May 2015 Whale Sightings

Click here for Map of May 2015 whale sightings.

May 31
6:30pm - Approximately 14 whales in the group at the south end of Lopez Island feeding, hunting, socializing and playing for over an hour at sundown. -Michael Kundu

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A very cool encounter with some of our regular Bigg's Killer whales, the T65A's along with some very rare visitors. According to Dave Ellifrit from the Center for Whale research, the T125's have not been seen in the area since the 90's! What a remarkable and interesting looking group of orca! T125's consist of T125, T125A, T127, T128. -Traci Walter

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The T65As continue to be one of my favorite family groups, hands down. They are so interesting and always up to something. This was taken in Rosario Strait while they traveled with the T125s. -Katie Jones

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And a little more info. about the encounter from Dave: We left the T65A's and T125's at 1700 pointed east in Rosario Strait after they had traveled deep into Lopez Sound and then exited through Lopez Pass. To my knowledge, this is the first time the T125's have visited the area since the early 1990's. -Dave Ellifrit of the Center for Whale Research

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We found these guys (T125s and T65As) near the South end of Lopez Island. At least 3 males, and one youngster about 2 years old maybe? We also found 2-3 humpbacks South of that area on our way back home! Great day on the water! -Janine Harles

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Noon Sunday, May 31st, tight group of 8 orcas slowly cruised past the south end of Lopez Island, going east to west. Two distinctive male dorsal fins. -Sally Reeve

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8:00 pm - Hi, My family and I spotted a pod of Orca last night (May 31) while sailing just south of Point Roberts Marina. The Pod was fairly widely dispersed, we believe that there were a minimum of 10 and I'd guess more like 12 - 15 were present. They were in pairs or individuals spread over approx 1 mile of area. We were approx 48d 57.8N, 123d3.2 W and the pod was all around us, traveling east towards White Rock, BC. We saw them around 8PM We didn't get close enough for any detailed descriptions. We did see one Orca Breach 4 or 5 times, and another one flip it's tail completely over it's head. Amazing creatures. -Andrew Green

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Hi we were boating towards the ferry strip tonight around 7:30pm and we became surrounded with 10-15 Orcas. We were in our 19 foot boat and the Orcas were swimming southeast close to Point Roberts. It was amazing. I would say there was 2-3 pods. There was a massive Orca with a 4 foot fin plus a mama with a calf. The calf was small like a newborn. They were magnificent- majestic- beautiful. The mama & calf came the closest to our boat 50 feet away. The massive Orca with 4 foot fin was about the same. We were the only boat...I will NEVER forget this experience. Wish I had pictures for you! -Karen Conley-Giles

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Here are a few shots from a nice day in calm waters with all of J-pod, in the Georgia Strait a handful of miles of Entrance Island (Nanaimo, BC). Lots of socializing and activity! -Andy Scheffler

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Some of the most amazing and rare Bigg's Killer whales were around the San Juan Islands today! We later learned after Dave Ellifrit from the Center for Whale Research identified these as the T125's. (T125, T125A, T127, T128) These orcas haven't been seen in here for a very very long time! Was a very special thing to see them. They were with one of our regular groups, the T65As. -Traci Walter

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1:15 pm - Just saw T's in past hour off South Lopez Island moving southwesterly...and 2-3 humpbacks south of that, aboard Puget Sound Express. -Janine Harles

May 30
We were watching a busy group of transients (near Bamfield BC) and then we noticed the humpback. The HB kept a low profile and the Bigg's whales passed on by, but there was certainly lots of spy hoping and breaching by the Bigg's. Certainly lucky to get both in the same shot. -Sandra Pollard & Richard Snowberger

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No orcas yesterday on our trip out of Anacortes on Mystic Sea but we did catch up with three humpbacks somewhere near South Pender Island including we believe Big Mama and Windy. -Bob Mepham

May 29
1:00 am - J pod calls on Lime Kiln now. -Traci Walter

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At least two transients (I saw two bulls for sure, though there may have been a third cow) did a close swim-by of Ogden Point here in Victoria today around noon! I managed to catch up with them just off of Oak Bay Marina around 1:45pm before they carried on towards the San Juans from Chatham Island. Not the greatest photos but it was certainly a thrill to see them! -Michelle Rachel

May 28
We encountered low fog by Rosario Strait - and with news that J-pod was back in the area - we headed between the San Juan Islands, and by the time we reached the west side of San Juan Island, the fog was gone - and there was J-pod! They were spread out in several groups, and the first group we encountered were the J-16s with their TWO new babies. What a thrill for us all. They were heading west, so we turned towards home and found some of the J17s, also heading west. Amazing day! We rounded out the day with Steller sea lions on Whale Rocks, harbor seals, bald eagles, oyster catchers, and many other seabirds. Another great day aboard Mystic Sea! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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Some of J-pod family portrait - 2 calves here - saw two of the three J-pod babies...J50 and J52! -Jill Hein

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J27 (Blackberry) showing his moves today near Beaumont Shoal. -Gary Sutton

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Surprise! After being MIA for the last four days, J-Pod showed up in Haro Strait again this morning. While they were pretty spread out, I did see members of every matriline. J37 Hy'shqa, came closest to shore at Lime Kiln. -Monika Wieland

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11:35 am - In case anyone hasn't mentioned it, there was chatter on orcasound about 5 minutes ago. May still be some faint calls. -Jill Clogston

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10:45 am - Center for Whale Research reports J pod is coming down Haro Strait by San Juan Is.

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Saw J-pod this morning in Boundary Pass at 9:30ish, heading west towards Turn Point on Stuart Island... 2 humpbacks in the same area shortly before that heading east (~8:30am) and again at ~10:00am heading west. -Madison Duffin

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We saw them. Male was quite a distance behind the others. It seems like they were past Pt. Wilson by 4:30 or so. Victoria Clipper went by northbound and didn't slow down, so they must not have seen them. -Jill Hein

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3:10 pm - north of Lagoon point heading north at a good pace. East side of midchannel
2:55 pm - watching northbound Transients from Fort Flagler. Mid-channel - appear to be in southbound shipping lane. Approaching Lagoon Point from my vantage. -Connie Bickerton

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Was hoping to see them nearer Bush Point but was so happy to see them at all....Transients, about 4 of them. One lone male way ahead of group. -Marilyn Armbruster

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12:45 pm - watched the Ts for 45 min. From Norweigan Pt. making their way slowly north. Lots of activity. Now they are off Mutiny Bay. -Susan Marie Andersson

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12:30 pm - Spent the day with T036's, T087, T036B's and T124's on the Edmonds Puget Sound Express tour. Caught up to these T's in Admiralty Inlet, South side of Whidbey Island. They were headed north west when we left them approx. 12:30. They active! Cartwheels, breaches, tail lobs, spyhops, lunges and babies! -Janine Harles

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11:35am - We caught up with another group that was a little further north. They've all come together and lots of surface activity going on!! Breaching, spyhopping, tail lobs, etc. slowly trending north closer to Whidbey side.
10:32 am - We are sitting out off Possession Point with a small group that just made a kill. One large male and 3-4 females. -Renee Beitzel, Naturalist

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This morning east of Double Bluff, Whidbey Island. -Stu Davidson

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8:51am - 4-5 surfaced about 100-150' offshore north end of Edmonds Marina Beach. -Ariel Yseth

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8:47 am - Mid channel heading south.
8:33 am - moving south slowly further south of Kingston ferry.
8:25 am - I see 4 just North of Kingston ferry heading south slowly...now they are circling. -Janine Harles

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7:51 am - orca whales off President Point heading north toward Kingston slowly. -Joanne Graves

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5:00 am - John Miller of WA State Ferries left a message that 4 orcas were seen at 0500 in the Seattle/Eagle Harbor ferry lane, due north of Alki.

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These two feeding humpbacks, often surfacing as close as they could get to each other were in Swanson Channel between North Pender Isl and Prevost Isl heading in no hurry towards Active Pass. Humpbacks seem to like this area. -Peter McAllister

May 27
I got the pleasure of spending my evening with mammal-hunting orcas, known as Transients (T077A and T124C) in Deep Cove, BC. I love traveling north into the Canadian Gulf Islands, especially in the evening. Nothing beats the lighting on those beautiful islands that are characterized by a folded and faulted succession of metamorphic, plutonic, and sedimentary rocks. Those same island/rocks record nearly 400+ million years of earths history. It's pretty humbling when you think about it! -Heather MacIntyre

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9:45 am - Just saw the backs of two Orcas about 50 yards off Robinson Beach in Mutiny Bay, Whidbey Island. -Raymond Bigelow

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Mid afternoon, we spotted a large pod (about a dozen) from Cape Flattery lookout point. They were heading west from the mouth of the strait, then disappeared from our view behind Tatoosh Island. Fabulous!! -Carol Turner

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10:30 am - I know it's not an orca but saw a dolphin at Solo Point (south Puget Sound) this morning about 10:30 this morning. I'm a bit excited since it was my first time seeing one since we moved here. (possibly the lone Pacific White-sided dolphin seen in South Puget Sound since 2014-ALB). -Kim Burton

May 26
Transients with calf sighted 15:30 in Ucluelet Inlet. (Including T074 per Melisa Pinnow). -Shana Richmond

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It was a wonderful encounter with T77A and T124C! Two Bigg's Killer whales (transients). They were being very social together and then a big cargo ship wake came by which they SURFED! I haven't seen that in a while. Then they did lots of tail slaps to celebrate the surfing! -Traci Walter

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Another T77A and 124C kind of a day, near Java Rocks, BC. It is special when you are the first boat to find Orcas in the morning. We left them in the afternoon headed up Swanson Channel. -James Mead Maya

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Encounter with Bigg's/Transient males T77A and T124C -James Mead Maya

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5:45 PM - Possible [humpback] whale near Vashon Island. Spotted repeated spouts separated by more than a minute from the ferry between Vashon Island and Southworth dock. Could occasionally see back of whale with very small dorsal fin break the surface after spouting. After a private motor launch passed its location heading south towards Colvos Passage, the whale began what I think is called lobtailing. The tail and flukes would come completely out of the water, wiggle/wave about, then slap back into the water. It continued doing this at about 1 minute intervals until we moved out of sight. -Patrick Poor

May 25
Great day today spent with many different groups of Transient (marine-mammal hunting) orcas. We were on the water for about seven hours and loved every minuet of it! The first group of Transients we saw were the T018's/T019's, T124A's, and T051 who seemed to have switched groups overnight (he was traveling with the T075B's and T036A's yesterday). These whales were traveling west close to Sooke, BC. On our way home Captain James Maya found the other Transients that had been seen earlier today near Kelp Reef! Thankfully Captain Jim stayed with the orcas until we got on scene! On our second trip, we got the treat of being the only boat with the orcas for about an hour as we observed T077A (one of the "twins") and T124C in the beautiful evening light. It was totally serene ... Oh, and did I mention I got to see my first SEA OTTER EVER?!!! Yeah ... that happened! -Heather MacIntyre

