West Seattle, Washington
29 Friday
Water-watcher alert: You might have seen this recent story about Disney Cruise Lines bringing a ship to Seattle this year. Today, the Port of Seattle just announced some additions for next year. Oceania Cruises’ Regatta will sail from Pier 66 downtown in 2013, and Celebrity Cruises’ Solstice will sail from Magnolia’s Terminal 91. Neither has sailed from Seattle before; Solstice, according to the port announcement, “will be one of the largest cruise ships to berth in Seattle, with an overall length of 1041 feet and a capacity of 2850 passengers.” This year’s cruise season runs May 6th-September 30th, with Holland America’s Oosterdam the first one in and last one out, and 202 stops are scheduled over the spring and summer; the schedule is online – download the PDF here, linked from the port’s new cruise-related website here.
(UPDATED 3:33 PM with submarine photo)
12:06 PM: Sailboats on Puget Sound today! From Upper Alki, JayDee captures the wide view, and from sea level, Gary Jones takes a closer look. (Thanks to both for sharing the photos!)
We are having more trouble than usual confirming which yacht club this is – the U.S. Coast Guard “Notice to Mariners” says the Corinthian Yacht Club has its “Pulley Point” event today, but the CYC’s website labels its event for today as “Three Tree Point,” and there’s no other listed event on the USCG notice that would seem to include sailing past West Seattle shores. Any inside info appreciated!
ADDED 12:41 PM: And for more photos – nice Flickr set by Russ Walker.
1:13 PM UPDATE: Thanks to those who gently pointed out via e-mail and comments that Three Tree and Pulley are the same point! (Also pointed out on this website.) 21 years ’round here and we didn’t know that. Always glad to keep learning. Still doesn’t 100 percent confirm that this is the CYC, but the likelihood seems fairly high.
3:33 PM UPDATE: Look what else was seen off West Seattle shores today!
That photo also is courtesy of JayDee (thanks!).
From the “very early warning department,” we have an alert about a “multi-agency open-water search-and-rescue drill” next Monday that might be visible from here. We’ll file it into the calendar, but if that’s your field of interest, you might want to know even sooner, so read on:Read More
We mentioned it in today’s “West Seattle Wednesday” preview, but in case you couldn’t watch it on TV a couple hours ago, we now have video of tonight’s KING 5 “Evening Magazine” report about West Seattle diver/photographer Laura James and her “Battery Roundup” in WS waters. (Here’s our most recent report, from last week; here’s more background from Laura’s website.)
The aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, which has had a more-eventful-than-many deployment these past seven months, is in central Puget Sound right now, visible from West Seattle as it heads home to Bremerton. Thanks to Bob A in North Admiral for the photo. The Kitsap Sun, of course, is all over it – here’s their latest report on what’s been happening aboard as the carrier finished its deployment. (It stopped in San Diego this past Monday, before the final leg of the trip home.) The Navy is promising a live online video stream as the Stennis gets closer to Bremerton; here’s the link.
10:30 AM UPDATE: This photo’s from Gary Jones, with the tip of the Alki Lighthouse in the foreground:
(The Stennis is out of view now, from here – by the time we got down to the water for a firsthand look around 9:45, it was already rounding south Bainbridge.)
If you happen to spot the seal pup in the photo – no, it’s not in trouble, and the unusual item by her head is nothing to worry about. Robin Lindsey from Seal Sitters says Sandy (the rehabbed, tagged pup mentioned here 3 weeks ago) may just turn up in West Seattle:
Sandy, the satellite-tagged seal pup, has made her way back to our area, according to the most recent satellite hits. Yesterday, she was hanging out on Vashon’s West side in Colvos Passage. This morning the data reveals that she is at the north end of Vashon, near the Port Orchard/Southworth ferry run. We are asking folks to keep an eye out for her – and to stay back (of course) and call our hotline at 206-905-7325 (SEAL) if you spot her. Sandy’s homing instinct may well be sending her back to West Seattle and we’ll be waiting with open arms and lots of yellow tape!
