West Seattle orca sightings update, with photos from Alki!

December 3, 2008 at 1:45 pm | In Seen at sea, West Seattle news, Wildlife | 4 Comments

Just received that photo and the one below this post from Jeff Hogan, executive director of Killer Whale Tales, who was more closely involved than most people with the sightings we reported yesterday (anyone seen them today? we think we MAY have seen them in the distance, south of the Fauntleroy ferry dock, within the past hour, but our binoculars leave much to be desired). Jeff e-mailed:

I just wanted to let my new West Seattle neighbors know that we have members of the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale Community in the area. Yesterday they spent most of the day off Alki Point and were easily visible for the better part of the afternoon. I am including two photos I took from the beach, one is picture of 13 year old J30 and the other has J8, a 75 year old female in the foreground and L7 a 47 year old female in the background. I spent most of the day on the water with a group of NOAA scientists, collecting fecal samples, (yes, poop) as well as scale samples from their prey. If anyone sees them on the water please give me a call at 206.660.0835 or call the Orca Network hotline at 1.866.672.2638.

Here’s the photo of J30:

Our coverage from yesterday is here (first report) and here (Orca Network sightings details, plus a link for more on the individual whales). For more information on Killer Whale Tales, here’s its website.

4 Comments

  1. A BDB reader emailed to say she had seen them yesterday. Thanks to her tip–I was able to see the whales too in front of Blake Island. Thanks for the contact info–I’ll add this link to my post from yesterday.

    How cool!

    Comment by Rhonda Porter — December 3, 08 1:54 pm #

  2. This is so great, and it’s fascinating to see the family groupings, thanks to those who research these unique marine mammals. I adopted a whale through the Whale Museum, a good way to contribute and an idea for Christmas gifts: http://www.whalemuseum.org/

    Comment by acemotel — December 3, 08 2:41 pm #

  3. How cool! Thanks for the pics. I guess I need to ask Santa for a telescope!

    Comment by Allison Carver — December 3, 08 2:42 pm #

  4. Jeff Hogan does a wonderful school program; the students at Tilden look forward to his visit every year. We’re lucky to have him in the community–welcome, Jeff!

    Comment by Julie — December 3, 08 8:07 pm #

Sorry, after 3 weeks of commentlessness, comment time is over.

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