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Made the long trip to Race Rock to see the Ts heading west, and then found some on the way home! Great day. -James Mead Maya

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8:50 pm - I can still hear them but no visual. Happy Memorial Day orcas!
8:30 pm -3 -4 orcas headed slowly south off of Dilworth, Vashon -Aimee Demarest

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5:45-5:50 pm - From Bremerton Ferry, I spotted orcas spread across the eastern half of Elliot bay in/near Bainbridge Ferry lanes. There were at least 3 small groups of 4-6 orcas per group heading due west towards Eagle Harbor. Robust tail slaps, strong blows and a synchronized surfacing of 4 large orca. Smaller one in lead group. Awesome! Only a few other people looked up from their cell phones when I yelled "ORCAS!!! -Donna Green Van Renselaar

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Returning from Blake Island around 5:30 today we observed a pod working approx 1/2 to 1 mile north of Alki point. They were working as a team circling around in about a 1/2 mile radius. Tail slaps and a couple of nice breaches. Cool for sure. -Lori Hunt

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5:30 pm - Single Orca sighted in Elliot Bay headed East. -Ian Smith

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4:30 pm - Orcas spotted by Jefferson Point headed south, 2 adults one baby. -Gary Peterson

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4:30 pm - Michelle Goll and I followed them south past Richmond Beach, they are just west of mid channel, split into 2 groups, one group should be visible from Carkeek by now. -Janine Harles

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3:35 pm - I'm at Kayu Kayu Park (Richmond Beach, Shoreline) and they're spread from north of the ferry (Kingston) to quite a ways south from there past the yellow mid channel buoy and the point south from there... They're moving south quickly.
3:07 see several at Kingston ferry now. -Michelle Goll

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3:23 pm - they are hauling south past Kingston. Still on Kitsap side. -Sara Troyer

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3:05 pm - North of Kingston a mile or so... Now seeing another group still heading south a little ahead of the single coming into north Kingston ...group of about 4 crossing the Kingston Edmonds ferry crossing route.
2:49 pm - single male orca heading south on Kitsap side by Elgon.. Very active breaching, jumping flipping , tail flops. Etc
2:37pm - single orca (male) heading south in shipping lane between Point No Point and Kingston. -Stu Davidson

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3:36 pm - We are seeing them from Kingston. On Edmonds side
2:23 pm - I have them at Eglon closer to Whidbey. -Elyse Margaret

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2:53 pm - from Edmonds Water street, see single orca more on Kitsap side approaching cell tower north of the Kingston ferry. -Michelle Goll

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2:47 pm - 1/4 mile south of Eglon boat launch two southbound moving fast - almost snuck by me. -Rebecca French Gerke

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2:00 pm - We saw at least seven or eight Orcas off Point No Point Beach in Hansville around 2 p.m. on Memorial Day. One Male Bigg's/Transient ame within 40 feet of shore and surfaced at least twice. They were visible off in the deeper water for at least a half hour. -Steven Gardner

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We were on a 30' sailboat coming down from Mystery Bay on Monday, and saw a pod of at least 5 close to the mark just north of Point No Point. Then the pod moved and stayed very close to the Point No Point light house and fed there for some time. We saw either the same pod or another one about 6 or 7 times on the way back to Elliott Bay! They seemed to be paralleling our path! Have never experienced so many orca sightings in one day! Incredible!!!! -Marty Wilhelm

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3:00 pm - Lone Orca taken from Eglon. Around 3pm ish..(I think) I hope some one can identify and let me know who I caught on camera! It was a great day. Saw a total of 3 different groups and the lone guy today.
1:45 pm - At Point No Point Saw 3 total one group. And the baby included! And another who has some scarring on the side. Hope this one can be identified. ( "I see T124 and T124E in there but that's the best I can do", Dave Ellifrit-Center for Whale Research). -Becky Newell Woodsworth

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1:35pm - There's a pod of whales hanging out at Point No Point (Hanseville, Kitsap peninsula) Another pod went by about a half an hour ago and a big male (guessing) came right up by the shore! -Debbie Ike Mangano

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1:20 PM - Orcas at Point No Point. We were on the Southeast shore of Point no Point and sat down. When we looked up we saw a huge dorsal fin right in front of us! The Orca swam off and we thought it odd it wasn't in a pod. Then we walked back around by the lighthouse and the pod was out there meandering. We tried to take a video but our phones could not zoom in. It was a Beautiful sight and I will never forget how big that dorsal fin looked! -Betsy Tarpley

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1:00 pm - Just saw them going south past Point No Point. -Judy Anderson Roupe

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Noon - they are nearing yellow channel marker
11:55 am - About 6 transients near Foulweather Bluff and closer to Kitsap side moving fairly quickly south. I'm on Whidbey side at Shore Meadows/ Mutiny Bay. -Marilyn Armbruster

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11:45 pm - Large solitary (?) male orca sighted heading south toward Point No Point by crew of S/V Aurora just north of Foulweather Bluff. We are volunteer docents at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center. -Jack and Carol McCreary

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11:45 - 8-12, maybe more, in two groups heading steadily south off Foulweather Bluff coming up on Skunk Bay. -HG/SB

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10:42 am -Transients on a kill mid channel in Admiralty Inlet. Moving south at Bush Point....There are more really spread out. Not sure who they are but definitely transients. We only saw one male, the rest were females (at least 5-6) with a juvenile in the mix. They were not traveling with the male at all. He was alone, on the perimeter. There was also either a lone female or possible pre-sprouter male closer to Marrowstone. As I mentioned previously, they were really spread out today. -Renee Beitzel

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Dan Wambach called with a sighting at 6 AM, four miles off Tillamook OR. He estimated there were 6 to 8 pairs of orcas, not traveling but breaching and coming up in all directions. No photos were taken.

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Minke at Hein Bank. -Connie Bickerton

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Split Fin and friend, Bellingham Channel. -Connie Bickerton

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1:05 pm - Humpback whale south bound between Vashon , Fauntleroy mid channel...seen from WSF ferry Cathlamet...- Wayne McFarland WSF

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Maia from WA State Ferries called to report either a humpback (or gray) whale near the Fauntleroy ferry dock, south of Alki/W. Seattle around 1 pm. If anyone sees it or gets photos confirming the species please let us know- thanks!

May 24
Humpbacks in the morning and T36A,T36A1, T36A2, T36A3 (the older new baby) T75B and her new baby T75B2, and T75C and the male T51, in the afternoon and evening. I love to watch them as a family. Haro Strait. -James Mead Maya

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5:00 pm - 7 Transients passed Lime Kiln heading north. Quite a ways offshore. One adult male and one calf in the group. -Monika Wieland

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2:00 pm - We spotted 6 or 7 whales at Salmon Bank, south of San Juan Island, at N48° 23.435' W123° 02.258'. They appeared to be transients slowly moving northeast....We believe we counted 5 adults and one calf. -Patrick Heys

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This was the T77 group, inbound just east of Albert Head near Victoria at about 7:30 pm. We were the only boat on scene. As indicated in the file names, one shows T77 and T77C, the other shows the sprouter male, T77B, and sibling T77D. The transient invasion continues! -Val Shore, Naturalist

May 23
Here is T101A and T124C traveling together on May 23 in the upper Gulf of Georgia...And T077A and 102 traveling together same day as they headed South... It's amazing to me to see how far they are traveling during their time in our waters. Then we have gangs like the 002C's who spent over 2 weeks up in our area recently never seeming to move more then 40 miles a day. -Nick Templeman

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... morning near Salmon Bank many members of Jpod were foraging and socializing and among them was Hy'shqa (J37) with little J51 swimming in her slipstream (mama Eclipse (J41) was close behind). As soon as there was even a little bit of room T'ilem I'nges was smooshing himself between the two and took his place in her slipstream as if to say "This is MY mom! -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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J Pod today at the north end of San Juan Island. Hy'Shqa and T'ilem I'nges. -Connie Bickerton

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Today was an amazing day on the water. We saw all of J pod, including all the babies, off the north end of SJI slowly heading north. I was able to finally get a picture of Granny, and much of J pod popped up right next to the boat. It's experiences like that you'll never forget, when you see these massive animals surfacing just feet away from you. It's then that you can truly appreciate their size and beauty. Hearing them breathe is the best sound on earth. Wild and free, as it should be. We left them about 7pm I believe. -Rachel Haight

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J-Pod passed Lime Kiln heading north at 3:30! -Monika Wieland

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J27 Blackberry. J-pod the west side of San Juan Island, magical, and very thankful. -Jill Hein

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From San Juan Island at approx. 15:50; Orcas swimming north 1.5 miles south of Lime Kiln Park. -Michael Gallagher

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I watched this wonderful interaction today from shore. A couple kayakers were trying their best to get out of the way but there was wind and current. J52 decided it really, really, really wanted to take a close look at the kayaks. Mom (J36) instantly cut the kiddo off, and even though the kiddo tried to wriggle over her again, mom blocked J52 again this time pushing the calf pretty much out of the water and away from the kayak. And off they went, lesson learned. Pretty funny to watch. It was very clear that she wanted the calf to have no part in these kayaks. -Traci Walter

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J34 Doublestuff (foreground) with his younger brother J38 Cookie. Polaris breached in front of Cattle Point Lighthouse on San Juan Island this morning. 104 yr old matriarch, J2 Granny signaling JPod to group up and head north this morning. Immediately after this they did exactly that. -James Gresham

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J Pod tonight in a resting line with little J51 in the foreground right behind J2 Granny, the oldest Southern Resident Orca at an estimated 104 years old this year. -Heather MacIntyre

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12:18 pm - Just saw a group of whales off the Hood Canal bridge? Any details? They appeared to us on the left side of the bridge as we were driving over to Sequim from Tacoma. We were driving so didn't get to stop and observe as we would have liked to, but it was clear there were several dorsal fins popping up. (Unconfirmed but sighting of earlier reports and timing makes this possible-ALB) -Amber Wilson

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7:14 am - 3 Orca Whales heading south in Possession Sound. -Jonathan Keag

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6:58 - Small pod headed south between Clinton and Mukilteo, 2 males & 3 females. -John Crawford

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10:45am - Minke near Protection Island. -Dave Davenport

May 22
I took this image of J16 today, she was playing with her family. Image was taken at the bottom of the Strait of Georgia. -Steve Ellwood

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Calls heard on lime kiln 1044pm, some faint with others very clear...about every 2-3 min. -Kristy Todd

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9:52pm - hearing whales on Lime Kiln hydro now.
9:10 pm - Heard some echolocation clicks and a few whistles on the orcasound hydrophone from about 8:20 and now it seems to have gone quiet. -Whitney Neugebauer, Whale Scout

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I spent the evening at the lighthouse on San Juan Island watching J pod meander by while fighting the flood tide...I'm pretty sure this is what paradise looks like; orcas, calm waters, and a candy-colored sky. -Katie Jones

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8:15 pm 4+ orca off of Otter Bay on Pender Island heading north. -Jeffrey Sevold

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Orcas this morning at around 7:30am at Tilly Point on Pender Island and same area again tonight at around 5:45pm. J pod? -Madison Duffin

