October 2021 Whale Sightings

Click here for Map of October 2021 whale sightings.

October 31
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sun, Oct 31 - Possession Sound - ~17:10 - Tom Knowak called (on Monday Nov 1) to report seeing orcas, including cow/calf pair in Port Gardner Bay in the Mission Beach area at around 5:10pm, yesterday. They were ~1km from shore and appeared to round up sea lions, hunted for about 20 minutes, then continued on towards Port Susan Bay. Believes they were Bigg's transients based on behavior.
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15:12 - [orcas] I see 6 headed east towards Everett. Probably in front of Harborview Park right now. 3:12. -Jason R. Bourne
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15:09 - [orcas] Just passed Edgewater beach headed toward Everett @3:09pm. -Amy Craig
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14:56 - [orcas] Whole pod right off Mukilteo Lighthouse! I'd say 4 or 5 heading NE toward Everett. -Lauren McManus
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13:01 - We just saw 3 orcas headed north towards the Mukilteo ferry. Mid way up southern Possession Sound, about across from Glendale. -Stephanie Woody
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13:00 - At 1pm on 10/31/2021, I found myself being followed by four orcas. They started following me when I turned the corner at Possession Point heading north. It appeared to be 2 young adults and 2 very young calves. I never stopped and continued at 8 knots towards Everett Marina. They followed and acted in a playful manner. At one point the two young calves came up to the swim step of the boat as the two older whales breached and tail slapped. All four appeared to be healthy and happy. -Burke Barnes
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COASTAL ORCAS - Sun, Oct 31 - W. Vancouver Island (T46Bs) - The T046B's were sighted off Tofino on Saturday with a brand-new calf! In this photo the calf is with T046B2. -John Forde, The Whale Centre
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MINKE WHALES - Sun, Oct 31 - Deception Pass - Salish Sea Region Cascadia Whale Alert Sightings
Report Generated: Sun Oct 31 15:26:15 PDT
Minke Whale
Sighting Time: Sun Oct 31 15:18:05 PDT
Sighting Location (Lat/Lon): 48.41370,-122.62156 [west of Yokeko Point toward Deception Pass]
Number Sighted: 1
Robert Wilson
Whale Alert App
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UNIDENFIED SPECIES - Sun, Oct 31 - Possession Sound - 02:30 - Last night at 2:30 am, we had an encounter with 1 (maybe one of these 3 [UnID'd orcas]) just south of the ferry dock. It was maybe 20 feet away from the beach and blowing water and slapping its fins. Truly magical (too dark to identify). We were at the south end of the (Mukilteo) lighthouse park sitting on the beach (waiting for the aurora that did not come). They/it were/was headed south but very close to shore (and the tide had come up a few feet). -Ashley Johnson

October 30
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sat, Oct 30 - Strait of Georgia (T101s, pos. T23s) - It was a lovely, sunny day and we had a Halloween treat one day early. It was a treat to see several orcas head north past Campbell River on Oct. 30. -Patti and Mark Perepeluk
photos - "T101s and maybe the T23s." -Melisa Pinnow
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Sat, Oct 30 - Haro Strait - 14:00 - Orca calls on Lime Kiln Hydrophone. [Bigg's KWs, per Monika Wieland Shields, OBI] -Fred Horn
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sat, Oct 30 - Gulf Islands, B.C. - I was on a tour with San Juan Cruises out of Bellingham on Saturday. We were just a tad over on the Canada side of the line near Prevost Passage/Pender? -Chip Phillips
photo - MMZ0007 Anvil ID: GS
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Sat, Oct 30 - Haro Strait
14:06 - make that 2.
13:55 - I just spotted at least one north of Lime Kiln heading south, maybe 1/2 mi offshore.
13:31 - 2-4 humpbacks being seen in this area now from shore, somewhere offshore of County Park heading east or southeast. -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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12:10-13:05 - 2 humpbacks southbound traveling close together, estimating a couple miles from shore, 2 miles south of Landbank Westside Preserve. At 12:15 they stopped and for 40 minutes interacted very close to one another, all the while moving farther west away from me. A strong steady wind forced the bright white spray between the whales and my position on shore which obscured their behavior. Many gulls joined them and I assumed they were feeding although I couldn't see their heads lunge upwards. 10 times I saw a fluke high up and then slam sideways onto the surface sending up a huge plume of water and at times I saw 2 flukes up side by side surrounded by huge splashes. At 13:00 they stopped this activity and moved south again until out of sight. -Michelline Halliday, SJI
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11:18 - North. Closer to Sydney than Henry.
11:12 - One or two humpback whales northbound, mid channel, southwestern tip of Henry [Island]. Blows visible. -Peter Van Deventer
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Sat, Oct 30 - Admiralty Inlet - 17:15 - [HB] Viewing from Bush Point. Northbound. -Tiffany Jo Cheyann Waldner, Orca Network
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17:07 - Out from Bush Point Lighthouse mid channel, northbound.
17:00 - Photos taken around 17:00 with southend tip of Marrowstone Island in background. Too far away for any good photos tho, but s/he slapping the heck out of the water. I'm so excited to watch this.
16:41 - [HB] I just stopped at Bush Point on my way home. I see it. Quite active, about mile or so south of Bush Point. -Marilyn Armbruster
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16:30 - Humpback in Admiralty Inlet 2-3 miles south of Bush Point, heading north, mid-channel, doing a lunge and breachfest every 20-30 seconds. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network
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Yesterday [10/30/21] was amazing! I had finished my "bird chores" and asked Susan Berta and Briar if they wanted to go for a walk, (Briar is her dog, so never declines an invitation). We were only a few houses away from home when Susan saw a breaching humpback! My first HB sighting! I zipped back home to get binoculars, calling out "Humpback" to our neighbors working in the yard. I was worried it would be gone, but when we got back, it continued huge breaches and pec slaps. We watched from the street awhile, then went out to the bluff and saw it from there too. Those pec fins are HUGE and make a big splash. I'm lucky to have my whale whisperer sister, who can spot them even when we aren't looking for them! -Wendy Berta Sines
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16:05-~17:05 - Wendy and I were taking Briar for a walk and first saw the humpback at 4:05 pm, breaching, pec slapping and splashing in mid-Admiralty Inlet. We were about 1 mile south of Bush Point, the whale was between us and the NW side of the entrance to Hood Canal. We watched it continue to be active for about a half hour, then s/he seemed to go into travel mode for a bit, heading NW toward Bush Pt., then as s/he was passing the southern part of Marrowstone Island the pec slapping and breaching started again! We watched it until about 5:05 pm, as it continued north toward Bush Pt. and out of our site. -Susan Berta, Orca Network
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MINKE WHALES - Sat, Oct 30 - Port Susan - 09:30-10:30 - A solo, what I believe is a Minke, has been in Port Susan for an hour. 9:30-10:30 Oct 30th, 2021. It appears to be circling around the tide line so I assume feeding. It's located on a line between Kayak Point pier and Tillicum Beach about half of the way from Kayak Point along that line so half mile off shore. Follow up: It has the curved hook kind of like a dolphin with a distinctive hook, but the creature is much bigger than a dolphin. When you see it out of the water, it's jet black. When we saw the humpback last year, it had lines along the body this appeared to be smooth. Hope that helps. -Paul Belshaw
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Sun, Oct 30 - Admiralty Inlet - 12:11 - Just saw two whales from the PT ferry. Mid channel headed north. Couldn't tell if they are humpback or minke. -Nick Sue

October 29
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Fri, Oct 29 - Strait of Juan de Fuca (J pod, K pod, Ls) - 16:22-18:06 - Center for Whale Research Encounter #85: "No members of the L12 or L54 matrilines were observed, nor were any of their constant companions, the L22s, L25 and L88. Mark and Joe concluded that all members of J and K pods were present, along with the twenty members of L pod more commonly found in the inside waters in recent years, for a total of 60 whales!" [See CWR Encounter #85 https://www.whaleresearch.com/2021-85 for full summary and photos]
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Southern Resident Orca came both sides of Race Rocks today, looked like J, K, and L pod present ....-Derek Sterling, Field Naturalists of Vancouver Island (FNVI) FB group
["I heard on the radio from a researcher with them that all of Js and Ks and at least some Ls were there." -Val Shore]
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Thu, Oct 28 - W. Strait of Juan de Fuca - Heading out again. Just before reaching Cape Flattery, I was happy to see some Orcas in the distance. One young one was playing and jumping. It was tough to get any photos in the rain but I did my best. I have been told this is J Pod. -Gabor Gardonyi, Washington State Beauty FB page
photos - J27 ID: ALB
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BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Fri, Oct 29 - E. Strait of Juan de Fuca (T252s) - On October 29th we encountered the T252's near Border Bank heading east. -Andrew David, Five Star Whale Watching
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Then onward towards Discovery Island to see first time Bigg's whales for me, the T252, T251, T253 and 253A!! T251 is a huge beautiful looking male, born in 1982 so he's almost 40. He seemed to dominate most of my photos! T252 (female born in 1972) along with T253 born in 2001, and her calf T253A born in 2019. -Jill Hein
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�we zoomed out to Hein Bank on word of orcas! This is the T252 Biggs pod, with matriarch T252, born in 1972 (49, so very young when she had T251), BIG male T251 born 1982 (39!), T250 (1989), her calf T250C (b. 2017), and T253 (b.2001). Numbers are weird in this group. They were doing long dives, up to 10 minutes, and then hunted something mostly underwater. -Bonnie Gretz
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UNIDENTIFIED ORCAS - Fri, Oct 29 - N. Admiralty Inlet - ~16:30 - Apologies for late message - saw about ten NB Orcas from Point Wilson today around 4:30pm. They seemed to be curving toward the Strait of Juan de Fuca. -Bradley Summers
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Fri, Oct 29 - Gulf Islands, B.C. - 15:00 - [HB] Here are some pictures taken from land on Mayne Island toward the Strait of Georgia. Friday 29 Oct at 3pm. quite spectacular jumps! -Yves Tiberghien
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Fri, Oct 29 - Boundary Pass
14:30 - one at 2:30 today - the whale has a very dark fluke with a small white patch on either side
11:36 - Just saw another. Not sure if it's the same one. Just took a dive.
10:04 - Humpback in Boundary Pass heading east. Seen from Pender Island near Brooks Point.-Kath Durant
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Fri, Oct 29 - E. Strait of Juan de Fuca - heading towards San Juan Island - TWO humpbacks! One identified as BCX0470 Hecate, and another who we couldn't identify. Perhaps a new calf? ["Yup this is the calf I saw with Hecate on Sept. 28!" -Val Shore] -Jill Hein
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We headed toward San Juan Island on reports of two humpbacks. Found Hecate (BCX0470) and an unknown other a bit south of Lime Kiln. The sun came out, and they did a few nice fluke up dives. Another lovely day in paradise! -Bonnie Gretz
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Fri, Oct 29 - Haro Strait - 11:23 - I'm listening to OrcaSound at Haro and it seems to be Humpback very vocal right now! -Cherie StOurs
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08:18 - [HB] Nice singing again this morning! 8:27am, Haro. (First heard @ 8:18am. -T.L. Stokes
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GRAY WHALES - Fri, Oct 29 - E. Strait of Juan de Fuca - We found a GRAY whale about 20 mins from Port Townsend - what a total surprise, hoping to have an ID soon (not a Sounder). -Jill Hein
photo - new whale CRC2412 per Jill
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Gray skies, gray water, and 1st, a gray whale! A surprise, found it near Partridge Point. No i.d. -Bonnie Gretz
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MINKE WHALES - Fri, Oct 29 - N. Admiralty Inlet - 16:30 - From Pt. Wilson, I saw a Minke headed south along the Whidbey shore Friday at 4:30pm...it was along the bluff just north of the Captain's house at Camp Casey. -Bradley Summers

October 28
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Thu, Nov 4 - Strait of Juan de Fuca - 13:29 - Our beloved Southern Resident Killer Whales are off Sooke (West and East) -Paul Pudwell, Sooke Whale Spotting FB group
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Thu, Oct 28 - Haro Strait - 22:01 - [HB] Can hear them on the LK hydrophone. -Fred Horn
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21:45 - Hearing a few humpback noises now! [Orcasound Lab] -Matty Leaman
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20:40 - Humpbacks have been heard again, for over past 10 minutes. Tune in! -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network
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19:38 - Amazing humpback whale singing NOW (19:38 Pacific) in Haro Strait! -Scott Veirs, Orcasound/Beam Reach

October 27
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Wed, Oct 27 - Boundary Pass (J pod) - 16:10-17:35 - Center for Whale Research Encounter #84: " We moved about a third of a mile to the northwest to a pair that turned out to be J44 and J51 traveling together. Another third of a mile to the west of them was J39 traveling southwest by himself. We were still hoping to find J36 to see if she had had her calf but we couldn't find any whales on the horizon we hadn't been on yet. After a little looking we saw a male a half mile east of Turn Point near the Stuart Island shoreline. This was J27 and he followed the groups ahead of him around Turn Point and into Haro Strait. We were not seeing any other whales in Boundary Pass so we decided to head down Haro toward home and see if any whales we were looking for had joined the leaders. " [See CWR Encounter #84 https://www.whaleresearch.com/2021-84 for full summary and more photos]
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Wed, Oct 27 - Boundary Pass to Haro Strait (Js) - 18:28 - [SRKW] Calls, Orcasound. -Michelline Halliday
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15:30 - J-Pod heading SW down Boundary Pass. - Orca Behavior Institute
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Wed, Oct 27 - Strait of Georgia (Js) - We had the absolute pleasure of seeing J pod head down the Strait of Georgia this morning. They were last seen going north from San Juan Island Sunday afternoon which means they most likely spent the last 3 days foraging in the Strait of Georgia. -Rachelle Hayden, SSOS
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UNIDENTIFIED ORCAS - Wed, Oct 27 - Strait of Georgia - 09:47 & 11:20 - Orcas midchannel between Texada Island and Comox. Update - There are Orcas and two Humpback Whales. At approximately 11:20, two more Humpbacks were there along with the Orcas and other Humpback Whales. It was a great way to spend the morning. -Patty Perepeluk
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Wed, Oct 27 - Central Puget Sound - 16:15-16:30 - Watched a pod of orcas playing with a seal in Manchester! Spotted them between 4:15 and 4:30. Sorry I didn't get any pictures! Traveling south, anywhere from 4-6 of them! Male and female. Follow-up: west side, between Manchester and Blake Island. -Lorraine Klopfenstein
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Wed, Oct 27 - Strait of Georgia - 09:47 & 11:20 - Orcas midchannel between Texada Island and Comox. Update - There are Orcas and two Humpback Whales. At approximately 11:20, two more Humpbacks were there along with the Orcas and other Humpback Whales. It was a great way to spend the morning. -Patti Perepeluk
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Wed, Oct 27 - Central Puget Sound - 11:42 - I don't think it's an orca, looks like possibly a small humpback? Wasn't sure where else to report it. I'm concerned it might be a young calf without a parent. Keeps breaching repeatedly. Near the grain terminal on Elliott Bay, just now. -James Parr
["Thanks for the report, James! We just received a call from a Marine Mammal Observer; it is a humpback." -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network]
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11:25 - We received a call (at 11:45) from Sam who has been observing a humpback whale since 11:25. Whale was first seen well within Elliott Bay, sighting line from Harbor Island to Elliott Bay Marina. Whale has been breaching on the north side of the bay, and is now traveling westbound, approaching outer edge of Elliott well on King County side of the Sound. Whale has covered a fair amount of distance since he has been viewing. -Sam Fason, Protected Species Marine Mammal Observer, on Terminal 5 Project for Port of Seattle
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BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sat, Oct 27 - Discovery Islands, B.C. (T2Cs, T23s, T101s) - A very memorable tour today with Orcas in Okisollo Channel (north end of Quadra. Between Quadra and Sonora and Maurelle Islands). (t101s t002c's t23 and t23ds). -Garry Henkel