It is incredibly exciting to watch this little pup we rescued from West Seattle back in August and her progress back in the Salish Sea; and, thus far, she seems to be successfully adapting to her new lease on life after a very long rehab at PAWS. People can follow her on SeaDoc Society’s “Sandy” page and receive almost daily e-mails of her travels.
We want to assure folks that her satellite tag was applied with glue and will fall off as she molts her coat in a few months, if not sooner. The tag does not impair her in any way and provides invaluable data for research that will help other seal pups. Here is a link to the blog posts about Sandy, including a video of her release.
P.S. Want to be a Seal Sitters volunteer? A training session is coming up March 3rd. We have a separate story in the works on that, but you can find out more right now by going here.
No, this great blue heron isn’t all riled up into a grumpy blue heron. Alki photographer David Hutchinson explains the bird was just “shak(ing) the water off after a morning fishing expedition in Constellation Park.”
10:58 AM: Thanks to the Orca Network and The Whale Trail for the tip: Orcas have been reported off Vashon, headed toward West Seattle. (If you missed last Sunday’s sightings, here are our reports with photos and with video, both thanks to Rick Rasmussen.) Let us know if you see ’em – we’re off to look too.
11:38 AM UPDATE: We couldn’t see anything from Me-Kwa-Mooks or Constellation Park, but The Whale Trail’s Donna Sandstrom says if you have good binoculars – they’re still closer to north Vashon (ferry dock area), so watching from West Seattle’s west-facing beaches in the Lincoln/Lowman area is probably your best bet right now.
Just out of the WSB inbox, one more look at the orcas – transients, according to The Whale Trail‘s Donna Sandstrom – that visited our area: Rick Rasmussen, who provided the photos you can see in this Sunday report, just sent the link to that video he also recorded when his sailing trip turned into an unexpected round of whale-watching.
Also visiting West Seattle on Sunday, a young seal promptly dubbed Flipper:
Alki photographer and Seal Sitters volunteer David Hutchinson shares the photo, and this update:
Even though the calendar says February, Seal Sitters is busy responding to young harbor seals on West Seattle beaches. Yesterday a weaned pup, nicknamed Flipper, spent 5 hours ashore on the steps along the promenade at Alki Beach. A large number of people were out taking advantage of our sunny weather, and volunteers had an opportunity to answer their many questions.
It is important, if you come across seals or other marine mammals on the beaches of West Seattle, to call our hotline at 206-905-SEAL (7325). Please ask others to keep a respectful distance and all dogs should be on a leash. The goal, as always, is to give these young animals an opportunity to rest safely while ashore. A pup has recently been hauling out on the beaches at Lincoln Park, so if you spot him, please give our hotline a call.
For more details about Flipper and the other recent visitors to West Seattle beaches, please visit our Blubberblog.
Seal Sitters will soon be announcing the first training session of 2012 in preparation for the upcoming pupping season. For more information please visit Volunteer Now on our website.
(Photos by Rick Rasmussen)
2:13 PM: Just got a call from The Whale Trail‘s Donna Sandstrom that orcas are in the vicinity again – west of west-facing West Seattle shores, north of Blake Island, at last report. This is one day after killer whales were seen off Ballard’s Golden Gardens Park (great reader video shared by our friends at MyBallard.com).
ADDED 6:07 PM: Donna explains in a comment: “It was a group of about 10 transients, including 3 males and some juveniles. They were on the far west side of the Sound, but clearly visible with binoculars. They were mostly traveling, with some deep dives and possibly foraging.”
ADDED 9 PM: Thanks to Rick Rasmussen for sharing photos! He says, “We were fortunate enough to have a close encounter with the Orcas today. We were sailing NE of Blake Island and they crossed our path and swam past us heading North. It looked like 3 adults and 2 smaller ones. Amazing!”
Thanks to Kathy Weitz for sharing that photo she took this morning as the US Coast Guard cutter Healy sailed through Elliott Bay on the final leg of its trip home to the downtown Seattle waterfront. According to this Associated Press story published by our partners at the Seattle Times, the Healy has been out on patrol for 254 days. KING 5.com has video from its arrival at Pier 36.