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6:04 pm - A pod of orcas in Colvos pass at the north end of Vashon! -Kristin Amrine

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5:15 pm - I saw two orcas traveling north at about the halfway point in Colvos Passage. -Tara Morgan

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3:15 pm - Moderate size pod of Orca heading North in North end of Saanich Inlet, BC on west shore. Playing and travelling. Breaching. Young and juvenile seen as well as adult. Very young whale looked playful and active. -Martin Model

May 21
4:15-4:55 pm - We were headed over to fish for ling cod and this pod of orca surrounded us between Bainbridge and Seattle. Do you know which family group it was? The big male had 2 big notches out of its dorsal fin....they were playing with a sea lion for a good 30. At one point the sea lion tried to hide next to my 19' boat. Made me very nervous with the orcas coming in and out under my boat trying to get the sea lion...there also was an orca about 4-6' long with them. They kept circling around like they were waiting for it. Did those transients recently have a calf? Video taken around 4:55PM between Yeomalt Pt on Bainbridge and West Point on the Seattle side in the middle of the shipping channel. here was a separate group of 4 that were right off Yeomalt that we saw earlier that were moving quickly heading north and hugging the shoreline. That was around 4:15. -Scott Orness
(Video ID comments per Melisa Pinnow: Chainsaw T063 is that male with the two notches. The T037, T065, & T090 matrilines were probably there too and if you saw another male, he was probably was T087)

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6:30 pm - Well, the day started with with Chainsaw and ended with another sighting of 3 orca heading SE in Squaxin passage toward Hunter Pt and the inlet of orca sausages in Henderson Inlet. Harbor seal pupping is close at hand and there is not one orca sausage around Steamboat Is /Carlyon Beach Marina right now. -Lourdes Flores-Skydancer

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1:30 pm - South Sound Sighting. Observed group of 4, possibly 5, including 1 male, traveling W through Balch Passage, adults feeding; young playing. -Rob Hamilton

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11:15 am - Group of approximately six Orcas, presumed transients, were spotted heading North in South Puget Sound. A big male was one of the six. -Walker Duval

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10:00 am - Four, possibly five orcas cavorted this morning in Eld Inlet, headed north. -Dennis Johnson

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Drone footage of some of the "super pod" of transients who visited Frye Cove, Olympia at 9:00a.m. T63 and T87 were here at the same time. Thanks to Chris Hamilton for the great capture on film. What grace.

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7:15 am - T63 (Chainsaw) & family in South Puget Sound. A calm foggy day was greeted with Chainsaw and family cruizing by Hope Is here in the south Puget Sound @ 07:15am. Traveling southeast toward Hunter Point. Fantastic!! -Lou & Raven Skydancer

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Here's more from my encounter with J Pod between Matia and Sucia Island. These whales were in a resting pattern, where they essentially turn half of their brain off, alternating "sleeping" hemispheres in their brains a number of times during a resting period. When orcas rest, their behavior is also more predictable. They will go down for a 3-5 minuet dive, then surface for 5-6 breaths. J Pod circled around and stayed between the two Islands for about two hours hours last night, barely moving from that location. I don't get to observe the entire pod (minus the independent J16's) resting together very often! I'd take this over breaching whales any day. Watching "resting" resident orcas is like meditation for me. The way their exhalation comes up in synchronicity like smoke stacks, with their breaths equally as in sync, "koof, koof, koof", sends me to an incredibly peaceful place. I'm so grateful that I was there to whiteness this! -Heather MacIntyre

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Orca watchers, below is your final update on L84's movements, whose satellite tag detached by May 23. The 96-day deployment exceeded the K25 deployment in 2013 by 3 days and was much later in the year, providing the first satellite-linked tag data for Southern residents for the entire month of April and much of May. With the deployment of the tag on J27 in late December 2014 and the tag deployed on L84 in February, we were able to monitor the movements of some of the Southern Resident killer pods for nearly four and half continuous months this winter and spring.
On our previous update of L84's movements (11 May) he (and likely at least a few other whales) were off the entrance to Clayoquot Sound. They continued south and on the evening of the 12th had reached the offshore area of the Juan de Fuca Canyon. By the morning of the 13th they were off Cape Alava and our colleagues from Cascadia Research Collective attempted to intercept the whales but were unsuccessful due to rain and sea state. They whales continued south - by the morning of the 15th they were off Cape Elizabeth, off the Columbia River the morning of the 17th, and off Tillimook Head on the morning of the 19th. The whales headed back north such that they were just south of the Columbia River on the morning of the 21st. Our colleagues from Cascadia Research Collective were able to intercept the whales late that day and document L84 in the presence of at least a few other members of L pod. They also observed that the tag was just about to detach from L84 and by 23 May, the next scheduled transmission day, no signals were received. -NOAA-NWFSC, courtesy of Brad Hanson, NOAA-NWFSC, Northwest Fisheries Science Center 2015 Southern Resident Killer Whale Satellite Tagging

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At about 6:30 am a pod of at least 15 Orcas passed Mouat Point heading toward Otter Bay on Pender Island. (possibly J pod). -Barb Foyd

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3:32 am - Hearing some calls on Orcasound. -Jill Clogston

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7:35 pm - they are passing Marina Beach in Edmonds, still northbound midchannel steady speed. -Connie Bickerton

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7:34 pm - Orcas going north past Kingston in the shipping lanes northbound. -Stu Davidson

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5:30 pm - 3-4 orcas just passing Fay Bainbridge, Kitsap side heading north. -Sue Surowiec Larkin

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4:30 pm - Orcas off BI (Bainbridge Island) ferry. -Elyse Margaret

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Washington State Ferries reported a pod of 3 orcas east of Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island, heading north in the southbound traffic lanes at 4:15 pm.

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4:11 pm - I just watched 2 Orcas pass by Carylon beach heading towards Totten! Totally magical! My husband thought he saw 5 by the time they came around the end of Steamboat Island I could only see 2. They were hugging the opposite shore pretty good! I'm so glad we got to see them. -Haley Valentine

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2:45 pm - Orca on the east side of Anderson island, maybe visible from the Anderson island Riviera boat dock, headed south. I can barely see them from the ferry, but 2 boats are following. -Belen Bilgic Schneider

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2:00 pm - I did not see them but several people reporting orcas were headed north up Colvos Passage -Olalla this afternoon - seen around 2pm passing Al's and shortly after passing Prospect Point. -Katie Schmelzer

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1300 hrs- They are north of Anderson now! -Matt Graham

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12:41 pm - they are east of McNeil Island, yellow boat is in the center of 2 pods. They were moving fast!
12:35 pm - Orca spotted heading east around Eagle Island near Anderson Island. -Belen Bilgic Schneider

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11:13 am - They are heading north near Johnson Point and Nisqually. I only saw two, maybe 3, one very large one. -Alycia Warbington

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There were at least 10 in Eld Inlet this morning....maybe more. Chainsaw and a few other BIG males. Just came in from photographing them. Lost sight of them after they hit Dana Passage around 11:00 heading east to Anderson Island area. LOTS of activity. Spread out. LOTS of animals. -Kim Merriman

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9:30 am - A large Orca Pod with a male and calf (Chainsaw T063 and the others) were spotted out front of my home in the Steamboat Community off of Hunter Point Road on Salty Drive this morning out in Eld inlet heading toward Dana Passage. I counted about 6 total. Photos to come! -Kristin Boberg Susalski (From photos, Melisa Pinnow ID'd T063 and T037 as being present)

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9:05 am - Orcas by Flap Jack in Eld inlet heading north. -Mary Lou Christenson

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This is the "big male" (T087) that headed around Johnson Point first with 3-4 others. However, he was in Eld Inlet with Chainsaw and company (5-6 others) at 7:30 this morning. -Kim Merriman

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7:15 am - This morning I saw a pod of 7-8 with a huge male with two large notches toward the tip of his dorsal. I did not see him a couple weeks ago. I live out at Steamboat Is here in Olympia. They were observed traveling SE toward Hunter Pt area. -Raven

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(morning northbound north Puget Sound Pod who headed out Admiralty Inlet): 11:49 am - Just spotted KW's off Kinney Pt south end of Marrowstone - Puget Sound Express -Rob Sanderson

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8:00 am - 3 (?) passing Eglon, northbound closer to Kitsap side. Looks like they will pass by Point No Point next. Moving fairly fast. -Rebecca French Gerke

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6:00 am - my son saw some whales this morning off President Point (Kingston, WA) going northbound. -Joanne Graves

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10:29 am - We are crossing Strait of Georgia, S/SE of Savary Island. Just spotted a pod of Orcas, at least 8 in the pod. We are between Mystery Reef and Stradiotti Reef. Does anyone know if these would be J pod? There appeared to be at least 2 males. -Sharon Yale Mitchell

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4:58pm - I think he's moving fairly fast northerly. Close to shore heading towards Mukilteo.
4:45 - humpback just passed close to shore north Edmond heading north. -Stu Davidson

May 20
6:30 pm - 7:15 pm - At least 8 orcas seen off north tip of Steamboat Island. They then moved into Totten Inlet. One was likely Chainsaw. -Eric Gardner

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11:15 pm - drifting off to sleep listening to beautiful sounds of J pod on Lime Kiln hydrophone. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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10:20 pm - Good evening, It feels great to finally report some orca calls after such a long absence! I emailed you over a year ago, but since then I have become a full-fledged (pun intended) and obsessed birder, and have been neglecting orcas a bit recently. Well, no more! A bonus is that my birding practice has honed my ability to identify calls, something that might help me during hydrophone sessions. I navigated to the hydrophone site by accident at 10:20 PM tonight, and decided to have a listen. Boy, am I glad I did! S1 calls all over the place, with some S4s mixed in too, and a few S2s here and there. Sounds like J Pod is spending the night in Haro Strait, or at least passing through! I got a nice 5-minute recording. -Joshua Glant, Mercer Island, WA

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10:15 pm - J Pod is on the Lime Kiln hydrophones. -Tracy Morris

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6:30 pm - Great viewing today. Lots of orcas. Lots of pectoral and tail slaps. And several breaches including some from a very small orca. At least a dozen whales, taking their time, traveling east to west ...One tight group of 6 or 7, males and females, very active. -Sally Reeve, Flint Beach, Lopez Island.