October 26
HUMPBACK WHALES - Tue, Oct 26 - Haro Strait - 14:05 - You can hear a humpback sing now at 2:05 pm. -Ron Wilson
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13:42-14:25 - Humans reporting lots of humpback calls on the Orcasound Lab hydrophone. -Scott Veirs, Orcasound/Beam Reach
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11:04 - [HB] At least one whale heading south from Smugglers Cove. About 300 yards off shore. Numerous blows. I saw a body but was in a meeting so couldn't ID what kind. -Elise Cannon
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MINKE WHALES - Tue, Oct 26 - Central Puget Sound - 10:19 - I have at least one Minke whale (possibly 2!) just south of Discovery Park, changing direction a bit. Last seen 4 minutes ago, at 10:19am, approximately here: (47.6426774, -122.4606826). Small dark rorqual, falcate dorsal, easy ID - I don't have photos, sorry. -Raphael Fennimore

October 25
HUMPBACK WHALES - Mon, Oct 25 - North/Central Puget Sound - 15:09 - Juvenile, I think, humpback breaching near Lincoln Park. Seen from 3:05 WS Ferry headed to Vashon. -Andrew Casad
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~14:40 - [Humpback] passed Emma Schmitz Viewpoint heading south fast, multiple breaches interspersed with short dives. Last spotted about 2:40 parallel to Lowman Beach, just east of or in the northbound traffic lanes. -Stephanie Raymond, Orca Network
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14:27 - Watching what I think are grey whales jumping and having a great time heading south by Vashon, east side. EDIT: looks like it was a humpback! -Logan Bowen
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14:25 - [HB] Whale, possibly humpback, maybe more than one, breaching, spy hopping, spinning and lots of surface activity off Beach Drive near the pier condos. Getting lots of video. Direction is south towards Lincoln Park. Should be crossing ferry lane soon. Seattle side of the channel. -Jayce Lemmer
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14:12 - Saw either humpback or grey off Alki Beach. Breached about 10 times, then was out of my sight line around the point of the lighthouse. Going south. -Kristi Miller Brown
[humpback confirmed by Stephanie Raymond, Orca Network, who was on location]
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14:11 - I'm watching it breach (assuming a humpback) right now off the Alki Lighthouse, just south but not at all far offshore. Has breached more than 10 times. It's headed south. I'm up on the Magnolia Viewpoint so can't see detail, but got blurry video/pics through the rain and distance of the splash! -Sasha Ertl
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09:11 - Saw blows south from fishing pier, near Marina Beach. Still very close to Edmonds.
~08:50 - Saw humpback(s) southbound inside the Edmonds Underwater Park buoys. Saw a fluke up dive off the fishing pier shortly later. -Michelle Goll

October 24
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Sun, Oct 24 - Haro Strait (J pod) - 16:09 - [orcas] About a mile south of the Point of Henry. Still heading north. -Pam Cameron Keffer
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16:05 - [orcas] About 4 passing Michell Point. Pretty far out and spread apart. -Gren Bruels
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16:05 - [orcas] Heading NWest off Smugglers Cove at center of Haro Strait. -M Elise Cannon
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15:40 - [SRKWs] At least 12 NB at County Park (We were watching them socializing in Smallpox Bay. Then they went through.). -April Ryan
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15:31 - [SRKWs] At least 15 passing Bellevue Pt. -Paul MacMahon
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16:43 - I saw at least one whale from each J-Pod matriline in my photos so I do think they're all here!
15:52 - Looks like enough for all of Js.
15:30 - Approaching County Park, can confirm Js.
15:15 - 10+ whales north of the lighthouse, northbound. -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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16:43 - Heard one SRKW call on Orcasound Lab hydrophone.
15:50 - Whistles starting on Orcasound Lab hydrophone.
15:07 - Starting to hear distant whistles on Lime Kiln hydrophone (very brief). -Gayle Swigart, Orca Network
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14:48-14:56 - In heavy chop and some whitecaps, northbound about 1/4 mile from shore, the trailing 5 members of J-Pod 1 mile south of Landbank/Westside Preserve. It was reported that farther north 12+ members were present. The beautiful J27 Blackberry seen following a group of 4 including J31. There was some frenzied tail lobbing in the group of four and a splashy partial summersault. An uncomfortable thought was that the container ship, the Zim Kingston, was still burning with hazardous materials onboard less than 10 miles from their path of travel. Photographed from shore. -Michelline Halliday, SJI
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sun, Oct 24 - Haro Strait - 16:20 - Wind waves and white caps made it difficult to see the humpback but the blows were bright in the sun. Southbound, 300 yds from shore, 1 mile south of Landbank/Westside Preserve. -Michelline Halliday, SJI
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GRAY WHALE - Sun, Oct 24 - Central Puget Sound - 09:51 - Saw this beauty while walking along Ruston way in Tacoma this morning. I'm new to this, so I have no idea what kind of whale it could be. -Tammera Novogrodsky
[From Tammera's video: "Gray whale!" -Erin Johns Gless]
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09:20 - Watched what may be one humpback surface close to the ferry on the Vashon side. Watching from Anthony's. I never saw it surface again but it was headed south towards Owen Beach. -Meghan Davis
[A confirmed gray whale was near this area at 09:50. -gs]
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UNIDENTIFIED BALEEN WHALES - Sun, Oct 24 - South Puget Sound - ~15:30 - Possibly a grey or a humpback near the Fox Island pier at about 3:30. SB. -Karen Caldwell

October 23
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sat, Oct 23 - Strait of Juan de Fuca - T046B1 hunting a steller sealion near Jordan River on the afternoon of October 23rd. -Mark Malleson
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UNIDENTIFIED BALEEN WHALES - Sat, Oct 23 - South Puget Sound - 13:18 - Grey whale(??) just off the shore at Grapeview (Pickering Passage) heading south. Too far away to tell for sure but not an orca. Dark color, big, no visible dorsal fin. We saw white on the underside of the flukes, but we didn't see 'em that clearly. It was a couple miles away. Mostly saw spout and dark colored back. -Gary Frankel
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Saw this humpback down in Totten Inlet this morning. - Follow-up: Unfortunately, I didn't get any [images] as I was out fishing. it was going north past Windy Point on the west side of the inlet. I was shocked, as I've never seen them down this far south! -Kody Elzinga

October 22
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Fri, Oct 22 - W. Strait of Juan de Fuca (Js) - Despite the large swell, the team from Northwest Fisheries Science Center, onboard the Bell M. Shimada, was able to locate members of J pod on Friday morning as they headed west out the Strait of Juan de Fuca and towards Swiftsure Bank. We joined the NOAA team on the water, and with help from observers on the big ship to keep track of the spread out group in large swells, we were able to stay with the animals most of the day. We collected 2 prey samples and one fecal on our boat, and the NOAA boat collected a number of samples as well. -Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research
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BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Fri, Oct 22 - E. Strait of Juan de Fuca (T99s) - Check out the newest member of the T99 pod - T99E! The new calf has officially been given its alphanumeric ID (T99E) now that Bella (T99) has been determined to be the mom (special thanks to Gary Sutton for confirmation on that). This brings Bella's family up to 5 orcas now. We've had a few encounters with the T99s this year, but we had some of our best views of this little cutie on both our trips from Edmonds and Port Townsend with Puget Sound Express on Oct 22. It all happened after the family caught a harbor seal just north of Minor Island, which is a favorite harbor seal haul-out spot. The family swam along together as they were eating their meal, and spunky little T99E was popping up all over the place, next to mom, next to siblings and also all by him/herself! The calves don't hold their breath as long as the adults on some of the long dives so you often see a calf pop up by itself for a quick breath while the rest of the family stays down longer. -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, Puget Sound Express
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13:20 - Just spent about 45 minutes with T99s off NAS Whidbey... hunting.. adorable baby! They were heading east as we left them.----Out on IE on a gray, damp but smooth day, and we caught up the T99 group of Bigg's out from NAS Whidbey air base. This family is T99 Bella (born 1984), the matriarch, T99B Holly (b. female, 2007), T99C Bearcat (b.2009 unknown gender), T99D (b. 2015 unknown gender), and T99E (b. about August 2021, also unknown gender. They began a harbor seal hunt pretty quickly, and dispatched that poor little one. They were heading northwest, out to Smith Island, where they began a hunt on a Stellar sea lion! Lots of huge tail slaps and lunges, big water everywhere. It took them about half an hour. Exciting day for my last boat trip of the season!! -Bonnie Gretz
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12:34 - On scene with what looks like T99s and Island Adventures and Chilkat Express. -Kevin H. Doar
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12:22 - 3 female orcas with a baby, south of Smith Island headed east right now. -Luke Schwantes
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UNIDENTIFIED ORCAS - Fri, Oct 22 - Strait of Juan de Fuca - 16:55 - Stopped for a bite to eat and we were pleasantly interrupted by three orcas heading south from Quadra Island toward Mittlenatch. Nice way to end the day! -Patti and Mark Perepeluk
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Fri, Oct 22 - San Juan Islands
Salish Sea Region Cascadia Whale Alert Sightings
Humpback
Sighting Time: Fri, Oct 22 @ 10:59:00 PDT
Sighting Location (Lat/Lon): 48.72757,-122.89406
Number Sighted: 2
Submitted Comments: By Parker reef, moving west
John
Whale Alert App
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Fri, Oct 22 - Haro Strait - ~18:00 - [HB] Saw a large whale dive right off the Lime Kiln Point - around 6 PM from West Preserve. -Kaya Maraya Silkiss-Hero
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16:00 - Seeing 2 humpbacks headed south next to D'Arcy Island right along the border. -April Van Deventer
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UNIDENTIFIED BALEEN WHALES - Fri, Oct 22 - South Puget Sound
16:55 - Thinking it was a humpback. It was really moving with a huge spout.
16:19 - Too big [for a minke]. We saw it surfacing four times and never saw a dorsal fin so thinking it is a grey.
16:10 - No obvious dorsal fin and very dark. Went north through Drayton Passage.
16:00 - We are seeing a very large whale in front of our house on Johnson Point headed towards Drayton Passage. It came from the Tolmie Park area. Are we looking at a humpback or a gray? Our neighbor texted saying her friend saw a whale blow in front of their house at Beach Crest then it popped up in front of our house (north of Tolmie). -Lorrie Dozier Hall

October 21
UNIDENTIFIED ORCAS - Thu, Oct 21 - E. Strait of Juan de Fuca - 16:21 - At 16:31 John S Miller, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: SALISH - Whale Report 10/21/2021.1621hrs: Vessel reports via 800MHz 2 orca off Admiralty Head, moving in an easterly direction.
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MINKE WHALES - Thu, Oct 21 - Central Puget Sound - 15:30 - We spotted a Minke Whale in Yukon Harbor at 3:30 today, right off Manchester. We saw it yesterday, also. No time to take a picture, it was quick to dive. -Lorraine Klopfenstein
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~13:07 - I just saw what looked to be a lone minke whale off Point Wells, Kayu Park, heading south. Close to this side, Richmond Beach. -Joni Barnes Pollino
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At 08:34 Marie Waterman, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: W/H reports one (1) minke SB [southbound] abeam of the vessel (traffic lanes between EDM & KING) [Edmonds & Kingston].
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UNIDENTIFIED BALEEN WHALES - Thu, Oct 21 - Central Puget Sound/Tacoma - ~16:50 - Pretty sure I just saw a humpback deep in Commencement Bay. It took a deep dive at about 4:50. I never saw it again. I initially saw it as I was driving, it was huge so figured humpback with the way it dove, no fluke. But a fisherman saw it as well. Off Theas Park heading into Thea Foss Waterway. -Amber Stanfill
[A gray whale was confirmed in Commencement Bay on the 24th, so this could potentially be the same whale. -gs]

October 20
HUMPBACK WHALES - Wed, Oct 20 - Possession Triangle/South of Whidbey - 15:40 - [2 HBs] Looks like some kind of baleen whale(s) in the waves between Possession Point and Picnic Point? -Nataliya Lisitsyna
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15:19 - 2 humpbacks, southbound, mid channel between Picnic Point and Eglon. -Matty Leaman

October 19
HUMPBACK WHALES - Tue, Oct 19 - San Juan Islands - 15:35 - Outside Friday Harbor HUMPBACK fighting the flood current pointed south, 3:35. -Barbara Howitt
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15:16 - Off labs now approaching Friday Harbor.
14:50 - Approaching Point Caution.
14:33 - At least 3 or 4 humpbacks near Yellow Island southbound. -Cindy Hansen, Orca Network
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MINKE WHALES - Tue, Oct 19 - Central Puget Sound/Kitsap - 09:40 - Minke whale seen traveling N/NE about 200 yards offshore past Apple Tree Cove, moving to about 1/2 mile out. -Donna Green Van Renselaar
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09:00 - [minke] Yep.....I saw it down by Point Jefferson as well!! It was right at 9AM and heading north. -Chris Beamer Otterson

