September 2018 Whale Sightings

Click here for Map of September 2018 whale sightings.

September 30

SOUTHERN RESIDENTS - Members of J, K, and Lpod swim past nuclear sub convoy west of Port Angeles on the afternoon of September 30th. -Photo by Mark Malleson, 2018
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Rs out west are at least some of all three. All mixed up and spread. Foraging and socializing though mostly the latter. Confirmed IDs: K14s, K21, L82/116, L103/123, J14s, J35/47, J22s, J27, J37, L90, L72/105...& L47s. They weren't really moving, but were generally pointing back west when we left. -Sara Hysong-Shimazu
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Sun Sep 30 - WOW! What another awesome day around Sooke! Lunge feeding Humpbacks and a possible Super Pod with our beloved Southern Resident Klller Whales. -Paul Pudwell
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sun Sep 30 - Tim and I took our boat out looking for humpbacks. It started to get really rough and we were heading home slowly from Possesion when I saw blows up ahead! Then we lost the whale, lol! Tim says, did you lose another whale? And on cue this guy/gal flys out of the water! 10 times!!! It was hard to get shots as it was rough, but happy with these! Then the hb waved, another spiral breach, and then it waved it's tail front and back tail slaps roughly 30 times!!! Whale has been ID'd as BCY0349 Masquerade!! All whalewise guidelines were followed, photos taken with 150-600lens zoomed and cropped for detail! -Janine Harles

September 29
We headed up through the San Juan Islands, with reports of Transient (Biggs) Orcas in San Juan Channel. We caught up with the T65A family, who we've seen a lot this season. The matriarch is T65A (b. 1986), her son T65A2 (b. 2004), T65A3, son (b. 2007), T65A4, daughter (b.2011), and baby T65A6 (b. 4/2018). Don't know if 2014 calf, T65A5 was with them. They were close in to the Shaw Island side, and slowly made their way south west from Friday Harbor (San Juan Island). They were mostly traveling, with a few tail slaps along the way. Lovely to see this "resident" Transient group! -Bonnie Gretz, volunteer naturalist (all images zoomed and cropped)
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East side of Shaw near Canoe Island. 09.29.2018 @ around 14:00. Lots of boats in the area to enjoy the show of about 5-6 Ts. -Mette Rousseau
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Sat Sep 29 - [the humpback] spent a lot of time over here on the Kingston side earlier this morning, between Point Jefferson and President Point for about 3 hours (I could hear it in the dark) and I would say I last saw it about 7:45. It has been right in front of our place at several different times of the day and night for at least the last week. -Chris Beamer Otterson
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9:32 - Humpback mid channel off Carkeek Park. Was breaching and slapping fins for a bit. -Pandora Bjeletich
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We saw a humpback whale on the 11:00 Clinton ferry today. -Darci Schultz
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OTHER SPECIES - Sat Sep 29 - Southwest side of Henry Island in Haro Strait. 09.29.2018 @ 11:00am. Male Elephant Seal w/ octopus. -Mette Rousseau

September 28
We had the Trifecta today! Numerous Humpback Whales, Transient and Southern Resident Killer Whales (J Pod) all in our 3 hour adventure around Sooke waters...WOW! -Paul Pudwell
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GRAY WHALES - Fri Sep 28 - Gray whale near Polnell Point, Oak Harbor [Whidbey Island] around 4PM. -Steve Smith
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MINKE WHALES - Fri Sep 28 - We found him/her on Eastern Bank, basically in the middle of nowhere, at approx. 1:30 pm. He was cooperative in that he basically kept surfacing where we expected him to surface (unusual for a Minke) but did seem to be going around in a large circle. So no real direction of travel. -Jill Hein
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UNCONFIRMED CETACEANS - Fri Sep 28 - A single orca? off of Fox Island in Hale Passage 3:00 Friday headed south. - David Lester
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Sep 28 - Humpback in Haro Strait this morning, west side San Juan. viewed from smallpox bay whale was heading north at approximately 930 am. -Melonshe Cherrytree

September 27
11:00 & 15:00 (last seen 5PM) Bigg's Transient orcas approximately 2 miles south of Race Rocks heading South. -Jackie Cowan
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Thu Sep 27 - Large whale, humpback? Off President Point, Kitsap, south of Kingston. Slapping fins for about ten minutes, moving slightly north, 2:20 pm. -Joanne Graves
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16:56 - Just saw a humpback off Richmond Beach! Close to shore heading North!! -Joni Barnes Pollino
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Thur Sep 27 - 4 to 5 pm - We had a big gray whale feeding in very shallow water between Spee-Be-Dah and Tulalip Bay today from . Not normal to see them this time of year. I expect it's on its way South and stopped off to feed. - Margie Eliason
(We have had two "new" grays this year that arrived last spring along with our usual N. Puget Sound grays, and they both stayed very late into the season. We have had reports of one of these still in the area recently, after also spending a little bit of time in South Puget Sound. This is something we have never seen happen before - to have a whale stay this long in our area - it will be interesting to see if it ever leaves or just decides to be a year round resident! -Susan Berta)

September 26
J Pod Admiralty Inlet - Started our day with J Pod spread out across Admiralty Inlet! All whalewise guidelines were followed. J pod was actively foraging, breaching, cartwheeling, spy hops...J27 Blackberry was the big breacher of the day! We went on to Protection Island and then headed back to the Inlet. We found J pod just about to enter the Strait, with a minke whale in front of them doing it's best to get away! It obviously did not know they are fish eaters! -Janine Harles
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What a thrill to see members of J-pod travel close to Whidbey Island's west side today.....J16s, 17s, 22s and possibly some of the 14s were spotted. Awesome!! -Jill Hein
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10:55 - J Pod at Bush Point. Spread out and foraging, but trending north. -Justine Buckmaster
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11 am: J pod off Bush Pt. - when we arrived they were really intently hunting, sending up huge sprays of water along the surface as they raced for prey. -Barbara Mundell
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11:08 - Two orcas off Bush Pt. slowly heading north, one breach; then at 11:10 there were five orcas, close in and foraging, more breaching. -Bessie Julie
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11:05 - 11:30 - This trip north by members of J pod looked very different from their trip south on Sept. 25. Then they were all business, traveling south in procession, mostly in groups, without surface action or changes of direction. Their return trip north was with enthusiasm, with lots of circling back, breaches and rollovers. I watched beginning at 11:05 AM from just south of Bush Point, and then from the lighthouse, they were spread out for miles singly or in small groups, moving unpredictably in all directions but trending north for about 30 minutes. The photo appears to be J27. -Howard Garrett
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12:00 - Adult male north of Lagoon Point mid channel. -Sandy Pollard
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12:40 just south of Pt Townsend, with ww boats, closer to PT Townsend. -Bonnie Gretz
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1:00 pm from Admiralty lighthouse (Ft Casey State Park) they appeared to be closer to PT and Point Wilson.
2:00 pm see them from Libbey Beach out a mile or so from Ebey State Park heaing north.
2:25 angling out a bit more north westerly.
2:30 pm at least 3 miles out and there are a few boats with them.
2:45 pm can barely see them with binocs from Libbey Beach, just little black dots. Still heading northwesterly and out of range. -Marilyn Armbruster
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14:00. On whidbey side, still trending north. Passing Ebey's landing. Watching them from Port Townsend side, can barely see the blows. -Jonathan Crossman
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Wed Sep 26 - 19:00 - J Pod Haro Strait. Orcas just swam by. Eagle Point. Heading north. -Chris Wilson
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J pod at land bank, 9:12 hearing some breaches and slaps. -Connor Adams
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Sept. 26, 9:25pm - 9:40pm, Haro Strait, SJI. In the dark! Orcas heard traveling to the NW from the westernmost edge of Hannah Hts towards and beyond Edwards Point. I imagined I could hear 4 distinct exhalations so I'm guessing 4-5 individuals (?) They were present when I first heard them so I could have caught the tail end of their passage. I ran to start up the LK hydrophone hearing the first voice at 9:59pm and the last at 10:08pm. I recorded it and have attached an 8 minute audio file of their communications. It's such a gift to have access to the hydrophones. Thanks to everyone who makes it possible! -Michelline Halliday
Sept. 26, 9:25pm - 9:40pm, Lime Kiln Hydrophones, Haro Strait, SJI
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Weds Sep 26 - 8:33 am: Humpback seen from the Clipper V off the SF buoy (off Kingston) in the northbound traffic lane. -Jason Mihok
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On Saratoga with a lunge feeding Humpback Whale "Tempest" at Possession Bank. -Justine Buckmaster
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Wed Sep 26 - 16:03 - Gray? Feeding between Alan Island and Edith Point. Too far to ID. - Ann Hazen

September 25
6:05 AM - Haro Strait/Juan de Fuca - Haro Strait between Point Edwards and Hannah Hts. It was still dark when I heard the exhalations. I ran outside as the whales passed, traveling quickly to the SE. The full moon was obscured. So I listened. In the dark. There must have been many whales because I could hear an exhalation every 2 seconds for 5 minutes. The moon came out from behind a cloud and I could just make out the last 2 members that had passed by. Orcas! -Michelline Halliday
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9:45 - We were sailing in our 30 foot sailboat headed south with Smith Island to our west in the straits around 9:45 in the morning and we saw three orcas, one larger and two smaller. Don't think the larger was a male as the fin was not overly large. They were swimming at the surface heading south, submerging and then reimerging from the water over a period of ten minutes. They surfaced about 150 yards from our boat. We powered down and headed away from them so as not to interfere. After they disappeared from sight we waited a bit longer and then started back on our course only to see them within minutes now off our starboard bow, having gone to our other side and then disappearing for good. Such a gift to get to see them out there. We were heading back to Port Townsend from Lopez Island. Later fog came in. -Amy Kolve
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Just saw 5 orcas at eastern bank at 11:20. They came out of the fog right next to our stopped boat. 1 male. They were heading SW. -Brian McLaughlin, WDFW
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14:40 - On the IE5. Left these orcas just south of Eastern Bank, heading toward the Sound/South. J16s, J14s, J27 and L87. There were more orcas in front of them as well. They were very active and looked to possibly be feeding. -Ang Nicholson
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Tue Sep 25 - Admiralty/Puget Sound - 17:00 - Claudia Mitchell just called in a report of six or seven orcas heading south in Admiralty Inlet between Lagoon Pt and Bush Pt, Whidbey Isl, ~2 miles out, and others further north have confirmed this is J pod, on their second visit into Admiralty/Puget Sound!
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17:08 -17:35 - Just left them, now off Mutiny Bay or maybe Double Bluff, just steady slow travel south in the middle, although Susan saw what looked like foraging further south.
6:15 pm - can see them mid channel between So. Whidbey and Hansville, approaching Point No Point. -Howard Garrett
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17.53 watching them pass from Shore Meadows Road steady southbound mid channel. -Sandy Pollard
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18:27 currently seeing them off point no point. - Kristen Sanborn
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18:32 pm: Seeing two separate groups from Maxwelton. Way on the other side and can only see the blows. Heading south bound. Lots of splashing. Clipper on scene. -Danielle Pennington
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18:35 - 19:00 - Trailing SRKWs rounded Pt No Pt in small spread out groups, mostly traveling steadily SB w/ medium pace, occasionally pausing to forage off the Point. They ranged from 100 yards out to Kitsap side of mid channel. Observed tail slaps, others saw a spy hop. - Donna Green Van Renselaar
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Twenty-four hours after the T137s headed north from Bush Point, J pod Southern Residents entered Admiralty Inlet and passed Bush Point heading south. The orcas, resplendent against the backdrop of the Olympic mountains, continued beyond Maxwelton towards Possession as the sun set behind the jagged peaks. Three words came to mind as we watched the rise and fall of dorsal fins traveling in a steady procession in their constant search for food - "May they survive." -Sandra Pollard
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Tues Sep 25 - 19:00 .....standing outside just now taking pictures of the sunset on Mt. Rainier and all of a sudden I hear a psshh......Humpback is back. Off shore from Point Jefferson, Kingston a bit heading north. -Chris Beamer Otterson
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Haro Strait - Humpback between Point Edwards and western-most edge of Hannah Hts. 3:48pm ~ 4:01pm. From the shore I observed a humpback followed by a calf traveling quickly towards and beyond Point Edwards. Multiple exhalations and the adult's tail came out during 2 dives. -Michelline Halliday
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Tues Sep 25 - 1:49 - The gray whale is back! Feeding between Mariners Cove and Polnell shores. -Terra Parham