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8:23 pm - Totten Inlet - beautiful pod just went by my house. -Marsha Callahan

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8:00 pm - Orca sighting - Little Skookum Inlet. Sighted three whales, either two females and one juvenile, or one female with two differently aged juveniles as there appears to be a size difference. Sighted them just east of the Narrows traveling eastwards with the falling tide, just after the peak of high tide, presumably on their way to Totten Inlet. -Ed Huber

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8:00 PM - Orca sighting in Totten Inlet. Saw 3 Orcas splashing and playing, heading south down Totten Inlet. They then headed west into Little Skookum Inlet and disappeared from sight. -Lorren Garlichs

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7:30 PM - Orcas in Totten Inlet. Just saw 5 to 7 orcas heading into Skookum inlet which goes west off Totten inlet. Seem to be cruising, at least one playing a bit, breaching and tail slapping. traveling, some playing, at least one breached several times, perhaps same one slapped tail several times. Beautiful, heading into the setting sun. -Randy Johnson

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7:30 PM 4-5 Orcas in Totten Inlet outside Olympia! Playing and jumping around, traveling west. Looked like there was one smaller one...perhaps a baby? -Alex Sheldon

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3:30 pm - saw a group of at least 10 Orcas within 100 yards of the entrance to Zittels marina on Johnsons Point. They were initially traveling south towards Nisqually, but turned back to the north. There was a least one male. Appeared to be multiple juveniles. -Tim Archer

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..at 1240 I photographed 5 orcas just off the Duke Point Ferry Terminal (Nanaimo). -Peter Hamilton

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1900 in Comox Bay between Sea Cadet Camp and Comox Marina a pod of about 4 Orcas with a baby were very active shallow diving for at least 30 minutes amongst moored boats and centreboard fleet of Comox Bay Sailing Club, eight 420s and Lasers, attempting to sail with no wind. Depth about 80 Ft. Sunny and clear. We were within 25 ft but had no camera. Possible attraction harbour seals but none seen. -Bruce Archibald

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Big Mama (BCY 0324) again today. Strait of Georga, BC. -James Mead Maya

May 19
We spent Sunday with the T101's near Deception Pass and watched as the whales tried to push against an 8 knot flood tide to get out of the pass for over a half and hour! It was an amazing display of power and strength. They eventually made it through a smaller section of the pass and cruised north in Rosario Strait. -Katie Jones

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Here's some pictures from today's encounter with J Pod! Today we watched as J Pod tried to push against a raging current at East Point for at least two hours, barley making any headway around the point. They were being very social along the way breaching, spyhopping, and cartwheeling. The encounter was kind of bitter sweet for me though, I wish they'd conserve more energy. Since their habitat is no longer productive with their primary food source, Chinook salmon, these orcas are going to need all of the calories they can get. Despite my concerns, it was definitely incredible to watch. We also got to see some great displays of family unity through respiratory synchronicity as well! -Heather McIntyre

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We had 5 (including Chainsaw) from 4:00-7:00 in Case Inlet. Then at 9:00, there were 7 (including Chainsaw) heading deep into Budd Inlet. No I.D. on the two other stragglers who joined the group in that 2 hour time frame. -Kim Merriman

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7:00 pm - Saw a big pod in front of our house in Lakebay.... They went around Herron Island (Case Inlet) It was Beautiful! -Jen Harris

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These were shots I took as this pod played between Fox Island and Chambers Bay. -Glenn Hansen

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Northbound in Colvos Passage around 7pm. -Melissa Bird

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Transient orcas passing through Colvos Passage! -Brittany Gordon

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5:09 pm - 4-5 orcas in front of Salmon Beach (Tacoma Narrows Bridge) heading north. -Corrie Githens

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4:45 pm - A pod of Orcas passed Point Fosdick. Feeding, then traveling on the east. I took the picture from my back yard. -Dave McClung

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4:35 pm - Now heading towards the Narrows Bridge. Looked like they just made a kill.
4:05 pm - Pod of maybe 6 orcas in Hale Passage heading towards Wollochet. A slow meander. -Anita Asmussen

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6:00 pm - I spotted plumes this afternoon just to the WSW of Dutchers Cove on the Key Peninsula. It was difficult to get a good count, but I estimate 4 to 6 whales. They would resurface every five to seven minutes, heading slowly WSW toward Hartstine Island. My last sighting was around 6:35pm. traveling. They tended to surface together...lots of spumes then none. This is a first for me...really exciting! -John Lauber

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4:30 pm - just sighted 4 orcas headed north up Case Inlet. 3 were grouped together and 1 was a little ways out. I'm located about 1 mile north of Joemma state park in Lakebay. -Herald Ugles

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4:05 pm - Nisqually reach Baird/dogwood beach. 6 whales, 2 males, 4 females AND a baby! Close to shore. Must of been getting a snack on the sandbar in front of the house. They were beautiful as always! Even burned my dinner when we saw them ! Worth it! -Denise Roswell

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2:20 pm - Just off Anderson Island Ferry Dock. -Lisa Elliot

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Encounter report: It was lots of fun seeing Chainsaw (T63) and his friends around Anderson Island. The most I have in any one shot is 5, but I think there were 2 distinct groups of 4-5 individuals, and maybe more than that. We were shooting entirely from beaches, and they came across from the center of the Sound between Chambers Bay, McNeil, and Steilacoom, then headed around the tip of McNeil so they were between Anderson and McNeil, heading toward Eagle Island. Once they got to the pier on McNeil beyond the prison, they milled around and went back the way they came, played off the Anderson Island ferry dock for a while, and then headed up the east side between Anderson and Ketron islands. At that point, they were moving fast in two widely spaced groups toward the south tip of Anderson Island and were out of our sight. What a day! (I definitely got my exercise booking it up and down beaches . Still working on IDs, but we got a lovely visit from the orcas today - at least the T65s (matriarch T65, her daughter T65B, and grandchild T65B1), adult female T37, T63 "Chainsaw" (the male with the huge notches in his dorsal), and the T124s (matriarch T124, daughter T124D, son T124E, and grandchild T124D1). Many thanks to Sara Hysong-Shimazu for working on IDs with me!
2:10 pm - Changed direction and now headed between Ketron and Anderson Island...there were so many originally...the ones we saw heading south past Anderson Island were probably 7, and I think prior to that, we saw 9-12, so it wouldn't surprise me if they split. -Belen Bilgic Schneider

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1:45 pm - I lost them at the SE end of McNeil Island.
1:10 pm - I see them from the park just up the street from the Steilacoom ferry terminal, closer to McNeil Island and heading toward the prison complex (south). -Gayle Swigart

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1:00 pm - they are heading south, up close to McNeill Island still north of the pier now.
12:52 pm - from Chambers Bay, they are close to McNeill Island, heading south towards the pier. Very active right now.
12:35 pm - I'm way behind them so hard to tell.. but looks like they are between the Buoy & McNeill Island pier, heading south.
12:32 pm - off the south tip of Fox Island, before the McNeill Island pier. Milling. -Melissa Bird

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11:50 am - they have stayed South of the fishing pier. Lots of breaching, tail slapping, etc. 9 were counted. Definitely one or more babies. -Heidi Powers Armstrong

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10:32 am - Now they are heading toward the SE end of Fox Island, towards the fishing pier, theres at least 7!
10:15 am - We are watching a pod of orcas from SW Fox Island. The orcas are near the SE side of Mc Neil. It looks like 6 or more and some little ones too!! So excited!!! -Julie Gonsalves

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Hi there, this evening when I was on the ferry traveling from Duke Point to Tsawwasen, I saw a whale in the water. Photo's are horrible, it didn't breach so I was only able to see it's dorsal fin. -Kameko Walker

May 18
2:30pm - 5 orcas near Chinook WA in Columbia River reported by U.S. Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment.

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Sighting Solo Point. We were out filming the Oil Rig protest in Seattle, when we returned home to Steilacoom we ran in to a pod of about 20 Orcas. We took a bunch of still photos and were lucky enough to have one battery left for our DGI Inspire Drone (cutting edge drone) and took some awesome drone video. I cannot post the done video on here but after editing we can get it to you. FYI we could have gotten much better Drone video but we wanted to keep our distance. -Christpopher Cardillo

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I saw these orcas in Tacoma by the Narrows Marina in the evening. -Matt Graham

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Early evening - 8 to 10 orcas spotted just north of Narrows bridge, feeding in the rip currents. A very pleasant first day of boating!!! -Don Curtis

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2:00 pm - just off the entrance to the Winslow Ferry entrance we encountered a pod of orcas heading south in Puget Sound. Over 20 were seen. Anne Burrell-Smith

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12:40 pm - Observed 1 male and, at least, 3 female, 4 confirmed, moving south, 1 mile ESE of Point Jefferson. -David Kobernuss

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6:10 PM - There were 10 to 12 Orcas that just went by Thieves Bay on the west side of Pender Island and appeared to be feeding. -Don Mandryk

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A gem of an evening with J pod going eastward through Active Pass. Just us on the shore and the whales in the Pass. Magic! -Karoline Cullen

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1:30 PM - Orcas! Playing - northbound past Edwards point/Lime Kiln light house. Dozens of them ... jumping, spy hopping, back floating...omg! some of the boys dorsal fins really grew! playing. One mom with small dorsal fin and baby was leading the pack. -David Liddle

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9:45 am - B&W's (orcas)... at it again. Eagle Cove is the spot!! -Erin Corra

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Lime Kiln was goin off with J Pod! -James Taylor

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10 am - 6-8 orcas off Tilly Point south Pender island. Looked like they had 2 babies with them. Heading east.
2 humpbacks a few minutes behind them but still in the area. Breaching, pec slaps, and some flukes. Lovely morning! -Madison Duffin

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7:51 - Just saw a pod of 5 or 6 orcas heading south past Fox island, Gibson point area. -Jay Gray

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6:48 - 2 orcas on the west side of the Vashon pt. defiance ferry. Trying to follow by boat. -Jed Dimaggi

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6:38 - Cuurently watching Orcas in Colvos passage across from Salmon Beach and also outside Gig Harbor. -Holly Bukes

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6:32 - You can probably see them very well from the lookout in Pt. Defiance. They were mid channel looking like they might go toward the Narrows.
6:22 - Lots orcas headed towards the Narrows right now from the south end of Vashon.
6:19 - I have orcas on the very south end of Vashon and some headed towards the Narrows right now!! -Holly Bailey

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6:30 PM - Pod heading south into Tacoma Narrows. Pod heading south into Tacoma Narrows. Looked to be +/-6 Orcas. Spotted them between GH bay and Vashon Island, seemed fragmented. Once entering Tac Narrows all were in a line surfacing almost in sync. Too far away to ID. -Kelly Perrow

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6:04 - 8 Orcas now off south end of Vashon Island heading west. -John Troup

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3:15 - saw fins and blows at the north end of Vashon, viewing from Lincoln Park. Too far away to get a count. -Rebecca Sherwood

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1:50 - milling just across from Pritchard park mid channel and heading slowly south. -Kim McCormick Osmond

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1:19 - Fun to watch a large pod of Transient Orcas pass by this morning! About 10+ Orcas slowly made their way south stopping often to frolic on this warm sunny morning.
Note: the large dorsal Orca belongs to "Chainsaw" - known for his dorsal's chainsaw resemblance.
10:50am - From south of Edmonds, near Kayu Kayu Park, looking across Puget Sound with Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula in the background.-Stu Davidson

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12:58 - From Fay Bainbridge they are north of the light house at Discovery Park. 12:48 - From Fay Bainbridge they appear to be in front of Golden Gardens. Heading south. -Dorothy Rosenbladt