October 18
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Mon, Oct 18 - NW Strait of Georgia (T101s) - Watching the dolphins and humpbacks work the herring around Sentry Shoal was incredible on the 18th. We also had the T101s in the area 15 min from our office...Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale & Bear Excursions
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Mon, Oct 18 - Strait of Georgia - September 18th, 2021 - 1pm, Parksville, Captain Simon. photos - MMZ0013 Two Spot ID: GS -Simon Pidcock, Ocean EcoVentures Whale Watching - Cowichan Bay & Parksville B.C.
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Mon, Oct 18 - Haro Strait - 17:15-17:30 - 2 Humpbacks headed north off County Park at 5:15-5:30 today! Beautiful surfacing and blows! -Susan Fallat
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14:40 - [HB] Passing Bellevue Pt., 2:40. -Paul MacMahon
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14:15 - 2 humpbacks off Landbank, northbound, approaching Lime Kiln. -Cathleen Burns
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04:30 - Humpback song on Lime Kiln Hydrophone. -Fred Horn
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Mon, Oct 18 - Central Puget Sound/Kitsap - 12:16 - Still visible from Eglon but a ways out. -Chicka Dee
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1135 - Traveling slightly to the north now but still viewable from Eglon. West of mid channel (Kitsap side) still.
11:10 - Directly out from Eglon. West of mid channel Kitsap side. Bodies were facing south but no direction of travel yet. They are moving back and forth now - still directly out from Eglon. -Tisa Annette
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10:08 - Close in now, still south of Rose Point.
09:56 - Make that two humpbacks!!!
09:50 - OMG, I just thought he'd gone out of sight so set my camera down and he did 4 huge breaches!!!
09:40 - It's trending N towards Rose Pt./Eglon.
09:20 - Humpback is closer than Donna first thought. Off Apple Tree Point fairly close to shore, hanging out at surface/no direction of travel obvious. Sightline to Useless Bay maybe 1/4 mile out.
09:05 - Humpback just surfaced N of Apple Tree Point, on Kitsap Side. -Donna Green Van Renselaar

October 17
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Sun, Oct 17 - W. Strait of Juan de Fuca - After leaving Newport, Oregon on Saturday October 16 we (staff from the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers) sailed north searching for Southern Resident killer whales visually and acoustically off the coasts of Oregon and Washington. On Sunday October 17, we encountered Southern Resident killer whales near the west end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Working with our colleagues from MarEcoTel in our respective small work boats, we set about monitoring the whale's occurrence and movements in this area, fall diet, health, and acoustic activity. We have been able to relocate the whales during the three subsequent days in the same general area and collected some prey and fecal samples. In addition, we have also encountered other marine mammal species; numerous humpback whales, and Dall's porpoise trying to bow ride on the killer whales! -Dr. Brad Hanson, NOAA Fisheries West Coast
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Sun, Oct 17 - NPS/Admiralty Inlet (Ks) - ~18:30 - Tuned in at ~6:30 and heard distant SRKW vocalizations on the Port Townsend hydrophone. -Gayle Swigart, Orca Network
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18:03 - Still great calls on Port Townsend hydrophone! -Susan Berta, Orca Network
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17:41 - Just watched a group of 6-9 orcas heading west, mid channel, between Point Wilson and Ebey's Landing. Looked like there were two males, several females, and at least one little one. Moving fairly quickly. Too far away to see much. -Betsy Carlson, PTMSC
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17:26 - A bit past fort Casey now. Tail slapping and spyhops.
17:24 - [orcas] Passing fort Casey now (17:24), headed northbound, mid channel I'd say. -Holly Weinstein
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17:27 - SRKW calls masked now due to sudden onset of ship noise from the Washington State Ferries Chelan, but it should decrease once across closer to Whidbey Island.
17:15 - [SRKW] Faint, but abundant calls. -Scott Veirs, Orcasound/Beam Reach
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17:00 - Faint K pod kitten calls on PT hydrophone. -Brittany Noelle
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15:48 - Still northbound. Seeing more come through now.
15:11 - [orcas] Up at north Lagoon Point beach! -Christina Wheat
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15:05 - Kit Turner called to report seeing a group of orcas across from the south end of Lagoon Point, over on Marrowstone side, heading steadily north. She's only seen 2, but is sure there are more, she just couldn't see them clearly because it is fairly gray and yucky out there.
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15:10 - Just at south beach Lagoon Point, northbound. I think there are at least a dozen or more.
14:43 - [orca] Still one large one at the south beach. -Cheryl Connor
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14:39 - [orcas] I see them now! Just saw a breach. Watching from my house up on Smugglers Cove Road. -Patricia Prochaska
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17:34 - Viewing from Ebey's Landing, and I barely can make out fins with binoculars. Line of sight north and west of Point Wilson Lighthouse. NW bound.
17:15 - Orcas between Admiralty Lighthouse and Port Townsend, northwest bound. Guessing again around middish channel.
14:24 - Pretty spread out north and south by a few miles. Have seen at least 12+ NB still.
13:56 - Rain and poor visibility making it a little tough viewing. They are still south of Lagoon Pt. and currently active, seeing a bit of splashing going on out about middish channel. Viewing from Southend Lagoon Point.
13:35 - [orcas] Mid channel, midway between Bush and Lagoon Points. Northbound. -Marilyn Armbruster
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A different sighting report from Scott Veirs who was in the sky with Kenmore Air. He himself did not see the orcas (or humpbacks), nor did any other passengers he checked in with, but pilot did on an earlier flight: "...last run north pilot Thomas said he saw orcas 100yds off bow of Naval ship (USS Monsoor) with a bunch of sailors whale watching. He said off Double Bluff. Most of the pod was moving northbound with the Naval ship, but a smaller group of ~3 whales was trailing a good ways back (many ship lengths?)... To be clear, though, the impression Thomas gave me was that the orcas had approached the Navy ship (which the AIS records show was maintaining speed of ~17 knots). It sounds like the orcas may have been porpoising in the bow wake as they have done with cruising commercial ships, and then the sailors observed them. I did not get the impression that the Navy ship had slowed or changed course to approach the SRKWs.
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13:10 - After finding and viewing humpbacks, and while en-route to the San Juan Islands in search of known Bigg's orcas, MV Saratoga spotted orcas in Admiralty Inlet. While keeping distance of at least 1/2 mile, Bart Rulon could confirm residents, members of K pod at least, so they continued on.
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12:50 - The Scotts at Bush Point called to report that they just had 5 orcas go by heading northbound, mid channel to Whidbey side. 1 male, 3-4 smaller.
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BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sun, Oct 17 - Haro Strait (T2Cs) - Really lovely visit with the T2Cs today and I managed to snag this family portrait. Left to right, T2C1 "Rocky", T2C5 (b. 2020), T2C3 "Lucy", and T2C "Tasu". -Sara Hysong-Shimazu
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11:40 - Orcas headed north, Mitchell Point. -James Mead Maya
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11:39 - We just saw the minke followed by the Bigg's [T2Cs] from San Juan County Park. -Ursula Valdez
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On a perfect October Sunday (17th), with light rain ALL day, we headed towards Haro Strait and found two humpbacks, BCX 0158 Kappa and another (no fluke ID shots) in beautiful calm waters � breathtaking. Then a little further north found the T002Cs, leisurely traveling in a southbound direction, with mom Tasu T002C and 3 of her offspring. AND I saw another humpback from the ferry - while trying to track K-pod as they left Puget Sound (no luck there). photo - "Rocky T00C1", photo - "Mom Tasu with newest calf T002C5" -Jill Hein
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11:00 - Reports of Bigg's killer whales pursuing a minke north up Haro Strait.
----It's been two and a half years since we've had an encounter with the T2Cs, and their family group has been through quite a few changes since then. T2C2 Tumbo, the teenage male with scoliosis, has passed away, and T2C4 Kano also appears to be missing. But there's a new addition in T2C5, as yet unnamed, who was born at the end of 2020, and meeting this less than year-old calf was definitely the highlight of our visit with them in Haro Strait this afternoon. -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sun, Oct 17 - Haro Strait - 16:57-17:10 - A single humpback northbound approaching Edwards Point just south of Landbank Westside Preserve. As I watched the humpback, I could hear blows to the south. Within a few minutes 2 more humpbacks came into view traveling northbound closer to shore 1 mile south of Landbank Westside Preserve. -Michelline Halliday, SJI
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On a perfect October Sunday (17th), with light rain ALL day, we headed towards Haro Strait and found two humpbacks, BCX 0158 Kappa and another (no fluke ID shots) in beautiful calm waters - breathtaking. Then a little further north found the T002Cs, leisurely traveling in a southbound direction, with mom Tasu T002C and 3 of her offspring. AND I saw another humpback from the ferry - while trying to track K-pod as they left Puget Sound (no luck there). photos - "BCX 0158 Kappa - with raindrops" -Jill Hein
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16:16 - Actually it's three humpbacks. Still traveling north. Close to shore. And thank you Monika for the heads up. -Chris Wilson
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16:00 - 2 humpbacks northbound off Eagle. -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
["Should be BCX1058 "Kappa", MMY0076 "Drifter" (b. 2012), and MMY0106 "Aerie"." -Sara Hysong-Shimazu]
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Sun, Oct 17 - NPS/Admiralty Inlet - 17:00 - (5:00 pm) I'm looking at one humpback in between Fort Flagler and Keystone heading north. It just did a deep dive. I'm also seeing two killer whales [SRKWs], one male and one female in the same area heading the same way. The orcas are spread out and I am way too far away to Id them. (viewing from Fort Flagler) -Emily Calkins
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16:08 - Jack Birchard called while standing in the middle of the park at Camp Casey. While looking out from the edge of bluff trying to spot the orcas, he is seeing two large whales who are much bigger than orcas, they are hanging out about 200 yards offshore. Jack describes them as having big wings or arms, grayish/brownish in color. Much larger that orcas, I think seeing two, possibly third but that might be fin of the other two. They were heading south, now heading north. Little bit windy, little bit wet. But he'll continue to hang out. "I don't know what I am seeing, but it's pretty great". They were coming out of the water more than 10 feet, then flopping down. [pretty much describes humpbacks - alb]
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The humpback seen from the PT/Coupeville ferry. -Jill Hein
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Sun, Oct 17 - South Whidbey/Possession Triangle - 15:45 - [HBs] I saw them southwest of the green buoy, south of Possession Point. Looks like they were southbound around. -Alice Thuy Talbot
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12:30 - Viewing from north end of Scatchet Head, I see both humpbacks together. Pretty much halfway to Eglon. 2 beautiful whales. -Marilyn Armbruster
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12:06 - [HBs] Seem to be south of Whidbey and trending east a little, line of sight is with Double Bluff now. Haha, now I know why I didn't see dorsals LOL. -Michelle Goll
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12:22 - The second humpback appears to be a juvenile. Two Spot tends to like hanging out with the juvies it seems.
12:12 - They are slowly northwest-bound.
12:00 - There are two humpback whales milling off Possession Bar. One is Two Spot CRC16017. -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, Puget Sound Express
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11:58 - Possibly a humpback. Yes. Pretty sure humpback. Not orcas. [mid Possession Triangle] -Matty Leaman
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MINKE WHALE - Sun, Oct 17 - Central Puget Sound - At 17:07 Marie Waterman, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: Master reports via 800MHz radio one (1) minke whale NB. Reported by Walla Walla on Bainbridge Island route.

October 16
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Sat, Oct 16 - NPS/Admiralty Inlet (Ks) - At least one orca was seen (w/video) just north of the Edmonds/Kingston ferry traffic lanes by Adam Graves who was on the 2:30 from Edmonds to Kingston run. Looked like a male heading southbound. (PSWS)
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12:53 - Confirmed K-pod at least. We left after a few minutes, but afterward I was able to confirm it was K33, Tika, that was chasing a salmon.
12:15 - We spotted what is likely resident orcas off Mutiny Bay. I could not ID any of the whales for sure from over a half mile away and with lots of waves but judging by behaviors (one was likely chasing a fish in tight circles at the surface) they are likely Southern Residents so we are leaving to look for whales elsewhere. Didn't stay long enough to determine the direction. -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, Puget Sound Express
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11:45 - [orca] I just spotted one individual off the point at Double Bluff, near the coast guard light (not down by the park). Breached 3x. Possibly heading south. Time 11:45 a.m. -Mary Louise Harris
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10:01 - Possible faint call, more J pod like.
09:58 - ever so faint, but may have just heard call, a little K pod sounding. -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network
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09:39 - [SRKW] Orcas on the Port Townsend hydrophone. -Angela Angie
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Per Scott Veirs on the Orcasound - Listen for Whales FB page: "Listeners detected orca calls this morning 9:34-9:54) at Port Townsend hydrophone. The calls were faint, possibly the S01 type..."
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09:00 - I'm listening to a group of Orcas live on the Port Townsend hydrophone. Follow-up: It sounded like residents. They were very close to the hydrophone around 9-9:15am and then moved further away. Happy to see that someone spotted them! -Megan Bungum
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BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sat, Oct 16 - Haro Strait (T123s) - 10:35 - Losing sight of them as they head offshore (NW) into the white caps.
10:15 - T123A off County Park now milling, no sign of the others yet. Thanks Sara Hysong-Shimazu for ID confirmation! -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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09:38-09:42 - 3 orcas northbound 5-600 yds from shore, 1 mile south of Landbank Westside Preserve. A female and calf followed pretty far behind by a large male, T123A. The sea was choppy with some white caps and I only caught sight of the female and calf twice. ["It's looking like the whales you spotted might be the only report of Ts in the Salish Sea today! This is significant because we're on an incredible >200 consecutive day run of having at least some Bigg's killer whales present somewhere in inland waters. I expect the streak to end sometime soon, but thanks to your report, it lives on through today!" -Monika Wieland Shields, OBI] -Michelline Halliday, SJI

October 15
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Fri, Oct 15 - Strait of Juan de Fuca (T2Cs) - On the way home [from Race Rocks], despite no known reports of orcas, we did find the T02C family and got some nice looks at them, with big guy Rocky T02C1, born 2002; mom T02C, born 1989; Lucy T02C3, born 2011, and calf... This is Tumbo's family (T02C2) who had scoliosis, and disappeared in 2019. They took good care of him since he was born in 2005 with this deformity. -Bonnie Gretz
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Fri, Oct 15 - San Juan Islands - 17:55 - At 18:29 John Miller, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: [MV] YAKIMA - Whale Report 10/15/2021, 1755hrs: Vessel reports via 800MHz one humpback whale, one nautical mile north of Turn Island. Direction of travel is southeast.
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Fri, Oct 15 - Haro Strait - 17:28-17:37, The humpback BCY0785 Mathematician northbound, zig-zagging then southbound 1 mile south of Landbank Westside Preserve. When I first saw him, he was very close to shore in the kelp. He submerged and when he came back up, he was about 250 yds out traveling south. He submerged and when seen again was farther out but had changed direction to the north again. As he approached Edwards Point (just before Landbank), he turned west, dove deep and I didn't see him again for some minutes. Then 1/2 mile out I saw a humpback southbound in the same area that I last saw BCY0785. I will assume it was him, this time heading back in the direction he came. -Michelline Halliday, SJI
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00:20 - Humpback song on the Lime Kiln Hydrophone. -Fred Horn
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Fri, Oct 15 - Strait of Juan de Fuca - Headed out toward Race Rocks in some pretty soupy water with gray skies. Caught up with two humpbacks who never fluked up at the right angle to get i.d.s. However, one did a massive breach which of course I didn't catch on camera, but did see it! We then headed west closer to Race Rocks and found humpback MMZ0028 Dalmation, who did show us his/her really beautiful tail fluke. -Bonnie Gretz