September 24
BIGG'S TRANSIENT KILLER WHALES - Orcas off Kingston - This morning we had four beautiful orcas having breakfast in our backyard. Including the big male spy hopping right off our beach. I grabbed one phone shot as they swam Eastward. -Bob Towery
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10:45 - half dozen or more orca, one BIG one have been feeding on the Kingston side of mid channel for about a half hour....between Point Jefferson & President Point Kingston. They are now heading north again. -Chris Beamer Otterson
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Mon Sep 24 - 16:22 - just south of yellow marker across from Bush Pt., possibly T137's. - Richard Snowberger
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It looks as though the T137s (we believe it was them) decided it was time to head out of Admiralty Inlet after a few days spent in the inland waters of Puget Sound. They cut the pace off Bush Point, Whidbey Island, and spent a couple of hours to'ing and fro'ing north to south as they milled and foraged. If the five jet-propelled breaches we saw were anything to go by, their hunting strategy was probably successful. -Sandra Pollard
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sep 24 - I had 1 humpback at 2:35pm here today in Active Pass by Georgina Lighthouse travelling south. -Melissa H.
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UNCONFIRMED WHALES - Mon Sep 24 - We were boating past Point No Point today around 1:30 pm when we spotted what we think was a solo orca swimming north near the shore. We were not able to see any white on it, but it sure looked like an orca. It was a large mammal with a tall black fin. Seemed odd to see it alone which is why we are reporting it. -Karen Overstreet

September 23
SOUTHERN RESIDENTS - Off Doe Bay Resort - Orcas Island - link to the video of two orcas breaching! - Nathan Harmon
11:58 - Two orcas passing south end of Lopez Island, going east to west. May have been more. Fog bank just cleared, then we could see whale watch boats and spotted two orcas. -Sally Reeve
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JPod off of Lime Kiln, 14:38; two just right in front of the light house -Amanda Colbert
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Photos showcasing our beautiful encounter with J pod with J27 Blackberry, J22, off South Beach San Juan Is., under spectacular skies. -Barbara Howitt
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9-23-18 Orcas and Humpbacks. Together! Haro Strait, SJI. Observed & filmed from shore between the westernmost edge of Hannah Hts and Point Edwards. 2:01pm - 6:30pm At first the orcas traveled to the nw towards Edwards Point with some doubling back, some moved away from the island, soon they traveled in all directions stretching as far as I could see. At 5:39pm 5 orcas with youngster in tow passed Edwards Point, moved towards shore to the SE; spy hopping, rolling & splashing, The sun was in my eyes but I believe these were members of L-Pod including L103 and her son, L123. At 6pm a humpback traveling in the opposite direction surfaced with a big-breath-roar within meters of the group just as the orcas approached Hannah Hts. -Michelline Halliday
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Sun Sep 23 - 8:12 - Orcas [T137s] southbound nearing Apple Tree Point 8:12 am. Closer to the Kingston side. Male and two or three females plus a youth! -Becca Knox
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8:35 - 2-3 more passing Kingston now, travelling southbound fairly quickly. -Kate Stovel
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We were fishing in the Everett Coho derby near the Kingston ferry terminal about 8-8:30 in the morning yesterday. 3 or 4 Orcas maybe more surfaced within 50-100 feet of our boat. We immediately pulled our gear and shut everything down and watched them till they got a safe distance from us. It was an awesome sight being my first time in the wild to see them rolling and blowing air. One appeared much larger than the others with its big fin having a slight curl to it. They were headed south towards Seattle. The rest of the day we heard on the VHF radio other fisherman spotting the pod. The last report we heard was them showing up down by Shilshoe bay down by Seattle. -Tom Niebauer
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10:30 - Approaching Fay Bainbridge now. T137's. -Brian McGinn
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10:56 - Three orcas just passed Fay Bainbridge heading south. Heading along Bainbridge Island! -Alison Vuolo
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11:34 - My son reports male off Rolling Bay, Bainbridge Island...very active! -Lorraine Doerr
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John Miller from WSFs called at 12:57 pm to report two orcas south of Restoration Pt, milling in the traffic lanes.
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17:15 - Amy Traxler on board the American Constellation reported seeing the T137s near Vashon Island, East Passage.
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19:22 - Three orcas between Gig harbor and point defiance at 7:20 pm on Sunday. They are heading towards narrows bridge. -Julie Brink
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Sun Sep 23 - 10:00 - Humpback VERY close to shore just off Point Jefferson Kingston meandering it's way north. Went in circles a few times right out in front of our place. Feeding I suppose. -Chris Beamer Otterson

September 22
16:30 - Orcas, Crescent Harbor -Terra Parham
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EPIC day , east side of Whidbey Island, from about Baby Island north to the mouth of Penn Cove, with the very active T137A, breaching multiple times, his younger sibling catching and eating a bird, mom T137, and the other youngster in the family. -Bonnie Gretz
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GRAY WHALES - Sat Sep 22 - Small gray whale off Utsalady Point, Camano Island -Bonnie Gretz

September 21
15:00 Sheringham Point - Left them there at 5:30PM still actively foraging! -Jackie Cowan
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Fri Sep 21 - Mike at WSF's - the Spokane reporting 3 or 4 orcas off Kingston in the inbound traffic lanes, milling, at 7:23 am.
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Paula Pugh on the vessel Sofia reports a small pod of approx. six orcas off Possession Point, near the bell buoy, 10:23 am.
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I took off to Fox Spit as the orcas were just passing Fox Spit heading towards Greenbank/Baby Island. T137s off Baby Island changed directions but were actually milling out around mid to 1/4 mid channel as I then was watching from Baby Island Heights bluff...around 2:30 they decided to enter into Holmes Harbor and on down south towards Freeland. they cut short of Freeland around 4 and started heading back. We saw them again around 6 pm heading back out of Holmes Harbor and heading north closer to Whidbey side out from Hidden Beach. -Marilyn Armbruster
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Big pod in Holmes Harbor south of Honeymoon Bay at 4:15 heading YOUR way into Freeland -Robert Hrycenko
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They're back... The T137s powered deep into Holmes Harbor this afternoon, suddenly altering course from mid-channel to cruise past the former Beachfire dock (a favorite spot for seals) before abruptly turning and traveling across to the other side of the harbor. Seems the happy memories of seal buffet from three days ago were just that - memories - as they rapidly changed direction again and headed north towards Baby Island and Saratoga Passage. (Photos Richard Snowberger using 300 mm lens). -Sandra Pollard

September 20
All the whales seemed to be between Hannah Heights and Eagle Point and were heading slowly north before some whales stalled out and began foraging. We saw K21 in a vigorous salmon chase off False Bay before he charged offshore for some more foraging. Earlier, we had seen a group of about ten or so Pacific white-sided dolphins streaking north not far off Kanaka Bay. A bit later, we saw them again a little inshore of where K21 was chasing his fish, fast traveling south again. They did not seem interested in playing in boat wake like they sometimes do but they stayed in the general area of the whales while the encounter lasted. Full report: Center for Whale Research Encounter number 82.
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Incredible sail with so much wildlife. Orcas from K pod and L pod, Pacific white sided dolphins, seals, sea lions, loons, bald eagles, diving birds, great blue herons... The orcas were engaged in lots of fishing off Eagle Pt. as well as some kiddie cuddle puddles. Oh and lets not leave out the incredible vocals! -Barbara Howitt
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There are two kinds of dolphins in this photo. Fun day watching Pacific White-sided Dolphins interact with K pod! I believe this is K38 "Comet", correct me if I'm wrong. (I hardly have seen Ks or Ls lately.) Also, we watched a lag nail a salmon today near the SRKWs! -Traci Walter
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On Thursday 9/20 (about 10:20am) my wife and I saw a large group of dispersed orca near the southwest side of Moresby Island (southern Canadian Gulf Islands). Difficult to count them all but probably 10-15...some were feeding near shore, some were more mid-channel (including a large male), and some were making large circles around the boat. They were all slowly heading north. Magnificent animals and always a thrill to see them! -Steve Liedle
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Haro Strait, SJI From the shore. 12:01pm -1:00pm; At the western-most edge of Hannah Hts I observed 15-18 orca including 5-6 lg males traveling to the NW towards Edwards Point. There was a group of 3 and two groups of 2 traveling closely together. I recognized a few members of L & K Pods. Some of the members continued past Edwards Point but at 12:20pm the second half changed direction back to the S & SE, zig-zagging back and forth moving away from the island and then continued on again to the SE along Hannah Hts. At 12:30 I observed an adult & youngster, L103 "Lapis" and L123 "Lazuli". At 12:38pm, I saw one male breaching and I believe it was K34, "Cali", showing his beautiful swirl of a saddle patch. I loved seeing the little one keeping up with Mom. -Michelline Halliday
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Thu Sep 20 - I just saw 4 killer whales and then heard calling for about another 30 minutes just a few minutes ago. This is my first time even seeing whales (just moved here) so cannot be sure but the sound was a repeated sound with occasional responses that came from 2 different directions. I thought killer whales could only be heard underwater so furiously searching to confirm it was them. Very moving. -Dyan Marie in Spirit Bay, located between Sooke and Metchosin
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Well, we had the time of our lives in the afternoon near Deception Pass. On approach to the area we saw a whale watch boat hanging out. There were a group of, I think, 5 orcas feeding. We turned off our boat and enjoyed the spectacle from the proper distance away. After 5-10 minutes the whales turned north and headed straight towards us and went right under our boat. There was a male with a smaller whale and a group of three that were kind of hanging out together. -L Boucher
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A few photos from yesterday's (9/20) visit with the T049As, Deception Pass/Cornet Bay area. -Jill Hein
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Sep 20 - Mike at WSF's - Tillicum reporting 1 humpback, breaching in San Juan Channel, off Upright Head, heading south at 12:09 pm.

