnie Gretz, volunteer naturalist

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5:25 pm - Orcas in Holmes Harbor! At least 4 of them! They were as far south as the golf course for a while. They turned north towards baby island. So cool! -Cindi Bowen

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4:30 - We received a report that some of the Transients turned into Holmes Harbor.

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3:54 pm - They went by Hidden Beach just now, I counted 4 before they went behind trees. Followed by a whale watching boat. -Nancy Culp Zaretzke

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12:51 pm - They are slowly starting to trend south into Saratoga Passage. Still watching from Long Point. They've had long down times then some surface action with tail lobs and breaches. -Rachel Haight

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11:45am-12:45 pm - From Marine Drive, Coupeville WA off Long Point in Penn Cove, Puget Sound. 4-6 adults, probably feeding as we'd see the dorsal fins (no exceptionally large ones) and backs, then they'd disappear and come up again repeatedly. One 10-15 ft boat came within 10 ft of them. Generally moving east and farther north towards Oak Harbor, WA This is the first time we've seen whales from here. -Kay and Dave Foss

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12:17 pm - They have been slowly moving east out of the cove for awhile now. Still watching from Long Point.
11:40 am - Group off Long Point. -Rachel Haight

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11:56 am - Orcas playing off of seaplane base. (NAS Whidbey) They were headed towards Coupeville. -Christine D Renteria-Brown

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10:45 am - Two orcas seen in Port Susan from shore near fishing pier at Kayak Point Park. -K Rod

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Report from Fell Cheston from about 10:30 am- Three orcas, two large and one small, were headed into Penn Cove from Harrington Lagoon.

August 6
We went out with the mission of checking up on J39 who was seen earlier this week with a fishing lure hanging out of his mouth. As of yesterday we were able to determine that his new found accessory was no longer attached. Whether he swallowed it or it fell out on it's own, we may never know. He appeared fine yesterday, and was behaving normally. -Center For Whale Research

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9:46 pm - now Lime Kiln...echo and faint S4 calls, getting louder.
9:20 pm - Just turned my volume back on...J pod is on OrcaSound. -Alisa, ON

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We met up with whales between Hannah Heights and Pile Point at about 4:15 PM. Turns out all of Js and Ks were in Haro Strait, and we hung out with some of them in this same area for almost two hours. J39 seemed to be in good spirits (right), rolling around and socializing with K37 Rainshadow (left). Fingers crossed he was just messing around with the flasher and is just fine! Some did go north, as we came across a large group heading quickly north on our way back home at Open Bay at 6:45 PM. -Monika Wieland

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6:21 pm - intermittent calls on hydrophone right now. -Wayne McFarland

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5:50 pm - Some calls on Lime Kiln hydrophone. -Kim Merriman

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A sweet afternoon being mugged my J16 and her new calf, J50. -James Maya

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10:15-10:45 am - about half a dozen widely separate orcas headed east-to-west past Flint Beach. -Tom Reeve

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9:45 am - FAINT calls on LK hydrophones...getting a bit louder.
9:30 am - Orcas on Lime Kiln web cam! -Kim Merriman

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3:00 pm - 4 Orca playing in Holmes Harbor thurs. Headed for baby Island. -Moe Jerome

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Today, we caught up with the whales at Bell's Beach. We were looking all around for the whales, when suddenly we clearly heard their blows; they had surfaced behind the trees out of sight. We counted at least 8 headed north. We moved to Fox Spit and saw a group headed our way. As they neared, the group split up; 4 came closer to our side. My husband spotted one close to shore headed straight for us. I gave my phone to him and said if the whale comes close you need to take a video (which he did!). This group was ID'd as the T065As by Josh McInnes and the orca who passed close to me is T049A2. What a day! Surprisingly, we lost sight of them after that close encounter, and despite searching for another 5 hours, we never did find them again. Maybe they turn up in Penn Cove tomorrow? (my first encounter with the T065As was actually in Penn Cove last September). -Rachel Haight

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1:40 pm - I just been watching a group 4 to 6 Orcas (possibly including one older male who was off to the side) swimming northbound in Saratoga Passage ( we are looking east from Bells Beach on Whidbey Island). This group is now near the state park on Camano Island. The boats in the passage are staying away from these whales. -James Koutsky

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1:25 pm - We heard them before saw them! At least 6, 2 juveniles...in front of Bells beach northbound. -Rachel Haight

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1:15 pm - pod now moving on northbound towards Bells Beach...very much on Whidbey side
1:00 pm - I have eyes on them...very close to shore in little bay north of Langley. Look to be on the hunt. they circled back in very close to shore. -Alisa, ON

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Had a great day on the boat finding a Pod of 5 or 6 Orcas!! The Orcas were spotted south of Langley near shore heading northerly into Saratoga Passage. (Several photos were sent to Dave Ellifrit of Center for Whale Research who confirms T65A's and T49A2 were present during this encounter). -Stu Davidson

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12:30 pm - Larry Derosier (sp?) stopped by Langley Whale Center to report 4 orcas milling near Sandy Point, Whidbey short time ago.