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1253 - There are appx. 10+
1236 - They are still heading south, very spread out. I'm at Carkeek, they are west of mid channel, still heading south really spread out.
1230 - 4 breaches they had to have made a kill!!
1215 - just saw a blow on the west side of the second sailboat
1154 - Kitsap side almost in front of Carkeek Park, cabin cruiser passing them now. This morning by Edmonds they split into a group of 7 and a group of 4+, they were somewhat close to each other, then they merged and started to head south.
1020 - Watching from Kayu Kayu, spyhops breach, tail lobbing, trending south very slowly, keep turning back towards white boat. -Janine Harles

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12:05 - they are pretty much off President Point. mid channel, heading south, toward sailboat. -Joanne Graves

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10:49 - Currently directly outside of Richmond beach, mid channel. The wind has been pushing us at a perfect speed with them. Heading south very slow. Lots of thrashing and spy hopping, and very vocal. One left the pod to come see us and swam underneath the boat and down the side. Sprayed us a few times, incredible experience.
9:14 - With the whales right now south of Edmonds in between Richmond beach and the dog park about a mile offshore. Large pod with one calf. -Max French

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9:52 - They are south of Edmonds. Off the oil docks.
8:38 - Heading south. Appears to be a calf among them.
8:32 am - Just kind of hanging out. Can't tell if going north or south.
8:23 - Off Edmonds pier right now. Very close to shore. Just kind of hanging out. Can't tell if going north or south. -Ben Abrahamsen

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It sounds as though the famous Chainsaw and gang are heading south from Edmonds this morning. It's probably about 4-years ago since I saw this big guy off Greenbank, Whidbey Island, with a female and calf. His entourage has grown! Seeing him heading towards our boat with that huge dorsal fin slicing the water is something I'll never forget. -Sandra Pollard, Naturalist/Author

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8:32 am - they're at Edmonds now. -Rachel Haight

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5:18 am - The ferry Tokitae reports a pod of about 5 orcasa mile north of the Clinton ferry dock . No direction of travel was given.

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6:28 - Humpback in da hause!!!! Heading east at the moment off Golden Point, San Juan Island National Historical Park...at the eastern point of Eagle Cove just inside American Camp boundaries... HB has been breaching too as it heads towards Salmon Bank. grin emoticon. -Erin Corra

May 17
There were killer whales everywhere in the Salish Sea yesterday! Residents and transients ... We ended up spending time with J Pod and were fortunate enough to encounter these individuals: J16/50, J42, J14 /45, J34/38, J19/41/51. J41's mother, J19 Shachi, was always extremely attentive to her and I suspect this is part of the reason why J51 seems to be doing so well thus far. He's got a great support system. -Heather MacIntyre

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8:49pm - They're baaaaaack! Heading up (San Juan) island now... 9:49am - Black n whites right outside Eagle Cove! -Erin Corra

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Lots of whales today... A number of transient orca, including our old friend Chainsaw (TO63), made a foray through the whirlpools and swirling currents into Deception Pass before separating later into northbound and southbound. Those northbound had a hard job bucking the 7-knot current and eventually took the easier route out through Canoe Pass, while southbound whales headed towards Saratoga Passage. A rare treat to see so many transients together socializing and hunting with some full breaches and tail-slaps thrown in for good measure. -Sandra Pollard, Naturalist/Author

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Just spent 3 1/2 hours watching the large group of Ts playing in the same spot in Penn Cove that I saw earlier under the Deception Pass bridge. It was amazing and made better by sharing it with some good friends and many new whale watchers! -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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8:30 pm - Just a handful of pictures of the large group of transients who had been in Penn Cove for at least 4 hours and still in the same area where we left them at dark. First time seeing Chainsaw! Plus, they were very active, lots of tail lobbing and breaching. Beautiful day!
1:09pm - Watching orcas from on top the Deception Pass bridge. Dreams do come true! -Rachel Haight

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Transients were in Penn Cove all afternoon at least until dark about 8:30, roaming unpredictably but mostly in the same general part of the cove, just north of the mussel rafts except a brief visit to the Captain Whidbey Inn by T063. They were in small groups or singles, seemingly meandering, each surfacing headed a different direction. Gradually they became more active, slapping the water and dive-bombing, probably on seals. -Howard Garrett

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7 pm - Trisha Silvera called to report 4-5 orcas in Penn Cove.

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7:30 PM - Sighting in Penn Cove. A pod of Orcas with 2 males and 3 calves by the Penn Cove Mussel rafts. 2 males. -Linda Noack

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4:30 to 6+ pm - Orcas in Penn Cove. Appears to be 2 pods of about 4 each, maybe @ 6 total in Penn Cove after coming by Coupeville Wharf - now near Shellfish rafts!!! Am sitting on bank of Penn Cove on Madrona across from house at 1849. They were closer to Coupeville Wharf about 4:30, then headed past the OC Shellfish rafts & now closer to Capt Whidbey. Could be about 8!! -Vicky Reyes.

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We were out at Penn cove Crewing for the Schooner SUVA, a vintage all teak 68' Ted Geary designed Schooner built for Frank Pratt (An important person in Coupevilles/Island County's history). When after wrapping up the schooner for the night a Pod of Orcas came through... Probably looking for a seal a meal :) It was a fun day so I thew this together to share and remember the fun and the whales :)

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5:45 - Suzanne Marten reports orcas actively breaching and splashing in Penn Cove.

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T49A3 breaching along Saltspring Island. -Tasli Shaw

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8:22pm - Pod of about 10 orcas heading south, mid channel between Meadow Point and North end of Bainbridge. Must be residents, there are seals and porpoises nearby who don't give a damn. About 6 in the first group, looks to be a calf among them. Another 4 or so bringing up the rear. -Ben Blankenship

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App. 9 orca in Penn Cove. 2 males. We watched until nearly dark, there appeared to be feeding, from the red that showed in the photos, most likely on seal they stayed in the same place circling, lots of tail slapping. -Sue Owner

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5:18 - Group of orcas in Penn Cove heading towards mussel beds. -Susan Green Lee

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5:16 - Orcas deep in Penn Cove NOW! Never thought I'd say this, but taken from Deception Pass bridge! They were trying so hard to move west against the current and never getting anywhere. Then, suddenly, they turned and went out the smaller Canoe Pass, and I didn't get the shot of them under the bridge. But, still amazing to see! -Rachel Haight

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7:00 PM - Whidbey island sighting, Penn Cove west of mussel rafts. 9 or more whales. Two adult males and two very young babies. -John Burns

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5:10 pm - saw 3-4 orcas, one was very large heading into Penn Cove. Last saw them shortly after 5 around the Coupeville dock but haven't seen them since. Don't know if they went into the cove or back out to the sound. -Carla Peterson

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At approx. 2:00 PM, we saw an Orca Pod with a number of whales about two miles south of Deception Pass in Skagit Bay. They were heading south. -Jim Chicatelli

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"My FIRST time to see Chainsaw! Taken from 'land' at Cornet Bay 11:30 this morning. This group was last seen heading south towards Polnell Point, approximately 1:30 pm. -Jill Hein

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11 am - We got a call from Dave Anderson saying there were orcas off Mutiny Bay, south Whidbey in Admiralty Inlet, headed south. Sure enough we saw them about 5 miles south of us. The only other report of them was by Ben Blankenship, above, and the IDs or ecotype of this group is still unknown. -Howard Garrett

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T123's and T049A's treat weekend campers at Ruckle Park, Beaver Point on Saltrspring Island as they cruise along the shoreline. -Mark Malleson

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I came across the T049A's and T123's in Satellite Channel on my way home from Saltspring Island. I left them traveling north along the south side of Saltspring Island at ~1500. -Mark Malleson

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3 pm - Vern DiPietro saw 7-8 orcas heading into the Suislaw River in Florence OR.

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Here is some video taken by Lisa Horn yesterday of killer whales that were quite a ways up the Suislaw River; feeding on something. (They claim that it was the same pod seen last week, with two small juveniles. "They were going towards the bridge, then disappeared for a while, and then they came back up," Horn said. "So it was about all of 25 minutes." Horn watched them reappear on the inland side of the bridge, and then they disappeared before coming back up where Horn caught the Killer Whales on camera. She said she saw them quite a ways up the river, all the way near the Mo's restaurant a few blocks away".

May 16
We have had unbelievable T encounters the last three days! Large, active groups, three days in a row! There have been over 35 individual Biggs killer whales that we know of sprinkled throughout the Salish Sea the last few days, the bulk of them traveling in a large group. Wow!! Among them is T121A, a whale that we encountered on May 8th, 2013, which was the first time this lone female had been recorded in our area ever (according the the Center for Whale Research). Cool stuff! -Tasli Shaw

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Guess what I saw today!! Another Biggs superpod but this time with T63 "Chainsaw". Here he is in all his glory! -Gary Sutton

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Two humpback whales were foraging 20 feet off shore just south of Lime kiln light house Sunday night at about 6pm. -David Liddle

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Brad Hanson reported seeing a humpback apparently foraging off the west side of San Juan Island about 6 pm.

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Humpback BCY0324 Big Mama in Boundary Pass near Saturna Island, British Columbia. She was just cruising along today. No spectacular behaviors or ultra close boat visiting. -James Gresham

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Was just eating at Salty's at Alki and saw a whale ... Only saw the tail, and I'm no whale expert so not sure what kind but it was big! -Jill Hannah

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4:30pm - Whale Trail reported it north of Alki - northbound, midchannel about 3:45. I've been looking from Bainbridge for a while and no luck yet. (further reports had this whale in Elliot Bay). -Connie Bickerton

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Just heard there was a humpback sighted off Lincoln Park around 3:00 this afternoon, heading north - any confirmation? -Trileigh Tucker

May 15
A large pod of 20 or so orcas in Baynes sound between Fanny Bay and Union bay (NW Georgia Strait, south of Comox). At least one large male with very tall dorsal fin. Playing and possibly feeding. Lots of tail slapping. Looked like 2-3 babies. They were in this area for at least 6 hours from noon till at least 6:00pm. -Karen Macgruther

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A pod of Orca are south bound at Dodd Narrows just south of Nanaimo at 1347. 4 whale watching vessels have gathered at the narrows to watch the whales transit the current that is 4.7knots N/B. -Rodney Grounds.

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Had several transient orcas a few miles of shore off Depoe Bay, OR for the whole day. They have recently killed a baby grey whale in the area that washed up on Thursday and they were seen eating a Stellar sea lion yesterday. I have attached some of the better photos of the transients I have from the trip. I would love to help you in any way possible and if you hear of any orcas in the central Oregon region please keep me posted. Thank you! -Stephanie Young
Dave Ellifrit: I'm pretty sure the bull is T165. The last pictures I have personally seen of him were from 2007, also off Depoe Bay. In those photos, another kw had raked him good and his fin has drooped a little since then. He wasn't in the last DFO catalog but perhaps he has centralized his range down the coast rather than in inshore waters. I had several encounters with him along with T166 and T167 in SE Alaska in the 1990's with NMML. It's nice to know he's still alive.