September 19
Haro Strait, SJI; 11:35am ~ 12:13pm, I observed 8 orcas including 2-3 males traveling to the NW across the western edge of Hannah Hts toward and beyond Edwards Point. The moved quickly as individuals (no groups) with 2 of them doubling back just before Edwards Point to forage. The large male stayed, foraging with an accompanying excited seagull for about 10 minutes before resuming his travel to the NW. It was J27, the beautiful "Blackberry". Haro Strait, SJI -between the western-most edge of Hannah Hts and Edwards Point.
3:40 pm ~ 3:52pm From the shore I had the pleasure to watch J39 "Mako" twirl, dive, pop-up, roll over & emerge sideways with pectoral fin up over and over again. He didn't move much from the one spot. Mako had the Salish Sea to himself and I was a lucky witness. For 12 minutes all was right with the world. -Michelline Halliday
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Orcas spotted at Lime Kiln, 4 pm. -Mél Anie
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16:42 - SRKWs cruising East from Lime Kiln. Saw about 8-10 of them in the last hour. Direction correction...headed Southeast towards Cattle Point...headed there now (4:53)! with Cheryl Rawlings at Lime Kiln Point State Park. -Gianna Cioffi
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Weds Sep 19 - Mike from WA State Ferries called to report six orcas at 1:15 pm milling in Upright Channel, between Shaw and Lopez Islands.
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Wed Sep 19 - San Juan and Vancouver Island - September is awesome for Orca and Humpback Whales around Sooke, B.C. Today near Race Rocks Lighthouse with Transient Killer Whales (T109's) Hunting and devouring seals! -Paul Pudwell
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Mike from WA State Ferries called to report six orcas at 1:15 pm milling in Upright Channel, between Shaw and Lopez Islands.
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Wed Sep 19 - Puget Sound - 9-9:50am - I observed this pod of at least three orcas from Four Mile Rock in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle between Bainbridge and Elliot Bay. They were gradually moving south but spent quite a bit of time in this area moving back and forth. At several points, one Orca lifted its head straight out of the water to eye a passing cargo ship. There was also some tail slapping. -John Leszczynski
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9:25 am - Call from Mike at WS Ferries reporting 6+ orcas in Puget Sound off West Point heading south toward Elliott Bay.
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Spotted three southbound orcas from discovery park at west point around 9:30am today. one of them was punting breakfast (harbor porpoise?)! -Matty Whyte
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13:35 - Just spotted a single orca off the eastern side of Vashon, Beals Point area, southbound along the shoreline -Joe Hoskyn
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17:11 pm: 4 orcas heading west from Pt. Defiance to Gig Harbour. -Steve Fogard
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17:35 pm: watching 2 orcas traveling south past Point Defiance towards Salmon Beach. Looks like a male and a female. 17:40 already past Salmon beach. Heading towards The Narrows. -Heidi Armstrong
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18:43 - Headed past narrows closer to Titlow headed south.
18:45 - They were going south fast. This was just past narrows towards Titlow. -Carry Lee McAllister
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Per Mignon Marie Whitaker: Annie on Fox Island News posted: "7:25pm - Orcas directly off the fishing pier"
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Wed Sep 19 - Encountered 2 humpbacks between Edmonds and Possesion, Two Spot and Uluka. -Janine Harles
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MINKE WHALES - Wed Sep 19 - We found 2 minke whales travelling together, they swam over to a large bird pile and blasted through while lunge feeding! -Janine Harles
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DOLPHINS - Wed Sep 19 - I got a report of dolphins (no species, no pictures) near the south end of Vashon this morning. -Dave Anderson

September 18
SOUTHERN RESIDENTS - "We spent most of that encounter just sitting and listening. We could hear them breaching farther away than we could see them and when we were lucky enough to have them pass us like when K33 Tika breached here we could hear their voices without dropping the hydrophone. They were all mixed together, socializing and there was just an energy on the water that evening that was truly magic." -Sara Hysong-Shimazu
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Tue Sep 18 - Amazing evening watching and listening to J, K & most of L pod in San Juan Channel passing Friday Harbor. We were all in awe and so happy to see them so social. They gave us a good reminder of why we work so hard to educate and promote recovery actions. -Jeff Friedman
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59 members of the Southern Resident population of killer whales made their way down San Juan Channel this evening. Some whales were spread out and actively foraging while others were in big, social groups. It's an uncommon travel route for them, and even more unusually for this location, some of the whales were right on the shoreline! Here's J26 Mike passing right off the rocks at the Friday Harbor Labs. -Monika Wieland Shields
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Report from Center for Whale Research - Encounter #81 Full report - Sept 18, 2018 - The whales were spread out from the shorelines of Waldron Island and Orcas Island. As the whales on the Orcas Island side approached Jones Island at the bottom of President Channel, they turned southeast down San Juan Channel. The whales on the Waldron Island side became the trailers as they also turned southeast for SJ Channel. K25 was the last whale we saw and he was trailing the other whales, looking skinny and a little lethargic. He was non-cooperative and surfacing irregularly so we let him go and ended the encounter with him heading slowly southeast down mid-SJ Channel at 1755.
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We are dismayed and saddened at the news of another struggling Southern Resident orca and are hoping that K25 will make a full recovery. Please continue to follow the Center for Whale Research encounter reports and announcements for updated information about K25's condition. ~Orca Network
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Tue Sep 18 - What a great surprise to find the Transient Killer Whales (T011 & T011a) right out front of docks at Salty Towers Ocean Front Cottages in Sooke Harbour and Basin this afternoon hunting seals...with at least one kill! This mother and son are "Regulars" that visit our area...I personally have seen them 14 times come into the harbour...WOW! -Paul Pudwell
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Tue Sep 18 - J's K's and most of Lpod passed Friday Harbor in the evening light. This picture is J16, J26 & J42 as they traveled past the UW Labs just outside of the kelp. RIP J50 wish you could have been there with your family. Photo taken from shore. -Alison Engle
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What a sight seeing members of all three pods traveling together this afternoon! Here is a photo of K37 Rain Shadow, taken from shore. -Jason Shields
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18:10 - Members of all 3 pods heading south past Point Caution. Spread throughout the channel with some close to San Juan Island shore. Lots of breaching and activity! -Cindy Hansen
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BIGG'S TRANSIENT KILLER WHALES - Tue Sep 18 - Was another great day with Killer Whales and Humpbacks! We first went north into Saratoga Passage where we found the T137s just after they made a kill, then followed them into Holmes Harbor where they made another kill! -Photo by Justine Buckmaster, Sep 18, 2018
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8:08 am: Pod of Orcas off Lawana Beach, Whidbey Island (Saratoga Passage, south of Penn Cove). Seem to be heading south but taking their time. Might be feeding. Three or four, definitely a male and a female with a smaller one at her side. -Randy Zimmerman Furnas
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10:08 - Saratoga has eyes on them just north of Hidden Beach, very close to Whidbey shore hunting.
10:30 - They are southbound, right now at the mouth of Holmes Harbor. Still hunting along the way.
10:38 - Now entering Holmes Harbor very slowly. Transients. T137s hunting seals. -Justine Buckmaster
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They were awesome. Spy hopping, jumping tail and fin slapping. So cool to see them right from Freeland Park. -Mary Jane Sarbaugh
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12:23 - Four Ts, including one male, milling in Holmes Harbor near the moored boats, looking like they are heading back out toward Passage. -Allie Hudec
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It's quite a treat when we have whales at the bottom of our garden, so to speak. The T137's paid a visit to Holmes Harbor today after being spotted off Hidden Beach, Saratoga Passage, before wending their way deep into the harbor where they spent some time hunting. There were a couple of dramatic breaches and cartwheels plus tail slaps and a spy-hop I didn't even know I'd caught on film. Although I didn't get down to the former Beachfire dock in time to see them cruise past the seals dozing there, I was told that as they did so one seal slipped into the water followed by the rest. Which leaves me wondering about the rationale of seals... -Sandra Pollard
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Sep 18 - T060 and T060C off of Otter Point on the morning of September 18th. -Photo by Mark Malleson, 2018
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Tue Sep 18 - 12:55 - The Saratoga has 2 Humpbacks just off Possession Bank, milling. Same pair in the same spot as yesterday, "Two Spot" and "Uluka" again. -Justine Buckmaster
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17:22 - Scott from WA State Ferries relays a report from the Ferry Tillicum, of a couple of humpbacks near Pt. George near Friday Harbor, heading toward Upright Channel.