October 14
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Thu, Oct 14 - Central to North Puget Sound/Admiralty Inlet (Js, L87) - 18:11 - [SRKW] Looks like there is more than 10-12. [viewing from PT side] -Erin Merklein
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18:15 - Very tight, large group headed west when we left Ft. Casey.
17:54 - [orcas] Viewing from point of Ft Casey. They are southwest of me and look to be heading northwest, mid channel. Tightly grouped, with a lone male trailing from what I can see. -Melanie Holbrook
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17:35 - [SRKW] Hearing a few calls on the Port Townsend hydrophone. -Matty Leaman
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17:05 - Passing Marrowstone Light, northward bound.
16:45-17:27 - Sighted 10+ (updated with recount) in the pod (2 with very large dorsals) from Lagoon Point well across on the Marrowstone side of channel, one full breach, splashes, heading north. -Shelley Schwinn
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16:28 - Jackie White called to report seeing 3-4 orcas off Bush Point heading northbound, in shipping lanes, Whidbey side.
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[SRKW] This afternoon from Lagoon Point - I caught at least 10 in one shot and know there were like 12+ present. -Deb Barge
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Well we DID get to see some of them, even though at a great distance - way over by Marrowstone Island. Members of our SRKWs heading north out of Admiralty Inlet this evening - from Bush Point. -Jill Hein
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~16:05 - Pictures from Bush Point around 4:05pm as they were headed north. -David Haeckel
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Lovely but very distant looks at SRKWs from Bush Point....nice reflections in the sun glare, quite active with breaching, tail slapping, spyhops, etc. Good to see human pod'ners as well! -Bonnie Gretz
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15:58 - Viewing 12-15 orcas from Bush Point, northbound at steady pace. Far west of mid channel. -Donna George
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14.57 - Leaders have passed green marker buoy northbound. Some breaching, tail-slaps, foraging. Viewing from Limpet Lane.
----October 14 heralded the good news that Southern Residents had stayed overnight, and were still in the Possession Triangle. Begging the question 'how much longer will they stay?' was soon answered as the orcas, well-spread out between Whidbey and the Kitsap side, slowly made their way north in Admiralty Inlet foraging along the way, accompanied by plenty of surface behaviors - breaches, tail-slaps, spy-hops. Although they were closer to Marrowstone Island when passing Bush Point and binoculars and a long lens were beneficial, whale-watchers were still able to enjoy and appreciate the spectacular sight of this unique population on one of the rare occasions they graced us with their presence (photos Richard Snowberger, zoomed and cropped) -Sandra Pollard
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16:05 - Looks like most have passed us, now closer to Whidbey, about 1 mile south of Bush Pt. headed toward Bush Pt.
14:40 - We see the orcas spread out across Admiralty Inlet, one large male headed NW past Point No Point Lighthouse, past Hansville by now. Others are mid-channel, some close to the Whidbey side off Useless Bay but headed our way (we are N end of Mutiny Bay). Looking committed to heading out Admiralty, but lots of foraging, breaching, and activity. Very spread out. -Susan Berta & Howard Garrett, Orca Network
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17:43 - They have grouped up pretty tightly now, slowly moving north closer to mid-channel.
17:19 - Straight out from the lighthouse, hugging the Whidbey side. There have been no orcas on this side.
16:48 - Moving quickly, well north of bush Point, closer to the Whidbey side.
16:40 - They have moved way east, traveling; northeast line of sight from here, it's almost Bush Point.
16:34 - They totally ignored that ship. lots of splashing tail slapping breaching.
16:28 - Some have moved east from the yellow channel marker, appear to be heading for that container ship.
16:22 - From the hill at fort Flagler they are nearing the yellow channel buoy. Look like heading this way, can't tell much else from here.
14:44 - Okay, just spotted them well north, out from Mutiny Bay, look like east of mid channel heading north. 2:44.
(14:28) 14:38 - Looking from Point No Point, they were spread out between Useless Bay and Scatchet Head. I have not seen them at all for the last 10 minutes. -Jim Pasola
photo - J38 ID: ALB
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13:59 - Hearing faint SRKW calls (S01s?) via the new Orcasound - Listen for Whales hydrophone undergoing testing at Beach Camp at Sunset Bay. -Scott Veirs, Orcasound/Beam Reach
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13:45-14:02 - Yesterday afternoon from 1:45 to 2:02 I photographed five Orcas from Point No Point as they swam close to Whidbey Island. There were a few people there with much better lenses than mine, but I'm sending you my photos in case they are helpful in any way. We also saw several large salmon leaping out of the water close to Point No Point. Thank you for your important work! -Wendy Feltham, Port Townsend
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16:30 - Container ship passed them with orcas on west side of ship. Viewing from Scurlock Rd. So they pretty much have been mid or just Jefferson side of mid. NB loosely grouped.
15:22 - Watching orcas viewing from Shore Meadows (Whidbey) 10-12 orca. Mid channel and line of sight with Foulweather Bluff. NB but have picked up pace.
14:42 - Viewing from Double Bluff parking lot. See map [north of Hansville, mid-channel]. Fins are pointing north. But not moving quickly.
13:45 - Still viewing from Maxwelton and line of sight with Hansville, spread out a little, NB still
13:30 - Viewing from Maxwelton, see map drop point [a little south of Point No Point, and a little closer to west side]. NB still. -Marilyn Armbruster
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13:52 - Still spread out but all seem to be between Point No Point and Whidbey. Closer to Whidbey side. So much surface action still - spyhops, cartwheels, breaches, etc.
13:14 - Most are north of the beach point now.
13:08 - They are continuing north between Whidbey & Point No Point. Still very spread out. Mid & west of channel s.
12:57 - Still viewing from Point No Point. They are still trending north. West of mid channel now. Still lots of surface activity.
12:25 - Viewing from Point No Point. South from here & still south of Whidbey. Still trending north but very spread out. I would guess that they are mid channel. Lots of surface activity again - so many breaches.
12:10-12:17 - I'm kinda far from them still but there are sooo many of them! I have some breaches and spyhops but watching them from Point No Point now. South of here still but still heading this direction.
11:45 - They are continuing north direction and position seems to be on the west side of Whidbey. Still lots of surface activity.
11:30 - [orcas] Viewing from Eglon. Lots of surface activity. Still trending north. Slightly east of mid channel. -Tisa Annette
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12:00 - The orcas are still milling and directional changes, lots of surface activity. Haven't had to move my telescope much in the past 45 mins. But definitely trending north.
11:15 - They've stalled. Lots of directional changes. Surface activity, foraging/milling around.
11:00 - [orcas] Lots of breaching and surface activity about halfway between Apple Tree and Eglon. Heading north on Kitsap side. (Chennault Beach neighborhood in Mukilteo). -Alice Thuy Talbot
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10:51 - We are transiting through the south end of Admiralty Inlet (just off Apple Cove Point) and spotted a pod of between 8 and 10 orca (at least two adult males) lazily swimming northbound. Unclear whether they were heading into Possession Sound OR intending to transit Admiralty Inlet. Also, unable to verify whether SRKW or transients. Thought you might want the sighting to put a pin in the map. We are onboard the sailing vessel Atalaya. -Erin Moore
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10:35-10:40 - I ended up seeing 10-12 individuals spread out from Apple Tree Point North, with trailers foraging closer in on Kitsap side and leading males heading north towards Possession Triangle - all west of midchannel - last ones passed out of sight around.
10:20 - Donna Green Van Renselaar called to report she is watching orcas, at least 3 males and young one, spread out north to south, north of Edmonds sightline to Picnic Point (from Apple Tree Point, Kingston). Kitsap side to mid-channel milling while trending northbound.
10:05 - Single male orca northbound, west of midchannel, viewing from Apple Tree Pt. -Donna Green Van Renselaar
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BELUGA WHALE - Thu, Oct 14 - North Puget Sound/Admiralty Inlet - 17:20 - White-colored whale (long body, no dorsal fin seen) surfaced 3 times, east channel Whidbey side north of Lagoon Point ...
Follow-up: The first thought from my neighbor (standing right next to me, her turn on the binoculars) was beluga ... It was clearly white (easy to see in the coming dusk on the water, unlike a grayer minke) and she didn't see any dorsal. I asked if it could've been a minke? "Too white." Very doubtful it was an [orca] underbelly because it surfaced 3 times, like we've seen whales getting air ...
By the time I had the glasses it was around the curve of the beach. Heading north toward what I grew up calling "the bombing range" (Lake Hancock is the inner section of "the range") not sure if it followed the land or continued more in a straight line north. (No pics, no video)
Update: After review of her [Shelley's neighbor] experience yesterday ... She's 90% sure it was the beluga. Because she saw it surface three times, each time she could better judge this was not any of the whales or marine mammals that are usually here at Lagoon Point. -Shelley Schwinn
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Thu, Oct 14 - Central Puget Sound - 10:30 - At 10:45, Orca Network received a call from Tori Volk: her husband Jay Volk is out fishing, about one mile off Golden Gardens/Shilshole. Beluga swam by heading northbound at 10:30.
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09:10 - We spotted the beluga whale at 9:10 a.m. this morning. It's just about due west of Elliott Bay Marina less than 1 mi per our chart plotter. We are currently at 47.62990/-122.42394 and it was ~100-200 m east of us. We've drifted a little south. It was milling about. We haven't had a resight but we did watch it surface ~6 times before it dove. -Sasha Ertl, Biologist, Grette Associates [marine mammal observer for pile driving project]
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UNIDENTIFIED SPECIES - Thu, Oct 14 - North Puget Sound - 12:00 - Just south of the green buoy and the south end of Possession Beach, I saw the unidentified whale again. Does look like a minke only because it's definitely not a grey or humpback. -Alice Thuy Talbot

October 13
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Wed, Oct 13 - B.C. Gulf Islands (K pod) - Great to see K pod this morning in Active Pass! video - https://youtu.be/vNpL9QkhLwQ -Rachelle Hayden, SSOS, Thank you Brendon Bissonnette and Gary Sutton for ID'ing the backlighted photos and videos!
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Wed, Oct 13 - Puget Sound (L87 +) - 1710 - [SRKW] They have pushed SW again. Seems like they'll be staying overnight. -Rachel Haight
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16:53 - Quite a few out in this area [Clinton's map shows mid-channel between Point No Point and Scatchet Head]. -Clinton Duckworth
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16:51 - There is a second group kind of in the center of the triangle. Lots of orcas very spread out, several seem to be heading west.
16:45 - Viewing from Skatchet Head, they seem to be southbound almost to Edmonds ferry. -Donna George
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~17:30 - We left them as they passed Scatchet Head center triangle, westbound, then before green buoy marker they turned southerly or towards Kitsap. This was around 17:30 (5:30pm). So here's hoping they are filling their bellies
16:30 - Sure looks like they headed west from east side of Possession Point. Just a guess. The one I saw near Poss boat launch turned south towards the others.
16:15 - I do see 4-5 south of Possession Beach Park/Boat Launch towards Possession Pt.
16:07 - I just pulled up to Possession boat launch. A male this side of mid north and south directions. Back and forth. -Marilyn Armbruster
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16:30 - Many are still south of Possession, lots of breaching and tail slapping. Milling and directional changes.
16:15 - 2-3 are headed to Clinton ferry. The rest are still milling south of Possession Point. Very spread out.
15:55 - I found the orcas southeast of Possession Point heading northeast towards me in Mukilteo. They've rounded up into Possession Sound heading north. -Alice Thuy Talbot
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15:45 - [orcas] I'm viewing from Scatchet Head and see lots of surface activity, including breaches looking toward Edmonds. Too far away to confirm direction. -Dori Dace
*
15:53:30 - S04, other faint calls.
15:52:30 - Repeated calls (S01?)
15:51:45 - More calls!
14:55 - Hearing SRKW calls (S01 and S04 so far) on a test node of Orcasound - Listen for Whales deployed at Sunset Bay (Beach Camp at Sunset Bay). -Scott Veirs, Orcasound/Beam Reach
*
15:57 - Looks like group heading toward Mukilteo/Clinton. Line of sight from shore in Edmonds to Possession Beach Park: seeing main group NNE bound. Trailing male way behind traveling ENE, line of sight Edmonds to houses at Cultus Bay.
15:06 - Vantage point now is Sunset Ave., Edmonds to Cultus Bay. Still ENE direction of travel.
14:45 - 14:45. Dot is about where they are [Possession triangle], arrow is direction of travel (ENE). -Ariel Yseth
*
14:30 - Past 20-30 minutes had many heading north, midchannel. They were very spread, both N to S and E to W. Some breaching. At least 2 large males, females, etc. Three of them spent time on west side of the channel out from Apple Tree Point, Kingston, foraging for about 15. -Sara Frey
*
A nice breach by one of our residents this afternoon in front of our house at Point Jefferson, Kingston. -Chris Beamer Otterson
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14:12 - See orcas northbound on Kingston side/shipping lanes through binoculars from Sunset Ave. in Edmonds, north of ferry lanes and south of Eglon. -Michelle Goll
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15:35 - Activity just south of Cultus Bay/Scatchet Head viewing from PNP but can't confirm if orcas or porpoises because I'm dialed all the way out and they're barely visible dorsal and splash.
15:00 - NB, spread across, some west some midchannel and N to S! I'm heading up to Point No Point. Ariel spotted them from Edmonds around 2:45 pm heading into Possession triangle spread W to E.
14:05 - [orcas] We have eyes on from Apple Tree Point, dorsals spread wide and foraging north of Edmonds all the way up to Picnic Point and opening to Saratoga Passage, multiple whales, no clear direction, 2:05 pm, foraging. -Donna Green Van Renselaar
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13:41 - At 13:49 John Miller, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: [MV] SPOKANE Whale Report 10/13/2021, 1341hrs: Vessel reports via 800MHz they have slowed due to 5 orca in the shipping lanes. Direction of travel is north. PUYALLUP copied the 800MHz report.
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13:41 - From President Point, they appear to be north of the ferry, possibly moving north.
13:29 - Just saw two-four orcas, I think between Kingston and Edmonds. Watching from President Point. Not sure what direction. -Joanne Graves
*
13:20 - We just got off the 12:40 Edmonds-Kingston ferry. We saw at least 6 from the ferry about 3/4 to a mile south of the ferry close to the Edmonds side. They seemed to be traveling north. We saw at least one male. We took photos, will check them to see if any are worth posting. -Edith Hitchings
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13:09 - Saratoga ID'd L87 so these are Southern Residents. -Christopher Hanke
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12:14 - Have moved to west side of channel off Indianola. Viewing from Sunset Hill Park.
11:10 - Just saw them headed south from North Beach, just north of Golden Gardens. Closer to mainland side.
10:44 - [orcas] I think I'm seeing some dorsals off Shilshole Marina. On east side of channel. No clear direction yet. Possibly spread out. -Matty Leaman
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~09:45 - FYI, Orcas spotted from the MV Puyallup (Kingston/Edmonds run) headed southbound around 9:45 AM. -Krista Green-Wolter
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09:43 - At 09:54 Laura Baker, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: [MV] PUYALLUP (Kingston/Edmonds run) spots 6 Orca, 10/13 0943hrs: Vessel reports via 800MHz they are slowing down for approximately 6 orca whales located mid-channel at their crossing. Whales are headed southbound.
*
BELUGA WHALE - Wed, Oct 13 - Point Defiance Area - Jenny Thielman, Gig Harbor, called Orca Network at 17:25 to report seeing who she is certain must have been the Beluga: white animal, smaller than an orca, and like no one they've ever seen. Whale was at north end of Tacoma Narrows; in general, between Salmon Beach and Pt. Defiance heading northbound mid channel, just traveling. Viewed several surfacings. Viewing from Gig Harbor side.
*
11:30 - I am late in letting you know but I spotted the Beluga from Tacoma's Pt. Defiance, Dalco Passage Overlook, on Wednesday at 11:30 am. Follow-up: I was so far away the video quality is poor! There was definite blowhole activity! -Kim Bardwil
["From the video, due to distance and resolution, I don't think we would be able confirm species from it alone" -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network]
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Wed, Oct 13 - San Juan Islands - 14:26 - Two humpbacks southside Saturna Island, just now... -Brian Sabourin
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Wed, Oct 13 - Haro Strait - 10:30 - I heard humpback calls briefly on Lime Kiln @ 10:30pm. Now I hear a grunting sound, and it seems that something is rattling the mike. -Nancy Eriksson
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10:13 - I'm not good at identifying sounds/calls but there's something on Lime Kiln hydrophone right now. 10:13 pm PDT. ["Pretty certain it was a humpback!" -Susan Marie Andersson] -Kris Meredith
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08:45 - [2 HBs] Passing County Park at a good speed up island. 4-minute dives, not always synchronized. -April Ryan
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08:15-08:19 - 2 humpbacks including BCY0785 "Mathematician" (male), quickly northbound 1 mile south of Landbank/Westside Preserve, 300 yards from shore. They were close together traveling one behind the other. At different times each displayed their fluke but they only surfaced at the same time once. Photographed from shore, cropped and enlarged. (ID using 2021 MERS and 2020 Humpback Whales Salish Sea catalogs. ID confirmed by Erin Johns Gless on FB.) -Michelline Halliday, SJI
*
UNIDENTIFIED SPECIES - Wed, Oct 13 - Possession Triangle Area/South of Whidbey - 16:00 - Likely minke a ways west of the trailing male [SRKW]. -Ariel Yseth
*
15:45 - I see that dorsal. Not moving like an orca. Might be the minke someone reported earlier. Saratoga seems to see them too maybe they can confirm. Southwest of Possession Point. -Alice Thuy Talbot
*
12:19 - Just saw the mysterious not orca east of the orcas.
10:46 - Ummm it kind of looks like a minke? -Matty Leaman