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12:17 pm - Pod of orcas off Sandy Point heading north (up Saratoga Passage) with 2 babies! -Melanie J. Sceva Hill

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11:06 am - Just saw them heading north off Clinton ferry dock. About a dozen. -Mario Falso

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In Clinton during the passage to Mukilteo Thursday morning. Sighted orcas, babies with their moms and large male. -Heather Routh

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John Rogstad from WA State Ferries left a message at 10:40 am that the ferry Kittitas was trying to depart the Clinton ferry dock, but couldn't, because a pod of about 12 orcas was frolicking in front of the ferry dock!

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10:05 am - A report from the ferry captains from several hours ago of 4 orca south bound at the Clinton ferry terminal. -Anna Lieding

August 5
Danielle called at 7:25 pm - she just saw the orcas from the Mukilteo/Clinton ferry, between the Clinton Ferry dock & Gedney/Hat Island, still heading north. She saw about 3 of them, said there could be more, it was a bit choppy out there.

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6:00 pm - Pod of orcas right in between Possession Point and the Shipwreck between Edmonds and Mukilteo! It really caught me off guard, I was out in the boat down off shipwreck and all of the sudden a pod of them surfaced in the distance. And then they sort of hung around just sort of milling around there for probably about 15 minutes and headed north. I saw them surface one more time about halfway closer to Mukilteo and then I lost them in my sight range. -Karsten McIntosh

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Day report: finally an overcast day! We had reports of orcas northbound, and southbound, so chose the southbound group, and headed towards the west side of San Juan Island. In slightly choppy seas, found J-27 Blackberry - offshore from Pile Point, what a treat! Just a few whales were in the area, closer to shore, we identified J-28 Polaris, J-31 Tsuchi, and J-46 Star, one or 2 others were too far away for ID's. Homeward bound, we checked out harbor seals with pups, a bald eagle and tons of the seabirds who are now back in the area, fun to see. A great day for all! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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My favourite shot of the day! ... surrounded by some J's (Group A) and K's. This was such a cool moment. All three J pod babies were all together playing with J42 "Echo". J26 "Mike" today and J52 and J50 playing with their aunt/sister, J42. This was right by the north arm of the Fraser River. Right outside of Vancouver. -Gary Sutton

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It's been pretty rough out there lately, and I don't know how I managed to get these shots in 3-4 foot chop but here they are! J34 Doublestuf was very playful and breached multiple times, and J27 Blackberry surprised many of the boat with close passes as he foraged with no constancy! -Heather MacIntyre

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8:34 am - Hearing some echolocation on OS now. -Gayle Swigart

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8:15 am - Echolocation on Lime Kiln hydrophone, it's very intermittent. -Renee Beitzel

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8:13 am - faint S4 calls.
7:55am - echolocation and little orca noises on Lime Kiln. -Alisa, ON

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1:30 am - K's on Lime Kiln now! -Barbara Bender

August 4
Transient (mammal-hunting) orcas! T037's off Victoria, BC. -Heather MacIntyre

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Humpback BCZ0180 lunge feeding on a blustery day. -Heather MacIntyre

August 3
10:22 - calls on Lime Kiln. -Jill Clogston

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I was at Lime Kiln and just a few came by, very spread out - travel with some possible foraging. They were far out and sun going down impacting ability to get good ID shots. Except the first one sure looked like Granny with dorsal notch and closed saddle. She was all by herself in front if it was her. Also bull dorsal could have been J27 based on shape. ID photos just a real challenge tonight. -Debbie Stewart

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7:18 pm - A couple of distant resident orca calls on OrcaSound hydrophone. -Alisa, ON

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6:13 pm - Orcas passing San Juan county park, Snug Harbor. Heading north in Haro strait. Group of 3, + possibly baby. -Tami Rainmom

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7:45-8:55 pm and still going... Loud calls on Lime Kiln. Early calls sound like L pod and now later calls typical of Js and Ks. -Alisa, ON

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7:47 pm - Echolocation on Lime Kiln! -Renee Beitzel

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12:45 pm - L12s off south end, others heading down Haro from Kellett Bluff, some stayed up by Point Roberts. -Monika Wieland

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5:00-7:15 pm - We viewed 11 orcas in two different groups. First siting was approximately 48.38.1 N, 122.39.24 W. Both pods rounded the north point of Sinclair; one group of five went straight toward the northern tip of Blakely while the other played near the marker off of Sinclair for about an hour (including two full breaches out of the water). This group of six then moved south along the west coast of Cypress chasing jumping salmon. One of these six was significantly smaller and appeared to be older calf/young juvenile. This one was separated from the rest of the pod two separate times. -Cory Marshall

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Blustery Afternoon Whale Day. The sun shining and warm, yet windy with a strong 8' flooding tide made for a fun boat ride on Natsilane, through some choppy, tide ripped waters over toward Lummi Island. Folks from California, Finland, and Seattle were up for the adventure! Transient-Biggs, mammal eating Killer Whales, T037A and family were on the prowl, they may have had 2 meals- harbor seal, porpoise? Fascinating the way they were working together, coordinating direction changes, lunging, and tail fluke slapping the water. It looked like a new calf was side by side with matriarch mama T037A! (Jared Towers confirms T37A has a newer calf T37A4, see notes in our Intro/summary) -Caroline Armon, OnBoard Tours Whales