September 17
Haro Strait, San Juan Island. From the shore between 9:49am ~ 11:30am I observed at least 19 orcas including 4 big males traveling to the W/NW from Hannah Hts past Edwards Point. All these orca were traveling quickly and basically in a single line following a beautiful dark blue strip of choppy water that stretched across my entire view. Their dark blue highway didn't quite follow the shore and when approaching Edwards Point flowed out to the west which took the orcas farther out westerly away from the shore along Western Preserve. I was able to identify J27 Blackberry which just made my entire day! -Michelline Halliday
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Long string of Orcas traveling north on west side of San Juan island at Eagle Cove. 9:00am. At least a dozen. Unknown if they were SRKWs or transients. Two or three trailers stopped to feed. The others continued north, spaced out, single file. Boats were very respectful. It took about 45 mins for them all to pass. I'm so happy I got to see them! -Lisa Carry
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Reporting a sighting of approx 13 Orca off of South Beach on San Juan Island, They were spread out with about 2 - 3 nautical miles of separation moving to the north. They were a ways off the beach, No Binoculars or camera available, but lots of Breaching activity, moving thru the fishing boats. I work for the National Park Service on SJI National Historic Park. -Phil Ziegler
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So happy to find J-Pod, out by Stuart Island. A beautifully calm day, with beautiful whales. -Jill Hein
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Mon Sep 17 - 1 Male and 4 female Bigg's orca, 1 mile south of Marrowstone Island, pointed at Bush Point 1230 -Christopher Hanke
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I think I saw this same group around 5:40pm at Point no point. They looked like they were just playing/eating/flapping for about 20 minutes, before they headed south. -Whitney Gabrielle
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Mon Sep 17 - A collection of some of the flukes I managed to capture today in the Juan de Fuca -Gary Sutton
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Humpbacks near Pillar Point on the afternoon of September 17th -Mark Malleson
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The Saratoga had 2 Humpbacks just off Possession Bank, "Two Spot" and "Uluka" -Justine Buckmaster
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GRAY WHALES - Mon Sep 17 - 18:00 - I'm seeing blows (one large whale, likely gray) from the Rucker Hill neighborhood looking over the navy ships across towards Mission Beach/Tulalip. There were areas of "dirty" water behind it, like mud plumes and it was definitely in a known gray whale spot. It was windy on the water however I don't think the blows were nearly tall enough to have been from a humpback. Even with known humpback sightings in the area I still say it was most likely a gray whale - Amy Willoughby
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DOLPHINS/PORPOISE - Mon Sep 17 - We had an epic encounter with about 20 Pacific white sided dolphins on our sailing adventure today. -Barbara Howitt
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Pacific White Sided dolphins riding our bow wave today. Such fun loving creatures, can't help but feel that elevated playful joy when with them. They like to roll over and make eye contact to connect. -David Howitt

September 16
San Juan Islands - K and L Pods - With Island Adventures, encounters with K&L pods! -Lisa Egashira Archidé
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Haro Strait, SJI between Hannah Hts and Edwards Point. From shore I observed orcas, very spread out, from 11:50 am ~ 5pm. At first their travels were to the SE (down island) but some doubled back again soon enough. Eventually orcas were moving in all directions. The weather was as varied as their travel; sun, rain, calm seas & then chop. At mid-day during the light rain, I could see the exhalations in mist clouds above their heads all across the sea. At 4:45 pm a foursome went racing by (to the NW) smashing through the waves, water exploding around them. Very early evening there was a lovely communication on the Lime Kiln hydrophone. An empty tanker, the Nord Bosporus, went by drowning out the orcas. The orcas voices were quiet after it passed as I guess the orcas had moved on. I am including one photo taken from shore with a telephoto lens at 1:15pm. Identity unknown. -Michelline Halliday
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Sun Sep 16 - Admiralty/Puget Sound - J pod - 12:15 - Orcas breaching between Whidbey and Point No Point, moving south. Looks like at least one young one in the mix. -Brenna Sowder
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14:15 - The Saratoga appeared to be with them mid-channel, rough line of sight about Eglon to Possession Pt. Appear to possibly be NB again.
14:45 - Seeing them now heading to Kitsap side. Believe SB again just north of Apple Tree Point, at least one male.
15:05 - Approaching Edmonds Kingston ferry line moving quickly SW, kitsap side of the shipping channel. -Sara Frey
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15:55 - Got them from sunset! Had a breach! They are moving fast heading south mid channel. -Kendall Berry
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We saw 3 orca whales while taking the edmonds, kingston ferry sunday at 4:00. -Sasha Lucas
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We encountered them just past the Edmonds ferry dock about east of mid channel. They were travelling south, VERY spread out. We could see whales breaching all over, including the HB's that were just west of mid channel, same area. We were shut down, when J41 and J51 approached the boat. J51 swam under then did a huge breach right next to the boat then did 5 or 6 more half breaches as Mom swam just a little in front of him. We left them once they moved on and went over to see Two Spot and his friend and then the double mugging happened!! All that not even 5 minutes off the dock! It was very rough out so only got a few pics of Residents. -Janine Harles
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J27 +2 with us at Apple Tree and J37 +3 north of Edmonds. I think there were several groups spread way out and across based on what we saw then what Ariel saw from Edmonds. At about 5:30 they were spread out all the way from Discovery Park to Alki with trailers probably even with Fay Bainbridge right after my last post... Like 5:30-6ish. -Donna Green Van Renselaar
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17:37: Orcas spotted south of point wells mid channel heading south. -Darlene Moneypenny
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Seeing blows from golden gardens. Still north of me 1830. West side of channel heading south. -Brandon Anderson
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19:15 PM. Just off Point Jefferson, Kingston mid channel....I saw the Victoria Clipper slow to a stop so that gave me a heads up that there was some kind of whale activity (I have seen them stop before so people can watch). At any rate....half a dozen or maybe more orca heading south at a good clip. Saw one of them breach. -Chris Beamer Otterson
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Sun Sep 16 - Linda Hendrickson reported watching one orca, north of Fort Worden off the lighthouse, going back and forth between the red buoy/marker and a crab pot, out beyond the kelp bed but inside the marker, from 3 - 4 pm. (PTMSC was going to try to find and get photo or ID, probably Biggs, others near there headed that way)
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Sun Sep 16 - Breaching [Humpback] Two Spot near Possession Point, Whidbey Island!!! 3:40 pm.
4:11 Omg!!! Double mugging by Two Spot and his friend!! They are heading south... -Janine Harles

September 15
16:58 - 4:58 pm 4-5 transient orcas, at least 1 male and 1 calf, spotted traveling east around the entrance to Fossil Bay on Sucia Island then turned north at Johnson Point. -Jennifer Smith
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Two males and a female orca (including T19B) tight to the beach at Green Point in Washington Park at Washington Park Loop Road. That was at 5:00. They have moved into the channel moving towards Thatcher Pass. They came up the north side of Burrows [Island] past the lighthouse and hunted the cove at Green Point. - Dave Snyder
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A humpback shows its grandeur near Clallam Bay on the morning of September 15th. -Photo by Mark Malleson
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Sat Sep 15 - Flat Calm Seas and at least 40 Humpback Whales just SW of Sooke waters in the Juan De Fuca Strait. -Paul Pudwell
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We first saw him entering the Colvos at the south end, around 11:20. He was headed north at a steady clip. -Jon Coleman
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Single [humpback] whale spotted in Colvos passage near Vashon island about midway, heading north about 11:30. -Heather Pereira
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Sat Sep 15 - 12:23 - Very large group of what we think are Dall's Porpoise between Vashon Island and Point Defiance. There must have been 15 of them. -Gaby Kinner

September 14
We headed out west in calm seas and sunny skies and were excited to be the first to find some Transient Killer Whales the (19's & T18's) they were slowly inbound off Point No Point near the traffic lanes...also with a Humpback slapping his pectoral fin... maybe a way for communicating to the other 60+ Humpback Whales in the area. -Paul Pudwell
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Fri Sep 14 - MIND BLOWN! 60+ Humpback Whales South West of Sooke today! -Paul Pudwell
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11:15 - Humpback whale just north of Point No Point (Kitsap) headed south. -Cathy King
From Cathy's photos this humpback is Twospot! S631/CRC16017
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Possibly the same individual my friends saw from their home in Hansville. The sighting was between 8:30 and 9 am today. -Kristin Kucera
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Al Lunemann reports a humpback out from Ebey's Landing, west Whidbey Island, about 1-2 miles out in calm seas at 4:20 pm heading south in Admiralty Inlet
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I went out with Island Adventures and this whale was trending that way, almost all dark flukes, no ID. Has been trending southeast from Juan de Fuca strait -Rachel Haight

September 13
11:45 - BIG BIG NEWS. All 3 Southern Resident Pods are off of Race Rocks having a greeting ceremony. It's a big deal. -Puget Sound Express
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Today was a tale of two stories. On the one hand, we learned that young J50 - Scarlett - one of the younger members of the SRKW J-Pod - was declared dead by researcher Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale Research. On the other hand (and perhaps related??) - virtually ALL members of all three of the SRKW pods - J, K, and L pods - came together for a rare "greeting ceremony" just off of Race Rocks south of Vancouver Island. It was the first time in 2018 we've seen all SRKW pods together. It was incredibly moving, and by luck, we had BHT Films with us to capture some footage. -Puget Sound Express
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SUPERPOD! One of the only times this year that almost all of the Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales J, L & K Pod came together his morning. J's came from the east, K's from the west and L's from the south to interact near Race Rocks Lighthouse...WOW what sight! -Paul Pudwell, Sooke Coastal Explorations
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We had a nice encounter with L47. She was with another whale, I have to identify, that did several dorsal fin slaps, breached several times and added a tail slap to almost every surfacing. -Alison Engle

September 12
9:15 - 4 Orcas heading north along west side of Patos Island off of Alden point -Cathy King
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I was at Patos Island on September 12, 2018 and saw three orcas from land. The orcas were observed starting at 9:15 am until 9:18 am at the Patos Island lighthouse. They swam northward around Alden Point and continued eastward along the north side of Patos Island until they were no longer visible from my location. There were four harbor seals in the water meters away from land at Alden Point, but the orcas showed no interest in the seals. There were three orcas but I only took clear pictures of the saddle patch of one of orcas, which I have attached. -Antonio Flores
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We saw this pod of orcas off James Island in Rosario Strait this afternoon. -Photos by Paul Allen
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17:30 - a very spread-out pod of orcas traveling east-to-west off Flint Beach, south of Lopez Island. Occasional tail slaps and reversals of direction as if fishing. -Tom Reeve
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Wed Sep 12 - Saw a pod going in a big circle in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, heading north to Victoria. -Nikky Benn
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Watching whales in the fog is such a surreal experience. We were so fortunate that T18 and the T19s were circling a large meal for hours, otherwise we may have lost them as they traveled. There were a few times when they surfaced close enough we could hear them breathe, but couldn't see them! GRAPHIC IMAGE WARNING! The last photo in this sequence shows some leftovers from the kill we found floating at the surface. It appears to be the skin and blubber of a Minke Whale! -Justine Buckmaster
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UNIDENTIFIED KILLER WHALES - Wed Sep 12 - 11:00 - We may have spotted the pod Salish Sea Orcas 500 yards east of chrome island,(N of Nanaimo, BC) there was also a single orca about 1/2 mile sw of the main pod. The pod appeared to be traveling north. The single killer whale appeared 500 yards or more east traveling in the same direct. The pod appeared to be feeding the single killer whale just swam in a straight line. -Cheryl Smith
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OTHER SPECIES - Wed Sep 12 - 17:36 - Steller sea lion, Whale rocks, Cattle Pass, San Juan Island. -Jim Maya
Orca Network comment from Susan Berta: This one was branded at Rogue Reef, OR - I would guess in about 2009 - there is a chart on this page that gives the numbers, locations, and year branded, but it only goes up to 663R which was 2007: Steller Sea Lion Sightings