October 12
BIGG'S TRANSIENT ORCAS - Tue, Oct 12 - Northern Admiralty Inlet (T65As, T137s) -
15:30 - Chilkat left the 65As and 137s northwest bound, south of Partridge Bank, doing nine knots.
13:30 - Orca Whales reported around the Port Townsend ferry crossing. -Christopher Hanke, PSE
*
13:30 - At 13:43 Laura Baker, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: Orca at PT, 10/12 1330hrs: Vessel reports via 800MHz spotting 2 orca whales headed northbound between Point Wilson and Marrowstone Point.
*
BELUGA WHALE - Tue, Oct 12 - South Puget Sound - 16:40 - Saw the beluga traveling south directly under center span of Tacoma Narrows Bridge at 4:40 pm, October 12. Phone call from John, also: At 17:00. John Conkle called to report seeing the Beluga whale center span Tacoma Narrows bridge heading south at 16:40 on Oct 12. Single individual whale crossing span, white shape swimming south, definitely looked like the Beluga. -John Conkle
*
Tue, Oct 12 - Central Puget Sound - 11:30 - Tim Aitkins called Orca Network to report the Beluga is off Redondo Beach, south of Des Moines. Swimming following shoreline southbound. 100% that it is the beluga. Pretty close to shore. Whale was west of Poverty Bay at the time. No photos. -Tim Atkins

October 11
BIGG'S TRANSIENT ORCAS - Mon, Oct 11 - Strait of Juan de Fuca (T18s; T46B1 & T46B1A; T251, T252, T253 & T253A; T123s) - We had quite a day watching whales yesterday with lots of variety out near Race Rocks, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We were headed out to see the T123 pod from the M.V. Saratoga, Puget Sound Express, when we spotted 2 humpback whales on our way. One of these whales was crc15971 (Hydra), who was the only one that raised her tail flukes for an ID. Later we cruised over to watch the T123 pod (a family of 4) swimming steadily towards the aforementioned humpback whales. The Bigg's killer whales got within about 250-300 yards of the humpbacks before we peeled away to look for a few other pods nearby. The humpbacks didn't look too concerned about the killer whales presence (which isn't a surprise since the Transients prefer to go after smaller prey around here). Next we watched another pod of 4 Bigg's killer whales - T46B1, T46B1A, T253, ad T253A (thanks to Mark Malleson for ID on 253A who is not in the latest ID guide as a two year old). This group of 4 made a kill shortly after we arrived with the lighthouse at Race Rocks in the background! They ate their meal very quickly before racing off to the east, possibly in pursuit of another meal when we left them. On our way back towards the dock in Edmonds we also spotted the T18 pod (another group of 4) swimming eastbound just a few miles east of all the others. -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, PSE
*
Date whales sighted: 11 October, 2021 at approx. 13:00 hours.
Location of whales: Just off Aldridge Pt (mouth of Becher Bay), Vancouver Island, BC, in approximately 130 ft of water.
Whales sighted: a group of 4 whales, including 1 large male, 2 females, and a calf.
Whales were headed east towards the Bedford Islands. -Steve Suntok, Victoria, BC
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WOW...minutes from our docks with 15+ Bigg's/Transient Killer Whales (T018/019's, T046's with T251 & T252 and T123's) in three different groups hunting on their way east towards Race Rocks Lighthouse... A very special family Thanks Giving today! -Paul Pudwell, Sooke Coastal Explorations
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Mon, Oct 11 - NPS/Saratoga Passage (T65As)
19:15 - Southwest past Whidbey towards Kitsap in the Possession Triangle.
18:55 - [orcas] Swimming by Chennault Beach, Mukilteo, southbound west of midchannel. -Alice Thuy Talbot
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18:28 - [orcas] 4 or 5 due west of Lighthouse Park, Mukilteo. Mid channel to closer to Whidbey side. Moving south slowly. -Lynn Baker
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17:14 - Male orca in ferry lane aprox. mid channel heading south. -Marilyn Armbruster
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16:49 - Just saw lone male between Gedney and Whidbey mid channel. -Clinton Duckworth
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16:13 - They just rounded Sandy point and are now heading south into Possession Sound.
16:07 - [orcas] They are right in front of Sandy Point now. Heading east. -Luanne Seymour
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15:49 - [orcas] Entering Langley. Viewing from Seawall Park, southbound. -Donna George
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15:15 - After being on a hunt for 30 minutes south of Fox Spit, they are on the move again towards Langley. Whidbey side, midchannel. -Rachel Haight
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14:21 - Pretty sure they're T65As, but they're right in the sun so it's hard to see right now.
14:14 - SB mid channel between the state park and Baby Island. -Serena Tierra
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13:20 - Distant look at orcas from Hidden Beach.
----Raced down to Hidden Beach around noon after word of some Bigg's orcas southbound from Race Lagoon in Saratoga Passage. This time, unlike last week, I found them, though they were more mid-channel/Camano side so quite distant, but still lovely. Pod identified as T65As. -Bonnie Gretz
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14:00 - Slowly southbound just about to CISP... saw them from distance at Hidden Beach, looked to be closer to Camano.
~12:20 - 4-5 Orcas southbound in Saratoga, seen from near Race Lagoon on Whidbey, heading SE towards Camano at 12:20-ish.
---- What a treat to "hear" whales today before seeing them, and lucky one of us was outside to hear them as they passed our house, southbound. But we caught them - the T65As - as they headed to mid-channel Saratoga Passage. And a bit later from Hidden Beach. Great way to start the week. -Jill Hein
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07:30 - We saw a single orca in Saratoga Passage staying at Cama Beach. Heading north. No other orcas. -Hazel Goodman
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Mon, Oct 11 - South Puget Sound (T137s) - 18:41 - [orcas] Just passed me on Horsehead Bay heading southbound out of Carr Inlet toward Fox Island - lots of bird activity, think I saw about 3.
---- Here's a few of my favourite photos from last night as the Orcas passed by on their way out of the Carr Inlet. Saw 2 for sure, stayed in front of me for about 15/20mins, going under and resurfacing frequently, lots of bird activity overhead. Saw one little tail slap as they headed off! -Jennifer Swenson
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16:35 - About 4 Orcas headed south in Carr Inlet off Cutts Island. -Bill DeLeo
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15:38 - [orcas] Just spotted them again in the middle of Henderson Bay, slightly closer to Purdy side. The sea lions are still huddled very close to shore on the Gig Harbor side, but are getting driven further out by the tide. Looks like the orcas are just biding their time -Alyssa Carlson Paquette
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16:15 - Center channel right in front of Kopachuck State Park right now, 4:15pm. There are 4 of them.
16:03 - Southbound mid-channel off Raft Island.
15:01 - [orcas] Headed north again into Henderson Bay. Mid-channel by Minter Creek. -Randy Witter
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14:19 - Updating now, same spot, circling with deep dives, but definitely 4, one being a large male.
14:09 - I see two, one looks like a large male, on Gig Harbor side, possibly moving south. Just north of Raft Island. -Barb Horn Hartman
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13:00 - Message from Mark Stolz: 4 orcas at the Purdy Spit, 1:00pm today, Monday, heading toward Dead Man's Island. [southbound]
13:20 - Found them again. They look to be mulling around between Purdy Spit and Minter Lagoon. Closer to the Key Peninsula side.
13:05 - [orcas] I spotted them about 13:05 south of Purdy Spit. I only saw two of them. Only came up a couple times shortly and I haven't been able to find them since. -Ryan Campbell
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11:15 - Two orcas in Henderson Bay, Carr Inlet, South Puget Sound, heading north towards Purdy, where I spotted about 8-10 sea lions close to shore. I expected for the hunt to begin, but so far it has been quiet! I'll be watching. -Ingrid Shumway
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BELUGA WHALE - Mon, Oct 11 - NPS/Possession Sound - At 09:51 Laura Baker, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: Beluga Whale at MUK, 10/11. Yes, Beluga! Vessel reports sighting a Beluga whale just off the MUK dock heading in a northbound direction, heading toward Everett.
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09:23 - Beluga Sighting on the east side of Possession Sound heading north between Picnic Point Park and Mukilteo Lighthouse Park. No boats or observers in the area. Follow-up: Observed with binoculars so no pictures or video. I had not seen the reports of a Beluga in the Sound until I looked it up after the observation. I would say 100% confident it was a Beluga. Large white with no dorsal. Swam near service for several minutes before submerging and staying under. -Joe Finco
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Mon, Oct 11 - Strait of Juan de Fuca - A very special family Thanks Giving today! -Paul Pudwell, Sooke Coastal Explorations
photo - CRC15971 MMY0042 (Hydra) ID: GS
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UNIDENTIFIED SPECIES - Mon, Oct 11 - Central Puget Sound - At 18:00 I saw two blows from Constellation Park in West Seattle; mid channel line of sight to Blake Island. Hasn't resurfaced but was unmistakably backlit cetacean blows. One more blow clearly east of mid channel at 18:10. Never did see the animal. Follow-up: I'd say it looked similar to orcas blows [height], which I'm most familiar with, but obviously not an orca with no fin visible. -Jason Lee Bell
[Possible sighting not reported as any species, but Beluga ended up south next day so possibly? -alb]

October 10
BIGG'S TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sun, Oct 10 - Haro Strait (T60s minus T60D & T60E) - 08:15 - [orcas] Viewed from shore at Hannah Heights, heading south. -Petra Schindler-Carter
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08:06-08:25 - Unknown orcas (most probably Bigg's Transients) southbound, 1 mile south of Landbank. I watched the large male in the group surface 3 times but didn't see him again. The group of 3 including an older calf stayed together but surfaced farther out to the southwest (away from the island) each time until they were out of sight. -Michelline Halliday,
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Sun, Oct 10 - South Puget Sound - ~22:00 - They came in and out of Pickering Passage last night around 10 pm. -Megan Gene Carlson
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17:13 - 4 Orcas east of Stretch Island. (47.3189691, -122.8190163). -Bobby O'Neill
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~16:00 - [orcas] They came into Pickering Passage headed south... -Megan Gene Carlson
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15:57 - Orcas sighted Pickering Passage, west Olof, Harstine Island, heading south. Just north of Harstine bridge. At least 3 orca. N 47 15.68W 122 55.428. They were heading south towards the bridge. We lost sight of them about a mile north of the bridge.
15:46 - Orcas sighted Pickering Passage headed south. N 47.16.973. W 122 54.968, Approaching Harstine Island Bridge. -Gary Frankel
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15:36 - At 17:28 Karen Eng called to report seeing orcas earlier at 15:36 in Pickering Passage. They were viewing from Walker Landing opposite Harstine Island. The orcas (at least 2, including smaller one) were heading west in the passage at that time.
15:30 - 2 orcas headed west at 3.30pm, 10/10. -Karen Eng
*
14:30 - They were milling around in the same location for as long as we were watching, up until 2:30, when we had to leave.
14:08 - [orcas] From our view from Harstine Island, we see them on the east side of Case Inlet, south of Vaughn. -David Morton
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11:38 - There are reports of 4 orca in Carr Inlet near Fox Island, heading toward Henderson. -Marycatherine Lanzon Stubbs
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08:25 - Orca pod heading southeast in Carr Inlet toward ex-Navy base on Fox Island - At least 4. -Kathy Keele
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sun, Oct 10 - Haro Strait - 12:32 - Humpback whale (correction: two HB whales) on Canadian side of Haro Strait (by D'Arcy Island) headed north. ["MMX0128 Vivaldi and a Clayoquot Sound whale designated CS361 - Monika had to help us with the ID of that one!" -Ellie Sawyer] -M Elise Cannon
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UNIDENTIFIED BALEEN WHALE - Sun, Oct 10 - North Puget Sound - Just spotted at 11:40am, a big whale in Admiralty Inlet at Keystone. Circled twice. Last spotted headed towards Lagoon Point. We think too big for an orca. -Kaila Wyman Lightner