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My daughter just got back from Point No Point (Kitsap) and reported seeing at least two Orca heading north passed the lighthouse. Approximately 8:30 pm. -Elyse Margaret

August 2
4:15 pm - Saw a large group of at least 20 orca traveling north past the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. They were feeding and playing, saw one breach and many spy-hopping and tail slapping. -Simon Powell

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L22, Spirit spyhops of the west side of San Juan Island! -Bart Rulon

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J2 Granny breaches this afternoon off the west side of San Juan Island. -Karin Kratzig Burns

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7:20-7:50 pm - hearing SRKW vocals on Lime Kiln hydrophone. -Alisa, ON

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7:32 pm - They are still squeaking and one is kind of gruting right now!
6:16 pm - They are on Lime Kiln hydrophone now. -Shellly Shima Cordis

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Day report: Some Js and Ks rocketed down Haro Strait this morning to meet up with other whales off False Bay. This afternoon all of J-Pod, the K12s, K13s, and K14s, and the L12 sub-group headed north past Lime Kiln between 4:15-5:00 PM. Shortly thereafter, the L12s split off and came slowly back south, making little to no progress against the strong flood tide. When I left Lime Kiln at 6:30 PM they were still milling offshore. These Ls used to be such a mainstay on the westside during the summer, but it was my first time seeing them this year! It was great to see them, and to meet little L121 for the first time. -Monika Wieland

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Spirit (L22) spyhopping tonight up near County Park, foraging with her son, Solstice (L89). -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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5:58 pm - Orcas on Orcasound hydrophone now. -Patricia Prochaska

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We had members of all three Southern Resident pods here (J, K, and L), and I was able to see all four new calves all in the same hour! Not only did the L12's return, an independent matrilineal sub-group of L Pod, but all of the orcas were incredibly social. L41 Mega born in 1977, babysitting his sisters calf, L121 off South Beach, SJI. The first thing we witnessed when we got on scene was none other than L41 Mega (the oldest SR male) spring into a full breach- twice! The vocalizations were incredible. -Heather MacIntyre

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A spectacular afternoon watching & talking whales with my grandson from South Beach & Eagle Cove. I think Granny & all 3 J pod babies were out there this afternoon. (confirmed) From shore, we could see salmon jumping too, hope all the orca ate well! Wonderful, many surface behavoiors, continual sightings from about 1-3:30pm. Treasured memories with my 2 generations. And I encouraged calling the Whitehouse for breaching the 4 lower Snake River dams, to family, friends, visitors! -Caroline Armon

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We encountered members of J11, J16, J17, J22, and J19 matrilines crossing Haro Strait. They were primarily traveling, the hydro was quiet when dropped by the boat. Many spyhops and aerial scans. -Connie Bickerton

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12:26 pm - The Js and Ks flew down. All at False Bay by noon. Literally over 100 boats out with whale watching and fishing. -Monika Wieland

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11:29 am - Clicks and squeals on Lime Kiln hydrophone and on webcam. Headed south! -Casey Graham

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11:28 am - Just heard them on Lime Kiln hydrophone and saw them on the web camera. Actually still hearing them! -Cindy Murray Lunsford

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Calypso (L94), Cousteau (L113), and a spyhopping L121. Little L121 was very active (just like last time I saw him/her). Lots of tails slaps, spyhops, and even squirting water at mom and sister. It was very cute to watch! Near Eagle Cove, San Juan Island. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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11:23 am - Ls reported at Eagle Cove northbound.
11:05 am - Whales southbound at Kellett Bluff at 8knots. -Barbara Bender

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10:00 am - At Turn Point Stuart Island, orcas heading toward Spieden. -Sherrie Stahl

August 1
2:21 pm - Hearing and seeing whales on the Lime Kiln hydrophone and webcam right now. -Denise Stubbs

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The only whales I saw were J16 w/ J50, J36 w/ J52, J27 w/ J39. Later found J19's with J28 and J46 and J31 plus one more ? headed south from Land Bank. -Barbara Bender

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The spiritual beauty of Southern Residents in a quiet resting line. Off Vancouver Island this morning. -James Gresham

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J's and K's off Vancouver Island this morning. K26 Lobo is leading with J2 Granny behind him. -James Gresham

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We were out this morning off Oak Bay and saw a large pod of orcas. I believe this was J and K pod traveling together. Big family unit, including a baby. It was just off Oak Bay Marina - they were traveling down from Sooke and headed towards San Juan Island. -Deanna Neumann

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11:04 am- Trial island now 5knts. -Barbara Bender

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9:54 am - Whales inbound from Constance Bank. -Monika Wieland

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12:30 pm - Sighted a whale, about 1 mile south of Camano State Park, Saratoga Passage. I believe it was a minke. Was around 20 feet in length dark back with smallish dorsal fin. Whale was moving fairly fast long distances before resurfacing. First time I have seen a whale like this in this area. -Laurence Petz