September 11
BIGG'S TRANSIENT KILLER WHALES - Tues Sep 11 - North Puget Sound - 11:35 - Two slowly northbound off of Rose Point/Eglon. Very close to Kitsap side. -Rebecca French Gerke
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11:00 - Off Apple Tree Point, Kingston, WA. Mother and baby feeding and now heading north. About 1/4 mile off shore. -Catherine Tarbill
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7:15 - At least 3 orcas, northbound seen from Fay Bainbridge Park, near Presidents Point now, 7:30am. So close to Kitsap shore, I could hear them breathe!!!" (T19B identified from photo by Gayle Swigart) - Sue Surowiec Larkin
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Thurs Sep 11 - Looks like a humpback whale in the middle of Commencement Bay, 6:30 pm, I saw the tail on a dive twice. Sort of off the double ships, and moving toward the grain elevators. maybe 1/4-1/2 mile offshore. -Vivan Peng
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UNIDENTIFIED WHALES - Tues Sep 11 - minkes or humpbacks? - 3-4 whales feeding off north end of San Juan Island around O'Neal Island trending east 10.45-11.11 am. Pretty sure they were minkes based on length guessing 25-30 feet long, with wide unmarked flukes. Though smaller swept back dorsals could be pilot whales, but seemed bigger than that. Never saw rostrum, fins or chevron/blaze/saddle markings. Spouts 6-10 feet high. When we first saw them they seemed to be going back and forth and then settled on east and were pacing the boat for a time. Spouts were very misty. -CJ Mcanulty
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Tues Sep 11 - (in our last report we mistakenly credited a photo from this post to Gayle Swigart. We apologize for this error) 7:15 - At least 3 orcas, northbound seen from Fay Bainbridge Park, near Presidents Point now, 7:30am. So close to Kitsap shore, I could hear them breath!!!" -Sue Surowiec Larkin
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Tue Sep 11 - A group of Pacific White Sided dolphins in Race Passage in the afternoon. -Mark Malleson

September 10
Mon Sep 10 - Pender Island - I noticed a pod of Orcas at Mouat Point on Pender Island at about 8:30 am. Think they are transients feeding. Lots of tail flapping. At about 9 am most of them were heading towards Otter Bay. -Barb and Keith Floyd
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Mon Sep 10 - Possession Sound, Admiralty - 18:08 - Just saw 3 from Fort Worden still going north. - Katie Day Arbuckle
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16:30 - three across from the south side of Bush Point, steadily going north. Another farther across also going north. Closer to Marrowstone than Whidbey. -Becky Livingston
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15:25 - there are still MANY of the Transients one mile south of Bush Pt, some have moved north but one large group and another smaller group are still south of Bush Pt. Amazing number of orcas out there! -Susan Berta, Orca Network
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15:00 - Transients passing close by Bush Pt, heading north, with seals, porpoise and a Steller sea lion in the area, then turned back south. Also others spread out non-directional south of Bush Point. -Howard Garrett, Orca Network
(T101A and T101B identified by Sara Hysong Shimazu) Bush Pt, Whidbey Island, Photo by Howard Garrett, Sep 10, 2018
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14:08 - a group of four or five snuck past all the boats towards Whidbey, they're now at the northern tip of Mutiny Bay, close to shore, trending north slowly. -Katie Davis Watkins
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13:50 - Left them just north of Double Bluff slowly northbound. Today's epic gathering includes the T100s, T101s, T124s, and T137s! -Justine Buckmaster
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10:20 - huge group of Ts feeding South of Point No Point! -Justine Buckmaster
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10:56 - 2 of them are northbound from Eglon, moving fast towards PNP. -Trevor Thompson
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We've been watching a pod of Ts since just after 10:00 from the south west end of Whidbey. Looks to be about 5 of them. Heading north. -Heidi Miller
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Mon Sep 10 - Saratoga Passage - This pod was just found off Glendale at 3:05 pm, heading south but stopping to hunt close to the Whidbey side of Possession Sound. -Susan Berta
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At least 4, most likely 5 orca moving N to S at Clinton ferry dock. Viewed from ferry at approx. 2:40 pm, shortly after departure of the 2:35 pm ferry. From my perspective, they were swimming fairly close to the shore and the pilings at the ferry dock. I have lived in Seattle for almost 28 years, and this was the first time that I have observed orca. Great ending to a wonderful, long weekend! - Mike Murphy
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Pod of about 5 orcas Camano Point 12:00. Southbound, maybe have rounded the point towards Camano State Park. -Rocky Harrison
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Mon Sep 10 - Today while fishing in area 8-2 we spotted an elephant seal eating a salmon about a mile south of the Mukilteo ferry. -Ryan Hunter
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Mon Sep 10 - Wanted to report that orcas were seen breaching off shore in Parksville, BC (N. of Nanaimo, BC) on Monday night. They may have been chasing seals as 2 seals were later in the water just down from the Quality Inn property most of the evening. -Monica Sattele

September 9
SOUTHERN RESIDENTS - Sun Sep 9 - Js & Ls. And Ts! - The Lime Kiln hydrophones were very busy today. Early in the morning J and L Pod whales went down island...in the afternoon they began coming back up. At about 1:00 pm their calls started to be heard...that continued until after 5:00 pm. Somewhere during that long afternoon vocal and visual encounter, Transient calls started over the hydrophones at the same time that J and L Pod calls were...totally cool! Not common to hear them both at the same time...does not have anything to do with them being in the same vicinity...only that the hydrophones were picking up their calls...the rain and misty sky didn't help in attempting to locate them. Then this evening at about 8:00pm more Transient calls over the Lime Kiln hydrophones...It was a very busy day indeed! -Jeanne Hyde
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T101A. Photo by RJ Snowberger, Sep 9, 2018
(ID'd by Sara Hysong-Shimazu)
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15:58 Loud vocalizations on the Lime Kiln hydrophone right now. Echolocation dispersed throughout. -Chelsey Elizabeth
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Sun Sep 9 - Admiralty Ts - T100s, T101s, and T124s - 8:20ish, orcas reported Southbound off of Libbey Beach, NW heading toward Ft Ebey State Park, Whidbey Island. First time seeing them since moving here, so I am not too sure on the number of whales. -Lauren Dong
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11:15 - Orcas spotted from Fort Casey. Heading south slowly, pretty far out. -Michelle McCune Cangialosi
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12.55 - powering south past Bush Point in heavy seas, close to Whidbey side.- Sandra Pollard
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12:30 - they are between Lagoon pt and Bush pt southbound mid channel. - Marilyn Armbruster
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The Saratoga was with them earlier and they were the T100s, T101s, and T124s! We left them just before they got to Double Bluff. -Justine Buckmaster
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15:21 - Whales off Possession Head trending towards Possession Sound. With so many whales around Whidbey over the weekend, it was hard to keep track of them. After seeing the T18 and T19s on Saturday in Saratoga Passage on the east side of Whidbey Island, we watched more orcas power past Lagoon Point on Sunday close to the west side of Whidbey before moving on to the next shoreline base, Bush Point, followed by Robinson Beach, Maxwelton and, finally, Possession Shores. Convinced they were heading east we staked out the Possession boat ramp with other dedicated Orca Dorks Marilyn Armbruster, Durand Dace and Dori Dace in the howling (but fortunately warm) wind - and soon realized we'd been skunked! -Sandra Pollard
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Sun Sep 9 - North Puget Sound Ts - T18s - 2 adult orcas, one male, one female traveling towards Bainbridge island spotted from the Bainbridge Island ferry at 7:25pm. -Jennifer Smith
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17:00 - I saw a single Orca around 5pm today just outside the shilshole breakwater. (NSeattle) -James Ritchie
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12:00 - Pod of about 5 orcas Camano Point 12:00. Southbound, maybe have rounded the point towards Camano State Park. -Rocky Harrison
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Sighted 4 Orcas in Port Susan Bay off of Tyee Beach heading south about 9:30 this morning. Small orca trailing the other 3. -Nathalie Gehrke.
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Orcas at coupeville wharf 3:41! 4 of them! At long point (Penn Cove) - Kari Habeck Looks and sounds like the T18s again, same as yesterday!
Comment/ID from Monika Wieland
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17:00 - Orcas 100 yards off Harrington Lagoon headed south south east. Two big males and three or four smaller whales. Awesome!!! -Erik Anderson
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Sun Sep 9 - Seattle/Bainbridge Ts - Today at 5pm off the beach at Carkeek Park saw large dorsal fin (5-6 ft high) a few hundred 100 yds off the beach. -Nick Gorzkowski
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2 adult orcas, one male, one female traveling towards Bainbridge Island spotted from the Bainbridge to Seattle ferry at 7:25pm. -Jennifer Smith
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Sun Sep 9 - South Puget Sound Ts - 15:30 - they went past Johnson Pt. heading toward Anderson Island. -Joan Ahre
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14:22 - Just spotted them on the tip of Harstine headed south down the east side of the island. -Danielle Sayebrook
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12:36 - Looking at 3 small Orcas between Stretch Island and Vaughn heading toward Herron Island. -Jennifer Lindsay
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We watched them earlier in the day for several hours just outside of Rocky Bay (Case Inlet). There were four of them (three mature and one baby). They were breaching, spy-hopping, and tail flapping. -Kaitlyn Goodeve
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UNIDENTIFIED ORCAS - Sun Sep 9 - Pt Angeles - While tidepooling at Salt Creek campground this morning (8:30ish) we saw 5 orcas eastbound in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Looked like one large male, 3 a bit smaller, and one significantly smaller sticking close to one of the others. -Annie Burk
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Sun Sep 9 - What a treat to spot two Orcas in Elliot Bay on Sunday, September 9, 2018 from the bluffs at Discovery Park. They were heading south around 6pm. Such a surprise and a real bit of magic. My first time seeing them since I moved to Seattle in 2009- a day I've waited a long time for! I am truly a very excited whale nerd! -Alyssa Griskiewicz