October 9
BIGG'S TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sat, Oct 9 - Vancouver, B.C. - Orcas swimming amongst docks and moored boats in Horseshoe Bay. [video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEqaEjCv2Y4
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Sat, Oct 9 - San Juan Islands (T2B, T60s minus T60D & T60E) - 13:20 - Orcas near Friday Harbor, 1:20pm. ["These are the T060s minus T060D & E, plus T002B." -Sarah McCullagh] -Andy Kolpitcke
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13:08 - Just passed Point Caution close to shore, off labs now. -Cindy Hansen, Orca Network
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13:15 - Right outside Friday Harbor.
12:10 - Continuing south down San Juan Channel on the San Juan side near O'Neal.
11:50 - Heading for Reuben Tarte southbound down San Juan Channel.
11:00 - Picked up near Roche Harbor maybe heading east into Spieden - the T60s with T2B (but no T60D or E, so five whales total). - A big spyhop from T60C Yelnats off Reuben Tarte County Park this afternoon. -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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10:00-11:50 - Center for Whale Research Encounter #82: " Off the north end of Henry Island, Dave caught a glimpse of a few fast-moving whales heading north about a third of a mile to his west. The encounter began at 1007. The three whales turned out to be T60, T60F, and T60G and they turned almost due east towards Spieden Channel and began porpoising. Dave followed along and got a few shots of the trio as they sped towards the channel. Jane had said they had seen a male so Dave figured that T60C and maybe T2B, who often travels with the T60s, would be around somewhere. Around 1015, the trio slowed down about a quarter mile north of Battleship Island. About this time, two more whales, a male and a female, showed up about a half mile north of the others. This was indeed T60C and T2B and they were slowly snooping around the north edge of Danger Shoal." [See CWR Encounter #82 for full summary and photos] https://www.whaleresearch.com/2021-82
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09:06 - Two orcas (rarely surfacing) at mouth of Open Bay. -M Elise Cannon
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08:30 - At least two Orcas heading north from San Juan County Park. Maybe a mother and young. -Emma Parkinson
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Sat, Oct 9 - Central Puget Sound (T123s) - 17:04 - [orcas] Just south of the Vashon/Fauntleroy ferry lanes. NB. Deep dives, 17.04, watching from Lincoln Park. -Brigitte van Hovell
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16:09 - [orcas] Very close to the east side of channel, steady northbound travel. Seem to have turned more westerly with long downtimes. [viewing from Three Tree Point area, orcas "much past" there] -Christina Van Wolbeck Fenerty
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15:59 - NB, 3 orcas passing in Burien side of Three Tree yellow buoy.
15:43 - NB, heading to Vashon, mid channel. Tug boat passing them.
15:36 - Looks like 3 orcas. One male. Same spot mid-way through Maury, possibly feeding as fin direction changes. No boats nearby now.
15:21 - 1 orca spotted mid channel. No direction near middle of Maury Island. Seen from south side of Three Tree Point. Small fishing boat with single man nearby. -Sandhya Ballal
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14:28 - Orcas passed Point Robinson heading north at 2:28pm. -Kelly Burns Keenan
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13:23 - They stopped to eat a meal and now they are on the move again northeast-bound off the south end of Maury Island. Viewing from MV Saratoga, Puget Sound Express. They passed right by a big elephant seal right before they caught something else.
12:50 - The T123 pod is northeast-bound from the south end of Vashon isl. See my map [near Quartermaster Harbor]. -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, PSE
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12:44 - Directly off of the lighthouse. 1 male, 3 small whales. Northbound towards the Maury Island lighthouse.
12:37 - Viewing just west of Vashon ferry line. Orcas mid channel off Ruston Way. Heading towards the Brown Point Lighthouse. -Carina Raddatz
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Sat, Oct 9 - Central to South Puget Sound (T137s) - 18:34 - We saw a pod of 5 orcas, 6:34 pm last night [10/9], by buoy between Anderson and Fox Islands. My wife and I watched them till dark with Binoculars. They seemed to be hunting in main channel. They leaped out of water several times. Our view point was up high on east side of sound close to Steilacoom. -Nathan Edwards
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18:40 - Have been milling around channel marker, some splashes, one breach and a spy hop...
18:21 - [orcas] They have arrived in Steilacoom. Still heading south. Now south of channel marker between Fox and McNeil Islands. -Jennifer Tebaldi
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18:15 - [orcas] Just past Fox Island still heading south. -Lora Lori Hope Whiting
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17:55 - [orcas] Southbound off Day Island, but then lost them. -Debbie Bingham
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17:36 - [orcas] Directly under the Narrows Bridge! 1 male, 3 female. (They were closer to Tacoma side.) -Mykayla Kelley
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17:27 - [orcas] Mid. Channel. Southbound. Just passing Salmon Beach. 5:27. -Stace Gordon
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17:15 - Passing by Pt. Defiance heading towards the Narrows Bridge. -Ryan Webster
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16:55 - [orcas] Spotted in the channel at the mouth of Gig Harbor. -Liz Adamack
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17:45 - Passed under Tacoma Narrows Bridge, steady pace trending south 5:45. They were closer to Tacoma side of channel.
16:45 - The 4 that passed Sunrise Beach at 4:45 were mid channel but possibly trending toward the Narrows. -Jessica Richter
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16:45 - [orcas] They are passing Sunrise Beach heading south. It was my first time seeing them! -Michelle McPhetridge
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16:24 - They are past point Richmond still southbound on Gig Harbor side. -Kourtnee Marr Lindgren
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15:30 - T137s passed Lisabuela Beach, Kitsap side, grouped up in travel mode southbound. -Marla Smith
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15:15 - [orcas] 4 southbound Olalla, 3:15, one male. -Robyn Dally
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15:05 - 2, maybe 3 (large male) passed Olalla/Anderson Point in Colvos Passage, southbound. Good pace. -Amanda Herberger
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15:04 - We found the T137s southbound in Colvos Passage. -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, PSE
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14:19 - Orca whales traveling south through Colvos at Driftwood Cove, south of Southworth Ferry. Kitsap side. Group spread out. 2:19. -Kristi King
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13:56 - Orcas sighted southbound from Southworth toward Olalla. -Jennifer Altschuler
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BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sat, Oct 9 - South Puget Sound
Cascadia Region Whale Sighting
Orca Sighting:
Sighting Time: Sat, Oct 9 @ 11:04:32 PDT
Sighting Device Location (Lat/Lon): 47.19976,-122.58303
Sighting User Reported Location (Lat/Lon): 47.19976,-122.58303 [Chambers Bay Golf Course]
Number Sighted: 2
Reported Animal Status: Live
Submitted Comments:
Report Generated: Wed Oct 13 8:48:37 PDT 2021
Submitter Name: Nathan Crooks, Whale Alert App
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09:15 - Orcas quickly moving southbound west of midchannel passing Shilshole. -Sue Larkin
[T137A ID'd by Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network, from Sue's photo]
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09:01 - Found them, heading south fast mid-channel just north of Shilshole.
08:06 - Good morning from the San Juan Clipper! We are looking for a group of 4 orcas southbound from Presidents Point [Kingston] at 8:06. Reported by the Victoria boat. -Stephanie Raymond
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BELUGA WHALE - Sat, Oct 9 - Commencement Bay - At 16:02 Christie Galinat called to report seeing the Beluga at ~15:50. She saw the Beluga between Tacoma waterfront and Vashon Island heading southbound, middle of the Sound. Surfacing normally, boat went by and haven't seen since. Asked about boats: Only 1-2 in vicinity transiting and didn't even know whale was there.
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15:32 - Seeing Beluga out in Commencement Bay, 3:32, heading west from Browns Point Lighthouse. -Cherie StOurs
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15:32 - [beluga] Viewing it now. Just off Browns Point Lighthouse. -Larry Dubay
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15:40 - From Northern Fish Co., he is crossing Quartermaster Harbor. Pretty far out. 3:40.
15:31 - [beluga] We can see him from Northern Fish Co. He is heading out of the bay looks like. Almost straight out from les Davis between les Davis and brown point mid bay.
15:28 - He's straight out from Northern Fish right now, 3:28. -Jenna Iams
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14:35 - Just FYI, we spotted the Beluga deep in Commencement Bay just now, 2:35pm, eastbound from my map. -Bart Rulon
*
14:36 - We're leaving it right in front of the paper mill now.
14:27 - CX and STG are on scene with the beluga in Commencement Bay! He's heading deeper into the bay. 8-10 breaths in a row followed by a 4-minute sounding dive. -Justine Buckmaster, Naturalist, Puget Sound Express
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14:24 - He [beluga] was about seven hundred yards from shore about a half mile north from the naval ships. -Yedidyah Kent
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14:20 - Beluga deep in Commencement Bay at 2:19 pm. -Kourtnee Marr Lindgren
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14:48 - He's near Foss waterway now.
14:26 - He's just hanging out about 700 yards from shore, just north of the navy ships in Commencement Bay.
13:49 - I Just spotted the beluga! He's in Commencement Bay right now heading towards the naval ships that are docked. Viewing from the N. 38th St. Overlook on the Ruston side of the bay. I reported it. He stood out because he's so white! He is also fast so it's tough to get a good photo of. We reported the sighting immediately to the fish and wildlife and other agencies. Then we watched him for over 45 minutes. At first he was going toward dash point but then turned and started heading towards the navy ships that are docked.
At 13:40 Chelsea Kent called to report seeing the Beluga whale multiple times in Commencement Bay at 1:40pm, Saturday, October 9th. Beluga is swimming from Ruston Way side northbound about 1 mile north of two military ships. There are a bunch of boats. -Chelsey Kent
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Sat, Oct 9 - Tacoma Narrows - 10:40 - At 10:45 Orca Network received a call from Valerie Czy?ewski reporting the Beluga today, 10/9, at 10:40. Whale was heading southbound under Tacoma Narrows bridge, mid-channel. We asked level of confidence, and she said certain; and about possibility of Steller sea lion, she said no, whale was bright white. She's lived here her entire life and never seen anything like this. Whale was bright white, traveling slowly with regular surfacing and diving, could see body of a whale and could see entire time it was underwater.
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sat, Oct 9 - Strait of Juan de Fuca - What a fluking awesome day out west of Sooke! Was able to capture 20 Fluke Id's out of the 40+Humpback Whales in the area....WOW! -Paul Pudwell, Sooke Coastal Explorations
["Wow, we had Manta on Monday in the upper Gulf Islands! Manta was hanging out with BCX1207 Twinning and BCZ0342 on our encounter. It's always amazing how far they can travel in a short amount of time." -Ashley Keegan]
photo - MMZ0030 (Spindrift) ID: Alethea Leddy
photo - BCZ0214 ID: A. Leddy
photo - BCY0521 Phantom ID: A. Leddy
photo - BCZ0068 Summit ID: A. Leddy
photo - BCZ0155 (Manta) ID: Ashley Keegan