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10:07 am - Saw two orcas, going east at Blueback Beach (North Nanaimo, BC). Traveling close to shore for a short time. Then headed out when I lost sight of them. Only saw them for short period before lost sight of them. First time the orcas were going south, every other time they've been heading north. -Pat Beaton

May 14
Well, the biggest group of Biggs killer whales I've ever seen today! Identified 27 different whales today but presumed there was about 32!!! Ok here we go! A few highlight shots from the largest groups of Biggs killer whales I have ever seen yesterday just off Entrance Island (8-10 miles NE of Nanaimo). We had the T23's, T36, T36B's, T86A's, T100's, T101's, T124's and the T124A's! -Gary Sutton

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A meeting of the matriarchs ... This was during a large congregation of Ts, there were at least 25 whales, likely more. They were split into groups that were roughly organized by age and gender, the adult males (T102, T100C, etc) were more-or-less on the outskirts of the entire thing, doing who knows what. There were two groups of predominantly calves and juveniles that were, as to be suspected, pretty bouncy and surface active. Then there was this main group which consisted almost exclusively of the older females and mothers. There was a lot of physical contact between them and they were not spending much time below the surface. There was also lots of vocalizing happening. One can only imagine what was being exchanged between them. -Tasli Shaw

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We spent the afternoon with the T124A's and watched as they made a successful harbor seal kill. Transients aren't always flashy when they make a kill, an often will disperse of their prey underwater. This time, however, they brought the seal to the surface before the "degloving" process started! The seal is below the orca, you can just make it out! -Heather McIntyre

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11:25 am - Humpback breaching as the Polar Pioneer got closer. Humpback has done multiple breaches near Apple Tree Cove area, right in path of Polar Pioneer...he just fluked so probably going on dive... ..Edmonds, WA. -Janine Harles

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2 humpbacks in front of our house, Southlands drive, South Pender, 7.30 am, heading east, Boundary Pass. -Jennifer Conkie

May 13
We saw several orcas very near the shore off of fort warden in port Townsend from about 7:30-8:30 pm... think there were 6 of them. The look to be rolling up on the rocks. T65A3 and T65A ID'd by Dave Ellifrit, Center for Whale Research -David Murman

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Mellow encounter with the T124A's in waters traversing both Candian and US waters in Haro strait. -Traci Walter

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Got to see one of my favourite groups today, T124A's off Prevost Island. Here is T124A and T124A2. Unfortunately, we never did see T124A5 with the group. -Gary Sutton

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Orcas off of Fort Warden in Port Townsend. We saw several orcas very near the shore off of fort warden in port Townsend on Wednesday from about 730-830 pm. I have some fun video. I think there were 6 of them. They look to be rolling up on the rocks. -David Murman

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7:45 pm - The Ts just went past Port Townsend, heading north up Admiralty Inlet. Just got a call from Jennifer Matchem at Point Hudson marina in Port Townsend. She said it looked like they just made a kill within a few hundred yards of shore.

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7:40 pm - Just saw 4-5 adults and looked like 2 babies from the Port Townsend ferry. They are heading toward port Townsend. -Jonathan Middleton

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3:20 pm - I found them! Close to shore north of Point No Point (Kitsap) heading slowly west!
1:30 - pod has stalled the last 20 minutes-sightline my location/Pt No Pt.
1:10 - they are actually just east of mid channel, could go either way around Whidbey.
1:01pm - first saw one Orca in the lead then following about three (or so) more heading north fairly fast.. Currently north bound east of point no point.
12:50 - from Sunset Ave N. In Edmonds see 7 orcas with little one steady northbound mid channel sightline me and south of Eglon, Kitsap.
12:35 - I'm. Only getting brief glimpses they're always ahead...last saw veering Kitsap still mid channel past Apple Tree point. -Stu Davidson

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2:15 - haven't seen orcas for 30 minutes but just saw the humpback...about a mile south south of Cultus Bay. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

May 12
5:50 pm - (Puget Sound) orcas were on south side of Harstene Island heading toward Dana Passage. Long, deep dives. Have since lost sight of them. However, I have 2 frisky seals and 4 harbor porpoises right in front of my house. So they've not picked up any "threat" at this minute. -Kim Merriman

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1:40 pm - We counted 6 or 7 orcas in Totten Inlet directly in front of my house. They swam and dived, blowing loudly, between us and Scukum Inlet in Totten Inlet. We thought they were feeding, although the gulls were not around, so they may have been playing. They are traveling north now out of this inlet. -Lynette Schurman

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Noon - 4 or more Killer Whales back at Carlyon beach (NW of Budd and Eld Inlets) right in front of our house. This is the 4th time in the last week and a half. -Wendy Jewett

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11:00 am - Whales (assuming same pod-T65As) are back in south Puget Sound, heading north out of both Budd Inlet and Eld Inlet. Continued north toward Squaxin Island. Traveling with long, deep dives. -Kim Merriman

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Today, we had two transient killer whales, T093 and T097. They were in Rosario Strait headed north initially before looping around and heading southwest again. They made a couple kills. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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Beachconnection.net article on orcas off Depoe Bay, OR on May 12th. We asked for help with ID's and received these notes by Jared: "I took a look at this article and recognize T050D, T050B and T050As eyepatch" -Jared Towers, Pacific Biological Station and MERS

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3:52 pm - Humpback whale is east of Point no Point (Kitsap) directly in front of oil rig that is coming through Admiralty Inlet. -Stu Davidson

May 11
Orca watchers, here's a few more updates on tagged orca L84. As of the last update on 30 April L84, and at least a few other members of L pod, were off Willipa Bay heading north. By the morning of 1 May, they were off Grays Harbor and continued north, reaching mid-continental shelf west of Destruction Island by the afternoon of 2 May before turning south. By 3 May, they were off Grays Harbor and the morning of the 4th the found them off the middle of the Long Beach Peninsula, where they turned north. L84's transmitter again changed to an every other day duty cycle on 4 May to save power such that the next transmissions on the morning of 6 May showed the whales northwest of Cape Alava. By the morning of 8 May, the whales had made a big jump north to the continental shelf break west of Estevan Pt. on central Vancouver Island. By the morning of 9 May, they reached the northernmost point of this excursion - they were still on the shelf break about 25 km south of the Brooks Peninsula, which is about 3/4s the way up the west coast of Vancouver Island. By the morning of 11 May, they continued south, moving more inshore and were at the south end of the entrance to the Nootka Sound and by the afternoon were off the entrance to Clayoquot Sound. -Map and update courtesy of Brad Hanson, NOAA-Northwest Fisheries Science Center

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7:45 pm - Saw some Orcas pass by the tip of Steamboat Island! They went from Totten up to Steamboat and then we lost sight. They were on the Arcadia side of the bridge/island. We were standing under the bridge and lost sight as they went up the island. -Kim Warner Hildenbrand

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Swanson Channel-we had two humpback whales, BCX1068 and BCX1057. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

May 10
8:45 pm - A pod of 4 whales just off of Priest Point Park in Budd Inlet heading north. -Wendy Aubert Mayo

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7:00 pm - Orca sighting in Budd Inlet, milling about, splashing vigorously, blowing spray. 6 Orcas sighted off Priest Point Park in Olympia. In coming tide. Orcas very active and in very shallow water over sandy bottom. Appeared to be 2 smaller Orcas among the group. Several boats approached: 2 small power boats, 2 sailboats so they must have much better pictures than the ones attached here. The boats appeared to be too close to the Orcas but the Orcas didn't seem to alter their splashing about. -Jack Daray

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6:40 PM - 4 orcas sighted in Budd Inlet off Cooper Point Rd, very close to the shore, traveling toward Olympia. -Susan Mouat

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5:30 pm - Started to see blows coming south of Dana Passage and Harstene Island. Spotted 6-7 Orcas (assuming T065) currently (6:00) heading south into Budd Inlet and milling in front of Burfoot Park...they have been splitting into two separate groups. It was really windy at that time, and it was tough to see the two groups. -Kim Merriman

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5:14 pm - Just saw four whales, two quite small. Heading south in Dana Passage just at south end of Harstine Island, Brisco Point!! (south Puget Sound). -Tom Yocum

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9:30 am - Saw a pod of 10+ orcas from Lime Kiln. They were heading south fairly fast. Wondering if anyone was listening on the hydrophone and could identify them as J-Pod? They were too far away to take clear pictures of...they were definitely closer to the Canada side of the Strait...from what I could tell with my binoculars at least 2 males. -Jacqueline Slaughter

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Windy the Humpback whale's tail fluke close to shore on Saturna island, BC. -Traci Walter

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5:00 pm - The Puget Sound humpback was still approximately 1/2 mile south of green buoy off Scatchet Head. I think she/he is milling in that area for now. Alisa Lemire Broooks

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4:39 pm - We are with the humpback near Useless Bay. We saw some incredible sea lion interactions at the Possession Buoy, and twice we found the Humpback whale that has been hanging around the area!! -Janine Harles

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4:30 pm - Just north of Edmonds about 3 miles offshore headed north. Eyes peeled. Max French

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4:25 pm - the humpback is moving north in the direction of Scatchet Head.
4:08 pm - from Haines Wharf (north Edmonds) just saw a blow looking towards and south of Point No Point, Kitsap. Whale is about mid channel south of Scatchet Head, south Whidbey. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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12:56 - Saw him just now do a half breach.. Still due east of Point No Point (Kitsap Peninsula) -Stu Davidson

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12:45 - The water was dead calm in Possession Sound, visibility good for miles, and the humpback whale delighted our passengers, on both cruises, with lots of excellent views of the fluke (tail) as this ~50' whale dove many times. California sea lions and Steller sea lions vied for position on the channel marker, and many Pacific loons were a treat to see. What a great way to end the "Gray whale-watch" season, it seems they received the memo, as no gray whales have been spotted for the past few days. Thanks for such a great season! -Jill Hein, volunteer naturalist.

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12:30 pm - Janine Harles called in a report of a humpback in Puget Sound between Point No Point and Edmonds, heading SE.

May 9
7:00 AM - Orcas off of Columbia River mouth. We saw a pod of 9 Orcas off of the mouth of the Columbia River while headed out halibut fishing. Playing, feeding. -Mark White

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10:55 am - Ranger Evan Sobel of Depoe Bay State Park in OR called in a report of a pod of Transients/Biggs Orcas off Depoe Bay, OR - including 1 large male, several females and a few young ones, no direction given - he said the Gray whales were definitely acting a little funny with the Ts around.