September 8
Port Susan/Saratoga Passage/Penn Cove T18s & T19s - A little after 8 am from Langley, saw several blows and dorsals close to Camano Island, heading southeast along the shore. Last spotted them just at the tip of Camano still headed southeast around 8:30 or so. - Mike Russell
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11:30 - One large male orca (large dorsal fin) and a smaller orca heading out of Port Susan. -Autumn Zeisz
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11:51 - Chilkat has T19c in Port Susan off kayak point southbound -Christopher Hanke
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14.50 - four Orcas seen from Baby island heading towards Greenbank. Southwest bound. - Sandra Pollard
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19:02 - phone message of 4 orcas off Coupeville, in Penn Cove, heading NNE.
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Sat Sep 8 - Rosario - Blakely Island Ts - T87 - 9:40 -orcas reported off Gravel Point, west of Blakely Island - Maia, WA State Ferries
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Sat Sep 8 - Haro Strait - Ts - 18:39 ~ 19:27pm - With only themselves for companyand a few people watching from shore, 5 orca including 2 large males & a youngster socialized together in one area for 40 minutes on the far southeastern edge of Edwards Point. The orcas were already present when I noticed them. Vocalizations were heard multiple times. At 7:20pm they slowly traveled toward the shore moving to the southeast along Hannah Heights. I feel privileged to have observed this gathering. There's something special about no boats around, just standing on the shore at dusk and being quietly present. - Michelline Halliday
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Beautiful, overcast with silvery reflective water...found T87 and the T90s, including a 2 yr old (or so) calf who isn't in the 2016 catalog. T87 is est. 56 years old (!) and is known to swim with this matriline....which makes me wonder if he is the father of any of her calves???? She is 38, so at the upper range of calving. Her young son is 12 and sprouting, and her daughter is 8. Found them just outside Friday Harbor, and followed them northwest up the island, and into Speiden Channel. Beautiful day! -Bonnie Gretz
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Sat Sep 8 - Shaw Island - Noon sighting from Post Office Bay, Shaw Island. Two orcas traveling NNW San Juan Channel. -Bryn Black
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Sat Sep 8 - Puget sound Ts - Orcas right off Bella sand spit, Fox Island,at 10:20 at our house! They went west toward Lake Bay marina and Penrose State Park, then disappeared. -Annie Fowler
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Orcas near Fox Island Bridge 10:25 am, loitering south. 10:48, loitering south of Gig Harbor -John D. Fielden
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12:36 - Looking at 3 small Orcas between Stretch Island and Vaughn heading toward Herron Island. -Jennifer Lindsay
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18:30 - a group of 3-4 went northbound past Johnson Pt. - Joan Ahre
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Sat Sep 8 - Vancouver Island - T11A and T109As - A little rain brought "Rainy" T011a one of the largest Killer Whales around Vancouver Island today! The T109A's were also present...They were slowly hunting the shoreline close to shore right pass the Sooke waterfront. - Paul Pudwell, Sooke Coastal Explorations

September 7
Js and Ls, Haro Strait - Js and Ls had a very wide spread as they made their way north in Haro this evening doing lots of foraging. We were out on the water and left the leaders (who were still northbound) at Turn Point at 18:30. -Monika Wieland
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Fri Sep 7 - Js and Ls - It was a beautiful night! J and L pod, only boat around, water glassy, gentle rain, and lots of time with the engines off. L72, Racer Haro. And they were foraging, so that was good to see! -Rachel Haight
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15:30 - hearing calls on Lime Kiln hydrophones. -Alethea Leddy
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13:30 - Js and Ls are offshore of Iceberg Point heading northwest towards San Juan Island! -Monika Wieland
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Fri Sep 7 - Admiralty Ts: T18s and T19s - 10:55 - T18 and T19s are rounding Point Partridge and entering Admiralty Inlet, close to Whidbey Island side. Traveling south quickly. -Justine Buckmaster
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11:23 - They are at Fort Casey lighthouse right now, moving quickly southbound. And pretty close to shore. I could see them without binoculars -Ashlyn Forshner
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12:30ish - Heading South off Lagoon Point. Maybe 100-150 yards out, heading South towards Bush Point. Breathtaking. -Terry Shaub
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13:45 PM - The Saratoga re-sighted these orcas, still southbound straight out from Useless Bay, 1.25 miles north of Point No Point in the middle of the traffic lanes. Now departing them at 1:53 PM. -Justine Buckmaster
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One large male and one female orca at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo for the Lighthouse Festival -- about 15 feet from shore, headed north and crossed just in front of the ferry at dock at about 5:15pm. Incredible! -Lee Anne Tobin
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6:35 PM - continuing north bound. Just north of the ferry dock now in Clinton mid channel. West of hat island.
18:11 - from Clinton. They are just north of the ferry lanes heading north west. Angling between Whidbey Island and hat island. -Danielle Pennington
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Fri Sep 7 - Port Townsend Ts - Four orcas at Port Townsend wooden boat festival. Heading north at 2:38 from port Hudson. -Dianne Dee Iverson
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14:45 - Three orcas heading towards Point Wilson from Point Hudson. -Betsy Carlson, PTMSC
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14:30 - 15:00 pm - We watched three orcas in Port Townsend Bay this afternoon. The orcas surfaced several times north of the ferry dock as they swam out toward Admiralty Inlet. We live on the bluff above town and watched them from our porch. Absolutely amazing! -Bob and Linda Maguire
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The pod (at least 2 females with 1 male and a juvenile) came within 10 meters of the Schooner Adventuress while she was on the dock in Port Townsend. -Patrick Hutchins
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Fri Sep 7 - Bellingham Channel Ts (maybe T90B per Dave Ellifrit) Another lucky day on M/V Yakima. About 10:30am - two orcas look to be headed north up the Bellingham Channel -Bryn Black
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Fri Sep 7 - Vancouver Island Ts - WOW...another great tour with Transient Killer Whales T02Cs, T034s, T037s, T037s, T037Bs and possibly others...They were actively hunting and celebrating! What an amazing encounter that we were able to share with some special guests. -Paul Pudwell, Sooke Coastal Explorations
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1400 - About 20 orcas were milling around off Sooke. Then at about 2PM they grouped up and headed toward shore and continued east. I took this video from shore. -Vincent Eberl
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Fri Sep 7 - unknown Ts - The ferry Kitsap reports 4 - 5 orcas headed south, NW of Vashon Island in the traffic lanes at 7:40 pm -Mike at WA State Ferries
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Fri Sept 7 - 10:14 - Kathy on a sailboat at Iceberg Pt., south tip of Lopez Is., saw about eight orcas including three juveniles, milling and spyhopping, heading west from So. Lopez toward San Juan Island, then disappearing.

September 6
Great to have some of L Pod (L12's) visiting our local waters today heading west back out to the open sea. -Paul Pudwell
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Thurs Sep 6 - Was out fishing tonight at Ala Spit around 4:30 pm, watched a lone orca heading north towards Deception pass. -Perry Davis
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Thurs Sep 6 - T65As (minus 3 and 4) - Puget Sound orcas reported at 9:05 a.m.: About 6 orca southbound at the Kingston ferry, very close to Kitsap side. Some breaching, feeding. (From a friend in a boat.)" -Sara Frey
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10:12: - southbound in hunting mode north of Discovery Park. Looks to be the 65As. Confirmed all of 65As but 3 and 4 still separate from mom and younger siblings with 65A2 also in distance closer to shore. -Renee Beitzel
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11:56: still close to Kitsap side southbound in tight group minus 65A2 who is off on his own across the channel closer to Elliot bay side. -Renee Beitzel
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12:25 pm: Great group at Rockaway beach watching T65As. Gorgeous day to learn about and watch orcas! -Susan Marie Andersson
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1:09: Big male seems to have just made a kill and now they are milling around, maybe all sharing it? 5 or 6 of them at least. 1:41 pm: headed south again after milling around a bit
12:58: Their current location is SE of Blake, just north of Southworth-Fauntleroy ferry run, headed south quick. -Cora Reuter Foster
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May have seen them through binoculars WSW of Seahurst Park moving south. 2:50pm way over on the Vashon side. -Ray Shea
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Thu Sept 6 - 16:15 - 5 orca off Gold Beach on Vashon. 1 male. 4 females. 1 baby. 4 pm. Headed south in close group. Harbor seal and Harbor Porpoises near too. -Burt Miller, WSF
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6:41 - they are back off Gig Harbor Viewpoint heading into Dalco Passage.
6:14 - milling between Gig Harbor Viewpoint & Gig Harbor.
17:52 - mid channel just past Ferry Terminal, but more towards Vashon side, westbound towards Gig Harbor. -Melissa Bird
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18:16 - milling around just west of Tahlequah ferry dock. -Cora Reuter Foster
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19:57 pm: Visible just off of Point Ruston right now. Thank you to the family at the Vashon viewpoint in Point Defiance - because of you, we decided to see if we could see them from here. -Travis Goldman
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Thurs Sep 6 - At 11:05, Lorraine Doerr called reporting a humpback coming south down President Channel and turning west into Speiden Channel, very active.
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Thurs Sep 6 - 15:30 - I just spotted this dolphin at the entrance of the Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma at 2:50 pm on 9/6. Citizens for a Healthy Bay FB page said it might be Stump the bottlenose dolphin but they are still waiting on an ID. She looked large with white shading on her side. -Elliott Alexander

September 5
L Pod!! Headed up North, stopped at Whale Rocks near Cattle Pass to check out the Steller Sea Lions and Cormorants, then we kept going and found a few members of L Pod!! All photos are zoomed and cropped, and all whale wise guidelines were followed! - Janine Harles
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J and L pods - What an exciting day yesterday! We headed out on one of our fall Marine Life Studies killer whale surveys. The ocean was alive in northern Georgia Strait, with sightings of transients, northern residents, and an encounter with southern residents! The encounter took place off Grants Reef near Campbell River, BC. We counted close to 20 killer whales belonging to both Jpod (J27) and Lpod. Both groups were spread out over 3 km and were foraging with long dives averaging 5 minutes. We also sighted humpbacks within the general area of the residents. After a few hours of observation both pods joined and began to travel slowly east, which allowed us to collect photographs for identification. We are still looking through photographs for J050. - Josh McInnes and Nick Templeman, Marine Life Studies, Cetacean Research
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Wow...What a special day with K POD of our Beloved endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales! Our naturalist Deanna Brett spotted what looked like a Humpback Tail lobbing off Jordan River so we turned south to take a look...what a pleasant surprise to find breaching orca instead! We found K Pod heading westbound and we were the only boat around again...although a couple did go the extra mile to have a quick visit. - Paul Pudwell
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Wed Sep 5 - 10:37 - Orca pod heading north off Clinton. Middle of the Sound off of the ferry route. Too far away for my bins to see detail. -Ann Breeswine
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Wed Sep 5 - Coming back from a trip on our sailboat we spotted two Orcas in the Saratoga passage between Camano Island and Whidbey Island at about 2:00 pm. Apparently feeding. I was in a sailboat, with light wind and turned off my engine. First they were going north away from us, but then they turned and came toward me. One breached about 20 feet next to the boat. Got some great pics. Hope you can identify them. -Don Van Valkenburg
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T109A hunting a harbour porpoise east of Race Rocks on the afternoon of September 5th
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Wed Sep 5 - 6:25PM - Probable orca sighting off Eagle Cove, south shore of San Juan Island. Four or five orcas, eastbound. - Kristin Kucera
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16:43pm - Haro Strait, SJI. I saw 6 Orcas pass Edwards Point heading SE along Hannah Heights towards Pile Point. They were spread out, traveling quickly, not close in. There were 3 males. -Michelline Halliday
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A delayed report from British Columbia: I'd like to pass along a whale sighting. My brother took this shot on the ferry Sept 5, 2018 heading to Prince Rupert from Port Hardy. It was just north of Namu, B.C. -Jamie Constable