October 8
BIGG'S TRANSIENT ORCAS - Fri, Oct 8 - South Puget Sound (T123s) - 17:50 - 4 Orcas in Carr Inlet, south of Horsehead Bay. Swimming around, feeding. Breached once. Mostly headed south, but stop to circle, feed. -Sarah Richey Guenther
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17:02 - [orcas] Heading north up Carr Inlet into Henderson. Almost to Green Point. -Lance Loyd
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15:29 - [orcas] Southeast of McNeil Island, closer to the island side, viewing from Chambers Bay golf course, appears to be possibly 3. Mostly milling, very slowly SB. -Rietta Rain
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15:35 - Seem to be stalled out around boats and channel marker between McNeil and Fox Islands. Saw one spy hop.
15:14 - [orcas] Just came into sight at channel marker between Fox, McNeil, and Chambers Bay. -Jennifer Tebaldi
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15:11 - Orcas off Chambers Bay mid channel. -Sharon Predoehl
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~15:00 - From the Fox Island Fishing Pier today around 3 pm. Not the best quality photo, was heavily cropped and zoomed. -Jami Cantrell
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Went past the fishing pier on Fox Island. Happy to see them! In my 59 years living here, it was my first!!! -DeeDee Emmett
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Fun to see going under Narrows! 14:40. -Noelle Morris
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14:34 - [orcas] Viewing from Titlow Beach at 2:34. Just south of the Narrows bridge. -Allyson Corbo
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~14:30 - [orcas] From Titlow. Under the Narrows and along Pt. Fosdick. -Stacey Crofoot
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14:30 - Taken from Titlow Beach. -Cherie StOurs
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14:52 - Coming into view from Chambers Bay. Southbound from north end of Fox Island.
14:26 - [orcas] Just passed under Narrows Bridge, mid channel. -Ed Rickert
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14:45 - The location where we left the T123 pod, southbound still, after likely catching a meal [NW of Titlow, west side of channel].
14:30 - They crossed under the bridge, southbound still.
14:21 - T123 pod southbound in the Narrows approaching the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. Viewing from MV Saratoga, Puget Sound Express. -Bart Rulon, Naturalist, PSE
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14:15 - Just spotted a small pod of Orcas at Pt. Defiance heading south through the Tacoma Narrows. -Dana Miller
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14:10 - It's a male, 2 small and a baby. 4 total. -Melody Dimaggio
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~14:00 - Around 2pm Friday, we observed Orca traveling south between Fox Island and Chambers Bay Golf Course. There were two very large whales leading the way and three smaller yet large whales together following the leaders. We almost think there was a 6th smaller whale with them but they were too far away and we did not have binoculars. There were 4 boats observing the pack at significant distances. Amazing encounter. No pics. They were too far away. -Paul Fournier
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14:00 - 4 Orcas heading south from Gig Harbor area at 2pm on 10/08/21. One large male (?), 2 med., one small. They overtook a sailboat, under sail in near calm conditions, 2 of the smaller ones seem to be playing near the bow. The large one came out of the water to at least half its length--i.e., "spyhop" ... We were a channel-width apart but it still looked huge. -Carl Straub
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15:24 - Northeast corner of McNeil Island slowly southbound.
13:52 - The females and male that Randy Turner saw just cleared Pt. Defiance still southbound into Narrows. -Jason Cooke
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Saw these guys in Dalco Passage headed south yesterday, Oct. 8. Is that a little fin in front of the bigger fin? -Julie St John ["This is matriarch T123 herself and yes that is a smaller fin, could be T123D (3-year-old)." -Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network]
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13:45 - I've seen three females and one male pass Vashon. Seem to be heading south around the point. Also 13 seals hanging out at Vashon dock. -Randy Turner
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13:40 - Sighting, huge dorsal fin south end of Maury Island. -Laurie Lambert
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13:39 - [orcas] Group of at least 5 off of Pt. Defiance. 1:39pm. Circling but gradually moving southbound. -Jason Cook
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13:38 - Possible two - just spotted a second smaller fin near the larger one.
13:27 - [orcas] Right between Vashon and Pt. Defiance. Single. -Shannon Joosten Schlecht
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15:07 - Have passed Fox Island fishing Pier southbound. Didn't see them here but folks said they were more on the Tacoma side.
14:36 - Have passed Narrows Beach Southbound, mid channel, off Titlow now.
14:07 - Have been milling between Gig Harbor & Narrows Viewpoint but seem to be moving south now, more towards Gig Harbor side now.
13:59 - Adult male entering the Narrows, passing Gig Harbor Viewpoint now.
13:47 - Approximate location, Westbound again, at least 3 individuals. [per map: west of ferry lanes, mid channel]
13:39 - Off Dalco Passage viewpoint milling mid channel, looks like on a kill.
13:12 - Approx location, westbound. [map indicates east of Tahlequah ferry terminal.
13:08 - Adult male just crossed Quartermaster & is close to Vashon shore heading towards ferry terminal. P.S. his Dorsal is HUGE.
12:57 - They are approaching the big ship moored off Quartermaster Harbor. Long dive times & moving quick. Numbers unknown.
12:47 - From N. Steven's St. can see one adult male rounding the SE corner of Maury Island heading towards Quartermaster Harbor, close to shore. -Melissa Bird
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11:33 - Amy Carey, Sound Action, relayed a report from Melissa Mallot, Citizens for a Healthy Bay, who observed one female and one male orca rounding Point Robinson, Vashon, heading southbound.
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Fri, Oct 8 - North Puget Sound (T137s) - 17:40 - Northbound Camano side off Rockaway Beach. -Rachel Haight
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15.45 - T137A and sibling passed close to Fox Spit, northbound. Have not seen rest of group.
14:59 - They continued on past Langley at a steady pace. Mid channelish toward Camano. Still loosely grouped.
14.15 - T137s have rounded Sandy Point and are now northbound in Saratoga Passage. Not closely grouped up but not that far apart either.
---- Happy birthday to my grandson from the T137s today, cutting through the glassy waters of Saratoga Passage after bypassing Brighton Beach and Sandy Point. The orcas were initially tightly grouped after leaving the Clinton/Mukilteo ferry lanes as they edged closer to Whidbey, but had split apart as T137A (Jack) sneaked around Sandy Point with the others more mid-channel doing their own thing. Well, that's what whales should be doing, isn't it? After passing Langley northbound at a fairly steady pace, the whales zig-zagged about for a while off Bell's Beach before T137A and sibling T137D suddenly surfaced close to Fox Spit, their exhalations like bellows, loud and clear. As always, such a welcome treat to see this fabulous family nearby on such a beautiful fall day. -Sandra Pollard
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13:26 - [orcas] Family in a tight group in slow travel mode just past north ferry flip where Tokitae is docked. It's absolutely beautiful seeing them surface and exhale in such a tight group in placid waters and soft light. -Debbie Stewart
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13:24 - [orcas] Super close in to Whidbey, just passing the Clinton ferry dock now. -Danielle Pennington
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13:20 - Kathleen Handran called to report at least 3 orcas north of Mukilteo in between Hat Island and mainland heading north. She is viewing from Clinton. Boats have stopped to let them pass.
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13:18 - [orcas] North of the Clinton ferry landing, Whidbey side. -Tamara Kelley-Woods
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Cascadia Region Whale Sighting
Orca Sighting:
Sighting Time: Fri Oct 8 @ 12:52:52 PDT
Sighting Device Location (Lat/Lon): 47.94572,-122.31382
Sighting User Reported Location (Lat/Lon): 47.94572,-122.31382 [Mukilteo]
Number Sighted: 3
Reported Animal Status: Live
Submitted Comments:
Report Generated: Fri Oct 8 13:01:00 PDT 2021
Submitter Name: Dawn Perry
Whale Alert App
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12:38 - [orcas] They are still heading north and almost to Mukilteo Lighthouse Park. Mid Channel when they passed my house. I saw 3. One large one and two smaller ones. -Jodi Krause Poissant
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13:30 - Mid Brighton Beach, close to Whidbey side, northbound.
12:25 - [orcas] Viewing from Glendale Beach, straight out and on Mukilteo side of mid channel, NB. -Marilyn Armbruster b.o.c. photo - "Taken at 14:18 at tip of Sandy Point just entering Saratoga Passage, NB" -photo - "rounding Sandy Point spit."
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12:00 - [orcas] North towards the Clinton/Muk ferry. Passing me in Chennault Beach now. 12:00 long down times. 11:48 - [orcas] Spotted just southeast of Possession Point. 11:48. Heading north. -Alice Thuy Talbot
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11:30 - We are transiting south through Possession Sound and off the southern tip of Whidbey Island we saw 3 small orcas and one large one. -Merle and George Silverman
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15:42 - A pair of otters fought off Jack and his Mom and won, near Bells Beach.
14:05 - Approaching Sandy Point close to shore, still northbound.
13:06 - Crossed over towards Clinton dock.
1249 - Passing Mukilteo beach, still NE.
11:23 - Northbound in Saratoga Passage [Possession Sound] mid channel between south Whidbey and Picnic Point, Edmonds.
11:06 - Still in Possession, back and forth killing things, lol! Split up quite a bit. No direction at this time.
09:57 - T137s on kill mid channel between Eglon and Edmonds on Possession Bar. -Janine Harles
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~08:42 - At least one orca north of Kingston at this time. Headed north. Seeing it from Edmonds. -Josh Adams
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BELUGA WHALE - Fri, Oct 8 - Commencement Bay - At 10:15 we received call from Emma LeValley, instructor aboard Schooner Adventuress. They are with a group of UW students doing studies and have just encountered the beluga on the south side of Commencement Bay, west of the grain loading terminal. Whale is swimming back and forth in the bay, last seen heading south. Schooner Adventuress coordinates at time of call: 47' 17.3845 N, 122'26.5095 W
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At 10:14 Ellen called; she is aboard the Schooner Adventuress. Wants to report sighting, not sure what it is Lat 47'17.14/122'26.27. Animal we are seeing is white so we are wondering if it is the beluga whale. Have seen it's back come up, hard to ID. Very exciting!
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Fri, Oct 8 - Haro Strait - 13:51 - There is now a HB (maybe two?) on the Canada side of Haro heading north (soon to be Westside of Henry). -M Elise Cannon
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10:45 - One humpback off San Juan County Park, 10:45am. Breaching water quickly every few minutes quite a ways out. 228 degrees SW. Seems to be heading north. -Emma Parkinson
["Zephyr and calf" (near Mitchell Bay) -April Ryan]

October 7
BIGG'S TRANSIENT ORCAS - Thu, Oct 7 - North to Central Puget Sound (T123s, T137s) - 18:23 - From Lowman Beach, just saw a couple of blows far across the water in front of Restoration Pt. Too far to confirm direction, but my sense is SB. - 18:03 - [orcas] Report from friend on ferry: Skipper cut engines, called out a pod. From the blowing, seemed like a good-sized group, at least 1/2 dozen. Headed SW just off Alki. Trileigh Tucker
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18:04 - [orcas] Just saw 3 blowing way out by the bottom edge of Bainbridge; viewing from Alki. Heading south close to the Bainbridge side. -Misti Pinter
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17:34 - [orcas] We see them mid channel from Seattle. They're near a sailboat. Viewing from Old Stove Brewing. -Lauren McManus
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17:13 - Milling mid channel still. Lots of tail slapping, 1 full breach. Viewing directly west from Starla Drum View Bench.
16:46 - 3 individuals (1 large male) traveling south mid channel. Viewing from Elliott Bay Marina. -Ellie Mondloch
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16:20 - Just saw 3-4 orcas west side of Puget Sound off Skiff Point/Point Monroe headed south. -Kristin Peterson
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13:59 - T123s are following, north of point no point still, headed south. -Trevor Tillman, PSE
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~13:00 - saw T137 and T123 (separately) at Point No Point I believe around 1pm. -Amy Watson
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11:30 - [orcas] Off the middle of Mutiny Bay in the northbound traffic land traveling slowly towards Point no Point. -Christopher Hanke, Puget Sound Express
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10:38 - [orcas] The pod is a mile south of Bush Point, Whidbey side, continuing southbound. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network
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10:25 - [orcas] Whales off Bush Point, at least 3. Right off the point heading southbound. -Camille Hartley
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09:20 - Small pod of orca, directly off Lagoon Point heading south now, out toward mid channel. One large male, 3 smaller orca sighted, not sure if there was more. -Shelley Schwinn
[T137A ID'd from Shelley's back-of-camera photo. -gs]
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UNIDENTIFIED ORCAS - Thu, Oct 7 - Neah Bay - 18:49 - Currently on board the Celebrity cruises ship Millennium, enroute to Seattle, just observed approximately 5 Orcas about 1000' to our south, one group of 2-3 individuals and another group of 2 individuals at these coordinates: 48.401372,-124.678758. Follow-up: I believe they were moving south, south/west. -Miles M.
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BELUGA WHALE - Thu, Oct 7 - Commencement Bay - ~18:00 - At 19:25 Will Anderson called Orca Network to report encountering the Beluga whale in Commencement Bay at ~18:00. The Beluga was between Chinese Reconciliation Park and Thea Foss waterway about 100 meters from the bow of the two naval ships anchored in the bay. Beluga was going back and forth several times. At last sighting the whale was heading away from Thea Foss waterway in NW direction. Video proof of presence by Charles Gosk
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11:00-11:30 - At 21:37 Brad Bennett called Orca Network to report a hearing encounter with the beluga, or so he believes. He did not see the beluga, but today October 7 at 11-11:30 heard something. He was sitting in his boat w/engine for about an hour, when he heard high pitched squeaks, it didn't register at first since sound was above water, but when he came back later and saw the research boats and helicopter in Commencement Bay with the beluga, he does believe that is who he heard.
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12:15 - At 12:45 Janae Dinkins called Orca Network to report seeing the Beluga at 12:15 today (Oct 7) along the Tacoma waterfront, directly out from 2100 block Ruston Way (approx. between Jack Hyde Park and Silver Cloud Inn). Whale was in Commencement Bay along Ruston way heading Northwest toward Point Defiance, ~ 100 yards from shore. Whale surfaced a couple of times and then went under, they then lost track. Viewing from office on shore. NO Photos or ID. They've also contacted NOAA.
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10:30 - Robert Kerr called Orca Network at 12:30 to report his 10:30 Beluga sighting. He's moored in the marina and was out salmon fishing in Commencement Bay when he saw a white thing a couple hundred yards away which he thought might the Beluga. The whale came up about 3-4 times, first time he could see about 4 feet of the whales back, and another time could see about 6 feet of whale's back, whale was snow white, definitely beluga. He then thought to try for phone photo/video while trolling 2-300 yards away, but the whale never came up again and could not find it again. Time of sighting was 10:30. Location was in Commencement, was near the 2 anchored yellow buoys. He was trolling toward the buoy right in from river; the whale was just outside the buoy to the NE of him in ~25 ft deep water. He had heard about the whale, but just this morning read Tacoma Tribune piece on the whale w/Orca Network contact info so had that information.
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~09:23 - At 09:28 Orca Network received a call from Sue Ehler (MMO for Mukilteo terminal project). Her son, Edward Ehler Port Captain for Foss, called her to report seeing the Beluga in North Commencement Bay heading towards Hylebos waterway 5 minutes prior (~09:23).
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Thu, Oct 7 - Haro Strait - 12:10 - Humpback off Westside of SJI. Just south of Mitchell Bay. Can't tell the direction it's headed. -M Elise Cannon
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Thu, Oct 7 - Strait of Juan de Fuca
Cascadia Region Whale Sighting
Humpback Sighting:
Sighting Time: Thu Oct 7 @ 10:40:00 PDT
Sighting Device Location (Lat/Lon): 48.29901,-124.24654
Sighting User Reported Location (Lat/Lon): 48.29901,-124.24654 [N of Slip Point/Clallam Bay]
Number Sighted: 6
Reported Animal Status:
Submitted Comments: ocnms2021
Report Generated: Thu Oct 7 10:49:06 PDT 2021
Submitter Name: Marshall Stein
Whale Alert App

October 6
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Wed, Oct 6 - Anacortes - 11:54 - Saw them surface once and then lost 'em. No direction. Sorry.
~11:00 - Reliable friend reported seeing 3-4 Orcas from Skyline Marina in Anacortes. 100' from shore. -Kimberly Sylvester
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Wed, Oct 6 - Strait of Georgia - Humpbacks Feeding off Singing Sands today. -Ella Smiley, Comox Valley Wildlife Sightings
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Wed, Oct 6 - Strait of Georgia/Gulf Islands Sighting Time: Wed Oct 6 13:23 PDT Sighting User Reported Location (Lat/Lon): 49.11832,-123.63617 [NE Valdes Island] Number Sighted: 2 Reported Animal Status: Humpbacks Submitted Comments: travelling south Submitter Name: Robert Davis - Whale Alert App
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Wed, Oct 6 - San Juan Islands - 08:40 - Humpback crossing San Juan Channel toward SJI near Turn Island. From Ferry at 08:40. -Nan Yates Simpson

October 5
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Tue, Oct 5 - B.C. Gulf Islands - 17:30 - Tuesday October 5th at 5:30 PM a group of 4 orcas was seen heading south out of Ganges Harbour. The group appeared to include two adult males with prominent dorsal fins, as well as one quite small (young?) orca. -Peter Reiner, Salt Spring Island
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Tue, Oct 5 - San Juan Islands - 10:37 - Can only confirm 1 orca. It breached, saw the white eyespot and later the much larger, curved dorsal fin, as opposed to the low, flat dorsal fin of the humpback
10:30 - 2 humpbacks and orca breaching in San Juan Channel, headed north, approaching Yellow Island. (actually 3 humpbacks!) -Cathleen Burns
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Tue, Oct 5 - Haro Strait - 09:05 - They are now approaching Open Bay, about 1 mile out from SJI. At least one male - moving slowly. I saw 3. But they were also down a lot. [Monika Wieland Shields, OBI, thinks Bigg's from photo by M Elise Cannon.] -M Elise Cannon
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07:15 - 3 orcas, spread out traveling northbound, 1 mile south of Landbank Westside Preserve. They surfaced 3-4 times and it was still pretty dark. I waited for some time but these were the only 3 I saw. I'm assuming Bigg's Transients. -Michelline Halliday, SJI
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UNIDENTIFIED ORCAS - Tue, Oct 5 - San Juan Islands - 12:00 - Multiple orcas in Rosario Strait heading east. Spotted from Washington Park. Too far out to identify. Follow-up: 3-4, one had a visibly smaller dorsal fin than the others - we lost sight as they went further that way [toward Anacortes ferry terminal] but we did not see them return SW. -Chloe Cason
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BELUGA WHALE - Tue, Oct 5 - Central Puget Sound - 11:30 - This BELUGA whale was swimming around the shipyard in Bremerton at 11:30 this morning. -Becky Smith
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Me and 2 other coworkers saw this BELUGA whale earlier today at 9:30ish AM. At Puget sound naval shipyard. -Daniel Hattis
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~09:30 - Attached is a photo I received last night of the beluga whale when it was spotted in between Piers C & B at Bremerton yesterday (10/5/2021) morning (~0930). First sighting to the tower was reported by a small craft boat off the Nimitz. The tower is currently notified of the importance of real time reporting of this animal, and will call me directly/immediately if any more sightings are called in. -Julia Stockton, Temporary Bremerton Environmental Supervisor, Biologist/Game Warden, Naval Base Kitsap - Bremerton, Certified Natural Resources Professional --E via K. Wilkinson, NOAA NMFSC
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Tue, Oct 5 - San Juan Islands - 10:37 - Can only confirm 1 orca. It breached, saw the white eyespot and later the much larger, curved dorsal fin, as opposed to the low, flat dorsal fin of the humpback.
10:30 - 2 humpbacks and orca breaching in San Juan Channel, headed north, approaching Yellow Island. (actually 3 humpbacks!) -Cathleen Burns
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Tue, Oct 5 - Haro Strait - 16:08 - Humpback. Lime Kiln. Northbound. -Erika Hansen
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UNIDENTIFIED SPECIES - Tue, Oct 5 - Central Puget Sound/Alki - ~18:00 - [unconfirmed beluga] Saw it yesterday off of Alki in front of my house at around 6 pm. It was seen by others and it was heading towards Jack Block Park. it was Tuesday evening around sunset. I live on 1300 block of Alki. It was heading towards Seattle. I typically sit on my balcony at sunset. And noticed a different kind of movement. -Denise Kintz