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T49C today. We caught up to him in the Straits of Juan de Fuca off Victoria - barely over the international line. He zigzagged for a while going on very long 10 minute dives. We left him heading south towards PA. On our way home, we passed him again - this time he was west of the mouth of the Elwha and headed east slowly. -Connie Bickerton

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Series...T049C leaping after seal kill in Oak Bay in the morning. -Mark Malleson

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7:05 pm - Three Orcas off Fox Island now. -Valerie Zervos Johnson

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2:00 pm - My friend just posted on her page seeing 2 off Narrows Marina as well, trying to get more details...She says she saw 2 headed North towards Pt. Defiance from Narrows Marina. -Melissa Bird

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1:45 pm - Pod of 5 orcas with small calves hunting seals at Penrose State Park/Carr Inlet (N of Olympia, W of Tacoma). Hunting and eating seals and training the baby. -Elizabeth Evans

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12:30 pm - Biggs at Porteau Cove on Howe Sound, BC (near Squamish) total of 3 with one calf. Headed south at 1230pm. -Eric Sewell, GM Sewell's Marina

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...When Captain Spencer Domico and I got on scene we found Windy traveling slowly just off Patos Island, WA. surfacing then diving down for about six minutes in a foraging mode... For a while, we were just watching a whale from 200+ yards away surfacing here and there, and every time she'd go down, she'd pop up in an entirely different location. So, we just drifted for a while (it's always nice to hear the exhalation that comes out a little less than 200mph anyway). There's always a certain beauty in watching wildlife no matter what their behavior, but Windy charging for our boat and spending over an hour with us was the LAST thing I expected at that time. And then it happened, Windy surfaced closer than normal and was heading in the direction of our boat, the Legacy...At that point, to start the motor and move out of her path would have been dangerous to her, given her proximity to the boat. So, we stayed in shut-down mode and waited for her to mosey on by. -Heather MacIntyre, Naturalist, Maya's Legacy

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Windy the Humpback whale mugged nearly everyone. This particular Humpback what has a tendency to approach boats on occasion. (she is not always in this mood) None of the vessels in these photos drove to her, she went to them. I was watching her this day for nearly 6 straight hours. For about a half hour or so, she would be doing normal behavior swimming along. Then which ever boat was closest after that 30 min was up, she was drawn to them by reasons that we can only guess why. After "mugging" (getting close to a boat by her choosing) she would move along, take a break, and then check out a different boat. In addition, I noticed that each mugging seemed to have a pattern of it's own. She would look at people on the side, then poke her nose out at them for a time, and then the finale was always her tail up in the air. She seemed to loosely follow this on each of these muggings. If you are lucky enough to have her approach you, please shut down and enjoy. This is behavior of her own choosing, please don't force yourself on her. I've had an encounter similar to this last year, but have no idea if it was Windy or another friendly Humpback whale. All I know is that it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. These animals are making a comeback, however they are facing many man-made threats such as shipping traffic, potential oil spills, and fishing gear entanglements. -Traci Walter, Naturalist, Western Prince

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I was on the Western Prince with Ivan and this Humpback, came over to us and to the boat and gave us an amazing show. I have also attached a pic with a light house (Patos Island, Washington) so you can see where we were. -Nishan Desilva

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2:33 pm - Humpback near Meadowdale. Last seen headed west toward Point No Point (Kitsap) -Dave Davenport

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The Minke whale Nick Jagger. So named because of the large nick in the trailing edge of the dorsal. We saw him between Lopez Island and Eastern Bank today. -James Gresham

May 8
A few shots from our encounter with the T123's and T124C in the Strait of Georgia on the 8th. T123C was doing all sorts of acrobatics for HOURS! She (which we discovered during the trip) seemed to love the waves in the gulf and even caught her surfing a couple. -Gary Sutton

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8:30 am - The orcas were sighted around Anderson Island (south Puget Sound) this morning between McNeil and Anderson near the dock, per Anderson Island group FB page. No direction of travel posted. And another post that said this: Killer whales off Eagle Island around 8:30 AM. Snacking on seals. They headed towards Steilacoom from Eagle Island. -Tracy Morris

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12:30 pm - 1:19 pm - Delighted whale watchers aboard the Mystic Sea just left a lone humpback feeding just south of Possession Point. It's a gorgeous day in Puget Sound!

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4:40 pm - It's traveling to south Whidbey now.
4:02 pm - Humpback at Norma Beach which is south of Mukilteo and south of Whidbey. -Michelle Carey

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With such a variety of marine life around us, it's always with a sense of anticipation that 'Mystic Sea' leaves the dock to go and explore... It was our lucky day for humpback whale spotting off Possession Point, south Whidbey Island, with perfect weather yet again. -Sandra Pollard (Author/Naturalist).

May 7
On the evening of May 7th some friends and I were able to head out to the tip of Cooper Point to watch the T065A matriline exit Eld Inlet from shore...The five of them were making their way out of the inlet at a medium pace, with a few surfacings followed by a deep dive that would last a few minutes. At one point, one of the kids did a funky tail slap that created a good splash, but other than that the orcas were in travel mode. They were aiming for Squaxin Island as they slowly disappeared from view, their loud exhales still audible. -Melisa Pinnow

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7:00 pm - Transient Orca Pod sightings in front of my home. I spotted and took pictures of 3-4 Orcas in Eld Inlet at around 7pm. Pod included a calf. Traveling very fast past my house. They were not feeding. I do have many photos to share so email me if they all don't appear in this report and I'll send them to you. -Kristin Boberg Susalski

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10:30 am - Saw 2 Orca in Case Inlet near Heron Island May 7th! Breaching and cavorting the whole way! Awesome sight! Heading north. -Molly Wollaston

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Orcas, unidentified type - 15:20 - Just saw several Orcas in Clallam Bay (Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 20 miles east of Neah Bay) from the Celebrity Solstice. -Stephen Allmendinger

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Scrumptious evening with the T49As and T49C in Boundary Pass. -Katie Jones

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The T123s have been spotted in Howe Sound once already this season and we suspect they were there earlier this week as well based on reports of "a group of three whales, one bull and one baby". Interesting that they have been seen up there at least twice in the past month, yet another sign of increased Biggs killer whale sightings in the area. They are a welcome addition to such a beautiful place and a hopeful sign that the Sound is becoming productive enough to support them and their prey ... at least for now. -Tasli Shaw

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Pretty sweet day with the T123's & T124C in Howe Sound, BC. -Gary Sutton

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Beautiful evening with the T49As and T49C! -Traci Walter

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1:30 pm - Five (5) T49's (Transients/Bigg's Orcas) in Cattle Pass, south San Juan Island, WA. Harassed a couple big sea lions and then headed north into San Juan Channel. Off to see the humpback @ Eagle Point. -Erin Corra

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7:40 pm - Just left the same pod. They returned, all seven of them. Currently they are heading south into Totten Inlet. (south Puget Sound) -Kim Merriman

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5:15 pm - they're still by Flap Jack in Eld Inlet. There's at least 3 that I can see.
A 4:40 pm - Whales are back in Eld Inlet, now. They were heading towards Mud Bay. -Mary Lou Christenson

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4:20 pm - Just saw orcas in Boston Harbor. -Tina Simpson

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10:00 am - they were west of Anderson Island heading into Case Inlet. -Kim Merriman

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9:23 am - Swimming northbound out of Henderson Inlet right now! -Tina Davis

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9:00 am - I saw at least 6 Orcas's in Dana passage. We have lived on Dana Passage for more then 20 years, the number of Orca sightings in South Sound has increased. We have seen Orcas over the last few years not only from our house, but, also from our kayaks. -Carolyn and Bob Burreson

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9:00 am - Headed north through Dana Passage...Very thick fog.
7:00 am - 7 orcas headed south into Eld Inlet and stayed for over an hour. Then then headed north out of Eld and across to the eastern shore of Budd Inlet at Boston Harbor. -Kim Merriman

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7:20 am - Whales are back in Eld Inlet, they were headed south. -Lynette Fox

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6:00 am - at Carolyn Beach Marina (right next to Steamboat Island) in south Puget Sound. I saw 4 Orcas swimming around the docks, probably chasing harbor seals that hang out here. I think one of them was a juvenile but I cannot be sure. Two of the bigger ones fully breached about 3 or 4 times. -Adam Herrrick

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And to we saw a humpback...Eagle Pt. San Juan Island, WA -James Mead Maya

May 6
One-year-old calf T49A4 off Moresby Island, BC. Seventeen-year-old T49C on a collision course with his fourteen-year-old nephew T49A1 this afternoon in Moresby Passage. -Monika Wieland

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Flat calm water with abundant sunshine and Bigg's (transient) Killer whales! (T49A's and T49C) Big Momma also made an appearance as did many Harbor porpoise and Steller sea lions. Truly another incredible day on the Salish sea! -Traci Walter, Naturalist, Western Prince

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And we saw some Orcas...Haro Strait and Salt Spring Island, BC ... T49A, T49A1 , T49A2 , T49A3, T49A4 and T49C. -James Mead Maya, Maya's Legacy Charter

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6:10 pm - There is a pod of orcas heading toward North Bay (Allyn) from Harstine Point. (Harstine Island, WA) They have been off Harstine point for at least an hour. -Ruby Luby

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3:30 pm - Orcas in Pickering Passage (Mason County, south Puget Sound) this afternoon...This is looking SSW from Stadium Beach, off Grapeview Loop Rd, off Hwy 3 south of Allyn, with Harstine Island in the background, just north of of Jarrel's Cove Marina. -Michael Litt

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3:00 pm - My wife Michelle and I spotted 5 orca heading north up Pickering Passage between Orchard Beach and Harstine Island. They seemed to have 2 little ones with them. The two little ones and an adult swam together and two others swam about 100 yards away from them. They dived and surfaced for about 20 minutes, and did not leave the area for that time. -David Callan and Michelle Hipskind on Orchard Beach, Grapeview, WA.

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2:00 pm - I see them far south, lots of surface activity. Looks like they made a kill between here and Squaxin Island and are now continuing slowly north.
12:40 pm - At Arcadia Point boat launch and just heard a boater say "7 killer whales in Totten Inlet tearin' it up." -Gayle Swigart

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T65As Steamboat Island, south Puget Sound -Chris Hamilton
(Pod ID'd as T065As by Dave Ellifrit of Center for Whale Research)

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12:00 pm - From Kenmore Air pilot on department of ecology flight, from Joe: "Pod of orcas moving around Steamboat Island, mouth of Totten Inlet at noon. New baby along... -Michael Westlake Hays

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11:02 am - Spotted in Totten Inlet as I post this. -Alycia Warbington

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9:30 am - WHALES - 5-6 orcas in Eld Inlet. Heading north now toward Squaxin Island. Traveling fast. -Kim Merrriman

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9:15 am - Heard and saw a small pod of orcas this morning in the middle of Eld Inlet, out from Frye Cove, Thurston County. Very exciting for us. They were moving at a fast pace. Could have been a male in the pod, as one appeared to have a very large dorsal fin. -Debi Beagle

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BCY0324, Big Momma and the Kelp reef marker, Haro Strait. -Traci Walter

May 5
Noon - We spotted the 4 orcas in Henderson Bay directly across from Raft Island near the Key Peninsula side around noon. They were going north then turned back south near the fish hatchery. -Billie Jean Winter-Hirko

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8:43 am - 4 orcas just spotted by Pierce County ferry riders. They are heading toward McNeil Island. -Ann Dasch

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8:00 am - Four (4) Orcas were sighted by two Residents on Anderson Island. Orcas were heading west , south of McNeil Island. (south Puget Sound). -Robert Anderson Island, WA.