September 4
18:30 - Reports of 3 orcas, NB, NW corner of Hat Isl around 6:30 -Lori Christopher
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14:12 pm - 1 mile off Richmond Beach (Shoreline) - pod of orca whales, heading south. -Cindy Lohman
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Tues Sep 4 - Wow! We feel so inspired everyday to bring the amazing beauty of humpback whales to so many guests...Locals and people from around the world. Again we were all alone to visit 40-50 Humpacks feeding in the Juan de Fuca Strait with trumpeting blows from all directions! -Paul Pudwell
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DOLPHINS - Tue Sep 4 - ~15:00 - We wanted to share a sighting of a dolphin or porpoise near Owen Beach this afternoon just before 3pm. - Jenny Fenske (video reviewed of breaching dolphin appears to be bottlenose - alb)
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OTHER SPECIES - Tues Sep 4 - Not a whale, but I did see a very large bull elephant seal from the Anderson island ferry today. -Alan Myette

September 3
SOUTHERN RESIDENTS - 13:15 -14:24 - Haro Strait SJI, off Hannah Heights area. Observed from shore with binocs & through a 300mm lens. I'm sorry I don't have ID's.
2nd sighting; 1:55pm ~ 2:24pm, I missed the approach but counted 12 or more orcas including 3 large males with one male very close to shore traveling to the NW towards Westside Preserve. There was some milling about and direction reversals but everyone caught up and off they went out of sight.
1st sighting; 1:15pm ~ 1:38pm, I missed the beginning but observed 7 orcas with 1 large male traveling to the SE, spread out, 3 tail slaps & 1 breaching.
Being Labor Day weekend, there were lots of boats with some disrespecting the Whale Wise Guide. Boats that were respectful were even honking at the offending boats. This is hard to watch knowing what we know about the fragility of the SRKW. -Many thanks, Michelline Halliday
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Mon Sep 3 - I was taking pictures this morning on the Odyssey and we found J26, then J36 and J42, and coming up behind them we saw J16 and J50! Captain Pete and I called the center on the radio right away and Soundwatch and they took over the rest of the day. -Brittany Bowles
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13:13 - A bunch just passed Land Bank, mostly Js and L22s, more offshore to the south. Saw J16 and J50 in tight with about 4 other whales, moving at a good clip. -Monika Wieland Shields
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09:04 - SRKWs at Hannah Heights at 7:30 am, now south maybe around Hein Bank at 9am. Dave/CWR is with them. Also several humpback blows out there--one tall, one much smaller. -Sharon Grace
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06:20 - 06:28 - Haro Strait SJI, off Hannah Heights. Viewed from shore with binocs 5 Orca moving quickly toward the southeast. 2 large males. They were already there when I saw them so I might have just caught the tail end of their passage. Very spread out, not close in. Observed one huge tail slap. Beautiful orcas, beautiful sunrise. -Michelline Halliday
(confirmed by sight 90 minutes later by Michelline, cannot confrim those heard in pre-dawn hours by Cher were residents, but seems probable - alb)
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04:56 - If I had to guess direction of travel, I'm thinking South. Still going, percussives and blows, though blows seem further away now.
04:34 - started up again, and a lot closer to shore! No mistaking these sounds! Though ecotype is up in the air?
04: 23 - was last percussion. Wish I could tell direction. In the silence though, your ears can be amazing....
04:15 - Percussive noises out there now! Distant blows...Cher Renke
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BIGG'S TRANSIENT KILLER WHALES - Mon Sep 3 - 1307: T137's near SA bouy traveling southbound into Admiralty Inlet. -Renee Beitzel, MV Saratoga
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Around 7 pm on September 3, a very spread out group of orcas went eastward through Active Pass. Some activity such as tail slaps, body rolls, and a breech, but for the most part, they swam very quickly. Video by Gary Cullen. Photos and video shot from the shore of Galiano Island. -Karoline
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Mon Sep 3 - 08:12 - Approx. 3 orcas seen "frolicking" just south of Kayak Point, Port Susan. -Gina Schier
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16:36 - My aunt Jeannie O'Brien took this video today at 4:36 P.M. She saw them between the North and South Finger Islands of Sucia. -Connor O'Brien
(Id'd by Sara Hysong-Shimazu as T34s, T37, and T37Bs)
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~ 13:30 - Today Monday September 3rd around 1:30 pm with high tide, my family was playing at howarth park Beach in Everett wa. We looked left and there was a pod of orcas swimming about 50-100 feet from shore. They were headed towards Mulkiteo ferry around the bend. Was purely magical. I didn't realize they swim so far inland. Thought I would share. -Heidi Oshie
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I was out crab fishing by Mukilteo Washington ferry dock just a little south from the dock on Monday and these two whales Surfaced right next to my boat. -Mark Mateu
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Lovely day on 9/3 with T36A(s) and T37A(s), heading into beautiful East Sound on Orcas Island. It was a tail-slapping T party! Very intense hunting, with some breaches (which I missed most of!). -Bonnie Gretz
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Mon Sep 3 - Humpback Comeback continues west of Sooke today! We had the pleasure to see around 40-50 humpback whales around Jordan River again all by ourselves and were able to photo ID at least 25 in an hour and half...WOW! Always so thankful for theses days of calm seas, great guests and so many. -Paul Pudwell

September 2
Js & Ls - 19:30-20:00 - Haro Strait, San Juan Island, Orcas sighted from shore off the western side of Hannah Hts. 13 individuals, (could be a couple more) in 2 loose groups. 3 large males, 2 of the males traveling together. Slowing traveling away from SJI. From my point of view moving towards the far eastern end of Discovery Island, B.C. and open waters of Strait of Juan de Fuca. Beautiful orcas. Beautiful sunset. 2 breaches. -Michelline Halliday
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Sun Sep 2 - Ls - 15:22 Southern resident L12s n bound from Race Rocks. On scene right now. Traveling north towards Victoria...Great to be back in the Pacific Northwest, and in our research stomping groups off Race Rocks Pacific Ecological Reserve. We went out looking for a report of transient killer whales off East Sooke park and instead found members of the endangered southern resident Lpod. We identified L41, L77, L85, L94, L113, L121. -Josh McInnes
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We had the pleasure to visit 40 to 50 humpback whales west of Sooke and also first to find some of L Pod of the Southern Resident Killer Whales inbound off Sooke minutes from our docks on the way home! To top it all off we were the only boat with this amazing encounter in our whole 3 hour adventure...JUST US! L22, L89 L94 -Paul Pudwell
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L85 & L77 - ~14:00 - L-pod off Sooke headed east. -Photo by Deborah Neisuler, Sep 2, 2018
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Sun Sep 2 - Js & L87 - 13:02 - 14:11 - Haro Strait, SJI; between Edwards Point and Pile Point. Many individuals traveling to the SE. At least three groups. I'm estimating 19 individuals, but I pretty much lost count, they were very spread out. I saw at least 3 large males. I saw 7 breaches! Much tail slapping. Watched from shore with binocs. Video footage using a 18-300mm lens. I'm sorry I can't confirm identities but there were plenty of boats so I think someone can identify. With much happiness, -Michelline Halliday
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With all the angst felt over the Southern Residents it's important to sometimes just enjoy the beauty that still exists. I think this is J39 Mako. I never got a good enough look at the saddle to confirm, so I could be mistaken. Sunday outside the boat exclusion area off Lime Kiln. -James Gresham
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13:06 - Sunset Point. Fins. Going south. At least 6 boats with them. Pretty far out, looks like lots of splashes now and again. -Susan E Allison
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11:35 - Confirmed J Pod - Henry Island southbound.
10:20 - Whales southbound at Turn Point, potentially J Pod coming down. -Monika Wieland Shields
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Sun Sep 2 - 18:07 - Orcas sighting off Onamac Point in Saratoga Passage! (heading north). -Cathy Fliris
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~14:00 - We saw orcas from Penn Cove park, not sure what direction they were headed. They were inside the cove. We only saw them for a few mins though...We've been trying to see them for YEARS! I was excited to see some fins for just a few mins! -Kelly Thompson
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10:50 - group of three heading east out of Penn cove, mid channel? A bit too far out to see who they were from the Coupeville dock! -Dan Reinert
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Sun Sept 2 - 08:27- Just saw a group of 5 or so Orcas heading north in Useless Bay past Double Bluff park. Hoping for more sightings today! -Emily Crandall
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HUMPBACK WHALES - Sun Sep 2 - Wow I LOVE September! We had the pleasure to visit 40 to 50 humpback whales west of Sooke and also first to find some of L Pod of the Southern Resident Killer Whales inbound off Sooke minutes from our docks on the way home! To top it all off we were the only boat with this amazing encounter in our whole 3 hour adventure...JUST US! (Includes: CS298 BCZ0366 Caspian, CS246 CRC-15995 Lyra) -Paul Pudwell
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Sun Sep 2 - BCY0409 Yogi at the confluence of Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. -Photo by James Gresham, Sep 2, 2018
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Sun Sep 2 - 16:58 - He's (Two Spot) outbound again
16:11 - milling/feeding in same area just north of Point Wilson...on Pt Townsend side.
15:42 - humpback CS631/CRC16017 Two Spot outbound Admiralty just north of point Wilson.
15:00 - Humpback seen from Port Townsend ferry at 3pm (mid channel - closer to Coupeville side). -Kourtnee Marr Lindgren
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11:19 - Humpback heading north between Point No Point, Kitsap and Double Bluff, Whidbey. It's Two Spot. (CS631/CRC16017). -Janine Harles
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07:15 - I am thinking it's the same humpback I heard earlier now heading back north should be about President Point Kingston right about now. Just moseying along very close in....No fluking at all the whole time I watched.....just Sunday morning cruising.
05:00 - Point Jefferson, Kingston. Something BIG......either a humpback or gray (if they are even still in the area) just went by heading south very close in. The incoming cruise ships woke me up and with the still morning I wanted to get come pictures of their lights reflecting on the water. It was awesome to hear the whale and it's blows in the dark. Had the humpback pattern....3-4 and then quiet as in a dive. Looked through the binoculars and saw it's back a couple times but never any flukes. (It was a humpback. Looking at the photos I took.....in the reflection of a cruise ships lights I can see it's back on one of it's surfaces.) -Chris Beamer Otterson
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GRAY WHALES - Sun Sep 2 - ~17 :00 - She/he (gray 2234) returned from the north, passing in front of Mt. Rainier as it headed south into Eld Inlet. She/he stayed there for about an hour, traveling as far south as Flap Jack Point before heading back north again. After exiting Eld Inlet, it headed east toward Boston Harbor before angling south into Budd Inlet. I lost sight around 7:00. -Kim Merriman
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16:59 - Gray whale heading into eld inlet currently, single whale. -Aly Denee
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16:45 - Just saw him again today, between cooper point and hunter point heading west, Lots of tail. -Steve Perschon
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12:21 - whale sighting south puget sound, moving north thru pickering passage. Blows near walker's landing. Big tail flips, gray? -Sydni Elizabeth Neves
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10:31 - The big guy is back. Gray whale CRC-2234. It was heading for Budd. Then made an abrupt west turn and came across toward me/Eld. Then made an abrupt north toward Squaxin Island. -Kim Meriman
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Gray whale 6:30 this morning Hunter Point heading towards Hope Island/Carlyon Beach. -Jim Chamberlin
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Sun Sep 2 - Gray whale just east of Sail Rock in straits east of Neah Bay seen from Rt 112 mile 3. Whale was headed east. -Alethea Leddy
NOTE: photos of this whale were sent to Cascadia Research, and was not found in any of their catalogs.