October 4
SOUTHERN RESIDENT ORCAS - Mon, Oct 4 - Haro Strait (J pod) - 10:49-14:31 - Center for Whale Research Encounter #81: "We headed south and found J38 off the County Park and then J19 off Bellevue Point. The whales stalled out about a quarter mile north of Lime Kiln State Park. For the next half hour there seemed to be a lot of foraging going on between the old lime kiln and the County Park as we sat about three quarters of a mile northwest of Lime Kiln. A few spread out whales passed us heading south but they didn't head south of Lime Kiln yet. One of these was pregnant J36 who was at the top of the list of whales we wanted to see in case she had had her calf. She did not have a calf yet but we are hopeful we will see her with it sometime this Fall. A few of the whales that had passed us to the south milled their way back north of us again as they foraged. J53 chased and caught a salmon near us. Around 1345, the whales finally committed to heading south and began making their way down the west side." [See CWR Encounter #81 https://www.whaleresearch.com/2021-81 for full summary and more photos]
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Mon, Oct 4 - Haro Strait (J pod) - 16:10 - [J pod] Hearing some faint EL clicks on the Lime Kiln hydrophone. -Fred Horn photo - "at Lime Kiln, a Humpback fluke and a Resident Orca!
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J-Pod went north on the evening of September 30, and must have been up in the Strait of Georgia since then, as this morning they were picked up heading southwest down Boundary Pass. Today we got to spend some time with this cutie, J57 Phoenix. He is an absolute ham, and we love him for it. -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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17:45 - Far to the south I could see 3 - 4 orcas NB. They swung out southwest away from the island. They were followed by a small boat with 3-4 photographers. There wasn't a research flag or Whale Warning flag flying. The boat followed them until it was a small dot in the distance. Photographed from shore, cropped and enlarged.
14:05-18:00 - J-pod traveling generally southbound 1 mile south of Landbank Westside Preserve, 1/3 mile to 3 miles from shore. They were spread out and changed direction many times, back and forth, in and out; some continuing and some staying in the general area. J56 Tofino and J57 Phoenix were traveling together some distance from their Moms. J31 Tsuchi was ahead and J35 Tahlequah behind them. The calves circled and dove and splashed and breached together! They were having the best of time playing. They decided to change direction and head back north but J31 was quick to notice and she immediately turned back to catch up with them. Meeting up with J35, the moms gathered their playful calves and the 4 of them continued south again. Into the evening, at sunset, traveling solo J27 Blackberry, J38 Cookie and later J26 Mike slowly swam back and forth before everyone headed south. Michelline Halliday, SJI
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13:19 - At 13:29 Crystal Fisher emailed: Hi listening to the online Lime Kiln park hydrophone and I hear some activity - October 4th starting listening at 1:19pm.
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~12:30 - [J pod] We saw them milling just off county park about 12.30pm. -James Richardson
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BELUGA WHALE - Mon, Oct 4 - Central Puget Sound - 17:15-17:30 - Today off a barge parked near Heko Services between Salty's and the Jack Block pier. Was just sent these pictures of what looks like the beluga. This was in Elliott Bay this evening!! My friend's friends were kayaking and saw it. -Kersti Muul - photos by Shannon Felix
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Mon, Oct 4 - Haro Strait - 16:22-16:33 - 2 humpbacks, northbound, 1 mile south of Landbank Westside Preserve, 500 yds from shore. One was smaller, so I am assuming a mom and her calf. The calf was also lighter and a different color; a warm grey. The pair stayed very close together, their dives perfectly timed. As they approached Edwards Point, they lifted their flukes together. Their close connection was beautiful to watch. Photographed from shore.
14:00-14:15 - 2 humpbacks northbound, 1 mile south of Landbank Westside Preserve, 600-700 yds from shore. The pair crossed the path of J-Pod who were very spread out traveling south. The humpbacks dove and stayed submerged until past the leading male. I don't know if that was coincidence or planned. -Michelline Halliday, SJI
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10:37 - Two humpbacks just rounded Kellett Bluff headed north. -M Elise Cannon
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Mon, Oct 4 - Puget Sound/South Whidbey - Spent the evening on Possession Bar with Two Spot the Humpback whale! -Janine Harles

October 3
BELUGA WHALE - Sun, Oct 3 - Point Defiance - 12:00 - We saw this guy in Commencement Bay, Tacoma, Washington. Any ideas? Looks like a Beluga whale to me. Location: Around LAT 47.287264 LONG -122.426447. [beluga confirmed by multiple researchers from Jason's video] https://www.facebook.com/OrcaNetwork/videos/229185192523265 -Jason Rogers
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09:00 - We saw what looked like an albino dolphin or small whale on Sunday in front of Point Defiance while we were fishing. Didn't get a pic or video of it but it was completely white. I fish out there every day and have never seen anything like it before. Any idea what it might have been? My buddy thinks it was a beluga but I can't imagine they would be this far south. [beluga in Commencement Bay on 10-3 confirmed by multiple researchers from video by Jason Rogers sent to Orca Network] follow-up - There was a grain ship anchored off the slag pile and it was just north of that. Mid-morning around 9am probably. [Gabe's map indicates location out from the Tacoma Yacht Club] [Gabe's sighting is not photo/video confirmed] -Gabe Miller
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From Dyanna Lambourn via email: "Keith Gidball and his daughter saw the beluga between Point Gibson, Fox Island and Toliva Shoal buoy around noon on Sunday. He said they meet to leave to go out at 1030 at Chamber bay so it might have been a little earlier then noon.
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Sun, Oct 3 - South Puget Sound - Did anyone spot a beluga in the sound in the south end of Fox Island on Sunday?? I couldn't for the life of me figure out what I was seeing. I saw a bulbous figure come up and back down quickly, similar to seal feeding behavior. What confused me was the coloring. It was very light in color, almost a peachy/blonde hue. Too light in coloring to be a sea lion and too big to be a seal. -Dannyn Kaczmarek-Dybdahl
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sun, Oct 3 - Haro Strait - 18:59 - Probably humpback calls (and whistles?!) on the Orcasound Lab hydrophone (5 km north of Lime Kiln). Here's the single detection that fooled the OrcaHello AI into thinking SRKW's were present... https://aifororcas.azurewebsites.net/detections/detection/709c8675-1aba-44c4-9c0e-354276298018?fbclid=IwAR3TTAJYi-6Bj67rGB-0wdrbxxrwyzAArE-SXgBMsuj9e8Fzu9y6vc1Hubc -Scott Veirs, Orcasound
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15:17 - [HB] Now at Eagle Point. -Chris Wilson
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14:25 - Not sure if they're the same humpbacks, but there are two approaching the west side of San Juan again from offshore, nearing False Bay or Pile Point. -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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~14:00 - Saw two humpbacks off the shore at Lime Kiln State Park about 2pm today. -Jacqui Chan
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11:34 - [HB] Closer to Salmon Bank about an hour ago. -Pete Ancich
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08:03-08:10 - 2 humpbacks southbound 1 mile south of Landbank, Westside Preserve. The pair was beautiful in the early morning light, surfacing often and traveling close together, 300-400 yards from shore drawing closer in as they moved south. The trailing humpback had a small notch in the top edge of the dorsal fin and showed his/her fluke 3 times. Photographed from shore. -Michelline Halliday, SJI
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07:35 - Two humpback moving down island toward Lime Kiln from Bellevue Pt., near shore. -Laurie O'Donnell
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UNIDENTIFIED SPECIES - Sun, Oct 3 - South Puget Sound - ~12:30 - I am a frequent Hale Passage kayaker. My partner and I sit out in the mouth of Wollochet area for long periods of time because we love the blackfin porpoise. On Sunday around 1230pm I looked east between Pt. Fosdick and Fox Pt. and saw 4-6 large blackish fins. Moving south. Then at least 2 headed to Zees Reef area. Not porpoise. I was too far away to positively identify them. They were big and not blackfin shaped. I can spot blackfin porpoise from a long distance on a good day. I think orca, but not positive. -lawest17

October 2
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Fri and Sat, Oct 1 and 2 - NW Strait of Georgia (T37As, T49A1 & T49A2, T100s, T123s) An amazing two days with the T100s and T037As yesterday. And today they met up with the T123s and T049A1 and T049A2, we think they were finishing off a sealion kill this morning when we arrived on scene. -Nick Templeman
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sat, Oct 2 - B.C. Gulf Islands - Raccoon (BCX1233) the humpback whale was feeling energetic this evening as she made her way south in Swanson Channel. -Maya's Legacy Whale Watching - photo & ID by Sara Hysong-Shimazu
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Sat, Oct 2 - Haro Strait - 09:51 - Single Humpback, slowly NB about a mile offshore from [San Juan] County Park. -April Ryan
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Sat, Oct 2 - Strait of Juan de Fuca - October has arrived and now we have 40+ Humpbacks South West of Sooke! -Paul Pudwell, Sooke Coastal Explorations
photo - MMY0080 Hemlock ID: Alethea Leddy, photo - MMY0102 ID: Alethea, photo - MMY0102 ID: Alethea
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Sat, Oct 2 - North Puget Sound - 16:00 - Our beloved humpback whale Two Spot is back! We spotted him at Possession Bank as we were coming in from our trip on MV Saratoga! -Bart Rulon, Puget Sound Express
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UNCONFIRMED BELUGA - Sat, Oct 2 - South Puget Sound - We saw it [beluga] Saturday in Chambers Bay. 80% confident. Heading south toward Steilacoom. [unconfirmed] -Lynne Dickson
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Sun, Sept 26; Tue, Sept 28; & Sat, Oct 2 - Admiralty Inlet Tara Klein follow-up: Oct 2: I am less certain about the first sighting, but on the 28th and today [Oct 2], I saw what appeared to be the dorsal or tail fins, and the curved, black, backs of what I believed to be orcas. I suppose they could have been dolphins, but they appeared to be very dark black, and I'm not sure I would have been able to spot creatures as small as dolphins from this distance. I can't possibly be sure that what I saw were orcas; even with a high-power spotting scope, the distance is such that I was unable to see much detail. However, they were very black, and the length of the backs as they broke the surface seemed inconsistent with smaller marine mammals. I just want to know what I spotted (and I now believe they MUST have been smaller cetaceans. What I DON'T want is to misreport, as this does nobody any good and can actually cause harm.
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Oct 2: - 18:11 - Within the last 5 minutes, I watched what had to be a marine mammal swimming south. I called my husband to come and see it and he saw the same thing that I did - a black back and fin or tail.
~11:50-12:05 - I spotted at least 3 orcas swimming south around the same area in which I had spotted the others I reported. I think there were more, but my field of vision is relatively small, so I only count those whose dorsal fins I've seen above the water at the same time. Amazing! -Tara Klein

October 1
BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Sat, Oct 2 - Hood Canal - ~15:55 - I'm pretty sure I saw at least two orca fins off the south end of the Hood Canal Bridge. Follow-up: I was driving as a passenger across the bridge and saw what looked like at least two orca fins. If they were orcas, I saw one that would have to be a bull. They were too tall to be any other marine animal. They were large and black, there was a little movement and I saw a flash of white at one point, but there was not as much movement as I would expect. They definitely were not traveling in any particular direction. I could not turn around and drive across the bridge again to confirm what I saw, but I was able to look at it for several seconds before we got out of sight. I posted here as soon as we got off the bridge. -Emily Calkins
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BIGG'S/TRANSIENT ORCAS - Fri, Oct 1 - Strait of Georgia - 10:58 - Small group of orcas heading north between Vancouver Island and Savary Island. -Patti Perepeluk
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Fri, Oct 1 - Haro Strait (T41s, T69s, T137s) - 17:20 - Looks like they've continued north on the Canadian side of Haro.
16:10 - A group of a dozen or so Bigg's killer whales mid-Haro aiming NE towards San Juan. ["T137s, T41s, and T69s, from what I saw." -Ellie Sawyer] -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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Fri, Oct 1 - San Juan Islands - 16:54 - [orcas] Guemes Channel, still heading toward Anacortes. Seen from the MV Chelan. -Bryn Black
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At 16:26 Maija Holston, WSF Marine Ops, emailed to report: Chelan Master reports 5 orca moving north off Shannon Point headed up towards Bellingham Channel.
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17:30 - Eastbound approaching Guemes ferry.
16:41 - Between Cypress and Guemes Islands. Still eastbound in the channel, not too far off Anacortes.. Lots of splashing. I think 4 of them. Definitely a baby out there
16:11 - [orcas] They're along the shore on the south side of Cypress. Moving East. -Melanie Holbrook
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14:30 - Group of Ts between Blakey and Cypress heading south towards the Anacortes ferry lanes. -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Fri, Oct 1 - San Juan Islands - [HB] They exited Cattle Pass, went to the end of Salmon Bank and then headed back towards Cattle Pass. We left them late in the afternoon just circling Salmon Bank. -John Boyd
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12:30 - One of them has been identified as Zephyr, and as of 12:30 they were continuing down San Juan Channel towards Cattle Pass.
~11:45 - Two humpbacks just south of Friday Harbor heading south, photographed from the ferry! -Monika Wieland Shields, Orca Behavior Institute
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MINKE WHALE - Fri, Oct 1 - San Juan Islands Sighting Time: Fri Oct 1, 14:40 PDT Sighting Device Location (Lat/Lon): 48.75219,-122.90206 Sighting User Reported Location (Lat/Lon): 48.75219,-122.90206 [Sucia Island] Number Sighted: 1 MINKE Report Generated: Fri Oct 1 14:48:53 PDT 2021 Submitter Name: Eric Barnes - Whale Alert App