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Gray whale #22 west bound off of Sooke, BC -Photo by Mark Malleson

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5:00 pm - Saw a Gray whale in Port Susan (north Puget Sound) while out kayaking. It was traveling south just a 1/4 mile south of Cavalero Beach Park. (Camano Island). It must like to look at boats because I was 300 yards from it and heading away from shore to get out of its way and the next thing I heard it it blow 50 feet behind me! I tried but did not get a good picture of it. It may have had a white patch just rear of center of its back, on the left side. I thought the people with the houses on the beach at Country Club Estates where going to get to see a whale but when it got to their mooring buoys it stopped feeding and head out to deep water. -Andrew Dillon

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BCY0324, Big Mama just doing her thing in Boundary Pass this afternoon. The lighting and clouds were amazing! -Sara Hysong-Shimazu

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Big Mama BCY0324 in Boundary Pass. -Connie Bickerton

May 4
7:07 pm - Orca sighting! Pod of (maybe) 4 just splashed their way heading south under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Day Made! -Sarah Whalen

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3:30pm - My wife saw them southbound from 5 mile drive, they are being followed by 3 motor boats and a sailboat. -Peter Woodward

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2:30 pm - They just passed me heading south fast down Colvos passage. -Noreen Ferris

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1:44 pm - Port Orchard side of Blake Island kind of by the new pier, headed towards Vashon Island. -Jana Freeman

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10:45 am - saw three or 4 dorsals briefly before losing them. West side of yellow buoy between Rolling Bay, Bainbridge and West Point. Traveling south west at a good clip. -Susan Marie Andersson

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11:10 am - from Magnolia Blvd bluff see them powering southbound into the wind and waves still mid channel north of Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island.
10:30 am - picked them up...mid channel southbound good clip heading towards yellow buoy out from West Point Lighthouse. Nearly impossible to discern from waves, dorsals are barely visible and blows dissipate quickly in the wind. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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9:43 am - Definitely heading south, finally picked them up again between Meadow Point and Fay Bainbridge. 9:20 am - Pod of orcas spotted 2 miles off shore between Meadow Point (north Seattle) and Jefferson Head (Kitsap). Lots of splashing. Direction unclear. -Ben Blankenship

May 3
I listened until 10:45 pm which is when the calls seemed to fade away.
10:30 pm - Transient orca calls on Port Townsend Hyrophone now! -Justine Buckmaster

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3:35 pm - We circled them briefly in the new Wild Orca plane, still in the same spot. -Sandra Prow

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3:05 pm - They're back at the rocks now and the direction is uncertain.
2:52 pm - They are off of Snake Rock, Port Ludlow right now near the cluster of boats headed back towards the rock. -Kelly Lauricella

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2:25 pm - Joe Langjahr called reporting the orcas off Port Ludlow are still in the same location, south of Snake Rock and north of Port Ludlow, close to the shore. He says at one point several of them were hanging vertically upside down, heads down and flukes up. No direction of travel.

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12:40 pm - Jim Ferrara called in about the same pod around Snake Rock. He counted six orcas.

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12:30 pm - A pod of about 5 orcas is circling Snake Rock, just outside Port Ludlow in Admiralty Inlet. They seem to be checking out the seals and sea lions hauled out on the rock at low tide. -Lori Hanson.

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We saw a pack of 3-4 smaller orcas in Port Ludlow this morning. They swam all the way into the bay and very close to shore. It was pretty cool to see! -Jackson

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Such a lovely day on the water again. We spent the afternoon with a Humpback whale named "Windy" up in Boundary pass, the area that separates Canada and the US. -Traci Walter, Western Prince

May 2
Most of today we thought just the J16s were around, but then mid-afternoon the rest of J-Pod showed up, too! This evening they all met up and headed down Haro Strait together, where I caught up with them in the beautiful late day lighting. Absolutely perfect viewing conditions! -Monika Wieland

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5:54 pm - Calls on OrcaSound too. -Connie Bickerton

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5:50 pm - Loud echolocation on OrcaSound HP.
5:46 pm - Lime Kiln! -Gayle Swigart

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Our very first time looking for Orcas off of San Juan island and low and behold we watched 2 large adults, 1 teenager and a little calf at 5:20 PM today at Lime Kiln State Park. We were thrilled to say the least. -Kurt Steder

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Scenes from the day. Big Mama humpback, Js and the three new calves, Swanson Channel, Boundary Pass, Haro Strait. -James Mead Maya

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J pod near Pender Bluffs, several whales spread out over the entire bay. -Robert Alcock

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3:30 pm - Hubby spotted 5 or 6 Orcas in the Georgia Strait off Cape Lazo (Comox, BC) -Shellie Yates Smyrichinsky
T124's (T124, T124D, and T124E) plus at least one other, ID'd from many photos by Dave Ellifrit of the Center of Whale Research

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WOW. Our encounter today with the T65A's and T65B's was incredible!! The weather was also stunning. Lots of sun and calm water. We made our way to Hein Bank off the south end of San Juan Island. Thought they had been celebrating a kill, however when we looked closer we realized that they were playing with Common Murres! (They are a black and white seabird that we have here). While not unusual to see younger orcas essentially using these birds as target practice and honing their ambush skills, it was unusual that it lasted so long! We even got to hear their vocals with our hydrophone in the water. We also got to see our other wonderful wildlife including a couple mature Bald eagles, Steller sea lions, Harbor seals, and the powerful tidal currents of Cattle Pass. -Traci Walter, Western Prince

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We found the TO65A's & TO65B's west of Hein Bank in the morning and we were treated to one of the best Transient Orca encounters ever! The T's were finishing off a kill when we first encountered them and then began to celebrate their kill, it was an amazing spectacle. In the afternoon we encountered the group between Hein Bank & Salmon Bank and they were still playing. We witnessed so many breaches, tail slaps, cartwheels, spy hops and pectoral waves, it was unbelievable! In 10 years of Whale Watching this was one of the best Transient Orca encounters of my career. -Andrew Lees

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7:00 pm - Watched from the observation deck on the bluff at Cape Flattery as a group consisting of 1 adult female & 3-4 babies made its way into the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca...They approached from open ocean S of Tatoosh & swam N into the channel nearest the shore between the shallow reef inshore of the island & the mainland. Once they reached the mouth of the Strait they turned E & presumably continued on deeper into the Strait. -Todd Gillman

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6:30 pm - Jimmy and I headed to the La Push/Neah Bay area this weekend to search for gray whales along the migration on the coast. We found the grays (and a few babies) but we also spotted orcas (our first ever!). Not sure if they were residents or transients since there were only about 5 of them....1 Male, 3 females and baby! -Codi Hamblin

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Not sure which details Codi already provided but here's the quick run down. Saturday 5/2 around 6:00pm we saw approx 6 orca cruising east between Tatoosh island and the final view point on the Cape Flattery Trail. They were cruising close to shore and appeared to be headed right down the strait. I counted 5-6 whales including 1 male, 4 females and what looked to be a baby. I initially thought it was a dolphin because the dorsal fin was so short and curved more than the other whales but it was obvious it was an orca when they breached closer to us. Unfortunately they are really hard to photograph and I was also trying to not watch the whole event through the camera viewfinder. Hopefully these are somewhat useful...The initial sighting was in the golden sun reflection on the water and was quite beautiful / surprising. Super excited to have had the chance to see them at such a cool spot. -Jimmy Wood

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Lovely day out on Mystic Sea with Miss #22 in Possession Sound in the area around Langley, Gedney Island, Priest Point and Tulalip Reservation. -Bonnie Gretz

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Humpback whale "Windy" -Traci Walter

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BCY0324 Big Mama. -James Mead Maya

May 1
So there we were, getting a look at Windy (the humpback) for the first time this year when all of a sudden the T65As and T65Bs came speeding (make that racing! high speed porpoising!) from the distance straight toward Boiling Reef and the Steller sea lions that haul out there. T65A2 and T65B were over half a mile in the lead and got to the unsuspecting raft of sea lions first, and the rest of the whales were porpoising out of the water at high speed, apparently swimming as fast as they could to catch up with T65A2 and 65B and join in their hunt. They successfully managed to separate a sea lion and proceeded to take turns ramming it and fatiguing it to the point where after 45 minutes the sea lion bobbed at the surface one last time and all the whales disappeared underwater. They milled around, presumably consuming their kill, for over an hour. The gulls moved in, along with hundreds of Bonaparte's Gulls which made for this overwhelming scene of whales breaching and tail slapping with hundreds of birds swirling and dipping around...it was chilling to see that sea lion fight for its life but fascinating to watch the calculated way the whales handled it. T65A, 65A2, and 65B did most of the work, taking turns rushing the sea lion, while the younger animals waited on the sidelines. The younger whales almost seemed restless at times, vocalizing at the surface and rolling over each other and at times circling in close to the sea lion with the adults. I've never seen a kill on a large mammal take place from start to finish. It was a privilege. -Tasli Shaw

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10:24 am - 5-6 orcas off of South Finger Island and Johnson Point on Sucia Island. They were either playing or hunting as they were tail slapping and porpoising frequently. They didn't seem to be traveling in any specific direction. Saw them when we were leaving Sucia Islamd, it was certainly an amazing way to end our 5 day camping trip! -Jennifer Smith

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Our incredible encounter with the T65A's and T65B's hunting a Steller sea lion at East Point (Saturna Island)! -Gary Sutton

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J41 Eclipse and her less than three month old son J51 this afternoon off San Juan Island. -Monika Wieland

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What a day! All three of the new J Pod calves, 50, 51 and 52. We were so enjoying seeing moving up the West Side of San Juan Island toward Henry Island. Then all of a sudden they turned and came toward us. We suspect we were between them and some salmon. We got baby mugged! Especially interesting was seeing the scratches on J50 and being able to get close ups. -James Mead Maya, Maya's Legacy WW

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5:15-5:30 pm - I saw a group of about 7 off the SW shore of San Juan Island, north of American Camp. They were very close together, bobbing up and down, then going underwater for a bit. I lost them (I'm watching from a rental house on shore) when they continued south. -Christy Avery

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4:25 pm - Four passes by the Light house so far- with babies! -James Taylor

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1:30 pm - Still some faint calls, but far and few between. -Casey Fitzgerald

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12:10 pm - hearing J pod vocals and echolocation on Lime Kiln. Great whistles and S4 calls. -Alisa Lemire Brooks

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We had Southern Resident Killer Whales in inland waters for more days in the month of April (14 days) than in any other year since 2007. -Monika Wieland

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Called in by Jake Hylaema from the USCG, who watched a male orca come into Grays Harbor this afternoon, mid channel between the jetty tips, a hundred yards into the channel when he disappeared still headed up the channel.

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A good start to the month - 'Mystic Sea' spotted gray whale #22 among the whitecaps heading towards Gedney Island from Everett. By the time we circumnavigated Gedney she had changed direction and was going in the opposite direction towards the delta. Hopefully she's still finding plenty of food here. -Sandra Pollard