September 1
J31 Tsuchi spyhops in Active Pass off the shores of Galiano Island. -Photo by Karoline Cullen, Sep 1, 2018
(ID by Melisa Pinnow, Center for Whale Research)
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Sat Sep 1 - Around 11:30 am, orcas went eastbound through Active Pass, J41 and J17, J51 in the middle. Maybe J46 in the background - from the shore of Galiano Island. A first group of 4 porpoised quickly by. A larger group, including J27, followed about five minutes later. A few tail slaps and a spy hop but not a lot of other behaviours. -Karoline Cullen
(IDs by Melisa Pinnow, CWR)
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Sat Sept 1 - San Juans - The number of transient killer whales in the Salish Sea continues to be off the hook; yesterday (Sep 1) there were at least 8 different groups! I caught up with one of them - the T34s, T37, and T37Bs - near the north end of San Juan Island in the afternoon. Here are T37B and T34A in Spieden Channel. -Photo by Monika Wieland Shields, Sep 1, 2018
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12:55 - T34s, T37, and T37Bs heading east between Reuben Tarte and Flattop - hard to tell if they're going to take San Juan Channel or President's. -Monika Wieland Shields
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11:35 - 4 Orcas heading east in Spieden Channel, 30 feet off coast on Davison Head, northern point of San Juan Island. -Sam Bainbridge
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09:45 - Transients north bound from Smallpox Bay (County Park). -Sam Traylor
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07:46 - 5-6 orcas traveling to the NW between Hannah Heights and Edwards Point....Just a beautiful beautiful sight. I wish you good hunting! -Michelline Halliday
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Sun Sep 1 - Admiralty Inlet - 15:45 pm - received a call from Jordan, who spotted an orca from Ft. Nugent (NW Whidbey Island), over toward the Pt. Townsend area. Not sure of direction.
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Sun Sep 1 - Admiralty Inlet - T65As (minus A3 A4)
17:00 - They (T65Aminus T65A3 & T65A4) are 1.5 miles northeast of camp ground at fort Flagler.
16:28 - Currently off Marrowstone Pt northbound at 6 knots. -Christopher Hanke
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14:43 - A pod of 8 or so Orcas are currently moving around in Oak Bay near the south end of Marrowstone Island, [Admiralty Inlet]. Several have breached. Quite the show! Headed north towards the Port Townsend canal which is the cut between Port Hadlock and Indian Island. Wonder if they'll try to navigate that small channel? -Steve Olsen
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Sat Sep 1 - Puget Sound - unidentified pod - (We had no ID's on this pod who circumnavigated Vashon Island. One photo shows 4 whales. -Alison Engle
(If anyone has photos or IDs' from this pod please forward. One possibility: we had T36 & T36B's (4 total) in South Rosario on Friday around 4:30pm. It sounded like they kept heading south. They might possibly be the Vashon group. Just a guess. -alb)
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Just saw two moving north from the southworth ferry dock. -Alexander Giasson
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14:45-15:00. Looks like a pod of 4 milling around near the entrance to Quartermaster Harbor. Lots of tail splashing. Several oblivious boats speeding right through them. Slowly making their way through Dalco passage hugging Vashon. -Laura Clementson-Elgar
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Noon - at least one orca seen by Jaime Kennedy (Alisa's cousin) & Ryan McCray south of Dilworth, Vashon across from Three Tree Point, Burien heading south.
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11:26 - 4-6 orcas reported heading south down the east shore of Vashon, seen from the Fauntleroy ferry. -Charlie
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11:25 - 2 reports - Maia of WS Ferries reports 4 orcas headed southeast off Vashon Head (north end) and
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Sept 1 - Saratoga Passage - T46s & T137s - 20:08 - Orcas just crossing the ferry lines. Tightly grouped heading south. Closer to Whidbey side.Seeing them from the Clinton ferry dock. -Danielle Pennigton
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19:40 - whales seen from Brighton Beach heading south towards Clinton. -Sandra Pollard
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Today - Part 3. ~17:30 - T137A wowed everyone coming close to shore at Fox Spit. The whole group has now passed and are southbound as of 540. Very long down times. After being entertained by the raccoons, the whales came into view southbound. I looked at my photos, and said, that's not the T65As, that looks like the T46s and T137s, which in fact, it was! We were watching totally different whales from this morning we didn't even know were around. We headed to Shangri La Shores where the whales absolutely delighted us and several others with a close pass by at the dock. They continued south, swimming through lots of floats as they went, making their way briefly into Holmes Harbor. Eventually they rounded Fox Spit, with one of my favorite whales T137A passing VERY close to shore. They continued south, and I went home. Nearly 9 hours of whale chasing complete! All pictures taken from shore, at Shangri La or Fox Spit. -Rachel Haight
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~ 16:30 - One (T137A) passing Hidden Beach today on way south as they were headed for Holmes Harbor. -Photo by Kelly McCulloch, Sep 1, 2018
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~ 16:00 - Missed them at my house, and at Shangrila Shores, but here's a very distant photo of T137A as he heads from Hidden Beach towards Holmes Harbor. -Photo by Jill Hein, Sep 1, 2018
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15:15 - Wow! close pass at Shangri La Shores southbound. T46s and t137s. Again, wow!! -Rachel Haight
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14:45 - Orcas heading south from Penn Cove towards Langley. Passed by Harrington Lagoon around 2:45. Randy Zimmerman Furnas
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14:34 - Several orcas right now off Harrington Lagoon. Two large fins. Southbound. -Mary Fell Cheston
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14:18 theyre trending southeast, viewing from Long Point. Far off. the picture I'm looking looks like 137A...Two large males in the group. -Rachel Haight
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We were out sailing this afternoon from Oak Harbor into Penn Cove and four Orcas appeared off our port side. We immediately tacked away. We were at the East end of the entrance to Penn Cove before the green marking. Island adventures whale watching soon appeared. Can you please identify who we saw? The video we took is attached. Awesome. Nothing more to say. Grateful to live among these amazing creatures. -Thank you. Tony Billera
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13:57 - 7 orcas headed north from Penn Cove....They were passing but seemed to turn back. -Bryan Hansen
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11:25 - There's a 2nd group/pod of 4, including male, that I could see across over towards Cama Beach at around 11:15 am and last saw them near Onimac Point, Camano at 11:25. They are moving fast heading north. -Marilyn Armbruster
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Sat Sept 1 - Possession Sound to Saratoga Passage - T65A3 & T65A4. - 13:35 Two Orcas seen from Hidden Beach north of boat ramp at Lowell Point on Camano. -Sandra Pollard
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12:45 2 Orcas just passed Fox Spit on Saratoga Passage on Whidbey side heading north. -Jim Lovvorn
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T65A3 and T65A4 seen from Fox Spit, around 12:30 pm heading northwest...and then after rounding corner here at Fox Spit, they headed north over to Camano Island side, near Camano State Park and north from there...most all zoomed, and some cropped. I loved seeing these 2 siblings. -Marilyn Armbruster
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~ 12:30 - Two Orcas off of Bells Beach. -Rick Lessley
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Today - Part 1. Started with finding T65A3 & T65A4 traveling north, just north of the Clinton ferry. They came close around Sandy Point and took a brief visit by the Langley marina before continuing north. We traveled all the way to Long Point, assuming we were following them all along, however we never saw them again the rest of the day. -Rachel Haight
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11:01 - orcas outside Langley Marina, logging with long down time. -Durand Dace
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T065A3 and T065A4 - Saratoga Passage. -Photo by Janine Harles, Sep 1, 2018
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10:32 - T65A3 and A4 at Sandy Point, Whidbey Island northbound. -Bart Rulon, MV Saratoga
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9:45 - 2 Orcas heading northbound along side the ferry at the Clinton Dock. -Photo by Ben Saari, Sep 1, 2018
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9:04 - 3 orcas at the bait shop south Whidbey! (off Possession Beach waterfront park). -Kimberly Grigg's
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8:52 AM - Maia with WS Ferries reports 4 orcas northbound at the Clinton ferry dock.
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08:52 - Possession Beach walk - swimming northbound - 2 orcas....Re: the Orca's our next door neighbor was in a boat and much closer to them and I heard them say one was a female and other a baby. -Tom Anderson
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Sat Sep 1 - There was a humpback on the Kitsap side of the shipping lane off Apple Tree Point, Kingston, around 11 am. Unsure of direction of travel. Saw it several times over about a 30-45 minute period. -Sara Frey
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09:15 - Humpback off the Indianola Bluffs trending northeast. -Cher Greenlaw
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07:48 - Large Humpback off North end of Bainbridge Island heading west. -Luke Tjemsland
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Sat Sep 1 - 14:45 - Grey whale heading north in Budd Inlet. First saw it 100 yards out from port dock near Anthony's last saw it east of Olympia shoal. Seemed to be diving, consistent tail showing. Also seemed to be a Jr little smaller. About 5 feet wide tail. -Steve Perschon
(Yes the whale that has been south here for the last few days is CRC2234. Alie Perez, Cascadia Research)
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17:00 - Gray whale is back! Gray whale CRC-2234 goes on a dive. It was heading north mid-channel between my shore and Boston Harbor. Then it took a south, and headed on this side of Cooper Point spit into Eld Inlet. In just a few minutes, it turned around heading north out of Eld, and surfaced right in front of the house. Then it decided to head east, toward Boston Harbor Marina and continued its journey south into Budd inlet - where I lost sight of it. Very robust blows and a 3 up surfacing series followed by a longish dive. Lots of showing off its tail fluke. Grateful! So so grateful! -Kim Merriman
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Gray CRC-2234 in the Olympia area again today. -Photo by Chris Hamilton, Sep 1, 2018