Thanks to Bob A. in North Admiral for photographing the destroyer USS Shoup in Elliott Bay. Our partners at the Times reported earlier this week that the Shoup is heading home to Everett this week after seven months of work at Vigor Shipyards on Harbor Island.
We mentioned this morning that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan was headed for Bremerton – and lots of folks subsequently watched as it headed past West Seattle shores in the past hour and a half or so. Bob A shares the above photo, taken from North Admiral, and also looked up its stats:
1,002.9 Feet Long
134.1 Feet Wide
Draft: 40.9 Feet Deep
Gross Tons: 109598
Net Tons: 55350
Built: 2003
The Kitsap Sun reports it’ll be at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a year of maintenance and that its homeport has been “administratively” changed to Bremerton for that duration, so that the families of its 2,500 crew members can join them here. (We’re expecting to add another photo or two later.)
ADDED 6:40 PM: Here, actually, are three photos. First two are by Greg (thank you!) – including the view that a commenter described earlier, wondering about the cars on deck; third, with the ferry, is by WSB’s Patrick Sand.
The Kitsap Sun has an updated story on the carrier’s arrival, and photos from that side of the Sound, here.
Just heard this mentioned on KING 5, and the Kitsap Sun has details – the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) is on the way to Bremerton for maintenance, and should be visible off West Seattle shores in the 10 am vicinity.
Thanks to Gary Jones for sharing photos of sailboats in the Three Tree Point Yacht Club‘s Duwamish Head Race passing West Seattle shores today (as previewed in our morning roundup) along a 30.8-nautical-mile course that started in Des Moines.
Race results aren’t online yet, but you can watch for the link to turn up here. In three weeks, you can watch for the club again in local waters, with the Blake Island Race scheduled January 28th.
We’ve shown you the New Year’s Polar Bear Swim … call this one the New Year’s Octopus Swim, shared by diver/underwater photographer Laura James, from Cove 2 at Seacrest:
New Years Day Dive! from Laura James on Vimeo.
SIDE NOTE: After reviewing the video, we asked Laura about its start, in which she touches the octopus’s suction cups; she explains that it’s a way to both gauge where an octopus is in its lifecycle, and to offer “kind of a ‘hello’ but allowing it to check me out since much of their sensory input comes from suction cups. I find that if they are not OK, they retract into the den. This one seemed more curious than upset, based on color pattern. It was getting rather annoyed by paparazzi by the end of the shoot, and solved the dissatisfaction by throwing a fish at me (the cloud of silt near the end) and going back into the den!”
(5/10/11 photo by Gary Jones)
Continuing to go through the WSB archives as we rough out more year-in-review roundups, we realized that “Seen at Sea” coverage – even without the wildlife stories, which we’ve already recapped – contains some of 2011’s most memorable sights. Among them, of course, what you see in the top photo – the Sea-Based X-Band Radar, the missile-tracking floating dome which was at Vigor Shipyards on Harbor Island from May 10th (nighttime arrival coverage here) till August 20th (departure coverage here), during which time it was the subject of doubtlessly millions of photos, and almost as many questions.
(8/20/11 photo by Melanie Dixon)
By the way, SBX is on the move again right now – this story says it departed a Hawaii base on Wednesday for point(s) unknown.
Here’s some of what else made news in and on West Seattle waters this year:
SINKING AND RAISING OF ‘JUSTIN’
Beach Drive was media central for a few days in October after the rock-laden Justin sank. Nobody hurt, but the slick raised some concern – Colby Chester provided the view you see above – and raising the sunken vessel took quite an operation.
FIRST-EVER NORTHWEST PADDLING FESTIVAL
In June, a first-of-its-kind festival debuted in West Seattle, as Alki Kayak Tours/Mountain to Sound Outfitters led the way for the Northwest Paddling Festival at Jack Block Park, where a stretch of previously closed shoreline opened for the occasion.
MORE HUMAN-POWERED WAYFARING
In July, during the outrigger race “Da Grind,” Gatewood pilot/aerial photographer Long B. Nguyen shared that sight. Also in July:
David Hutchinson shared great shots from the Tribal Journeys visit to Alki.
NO, THAT WASN’T AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER
The Seafair Parade of Ships was particularly impressive this August, with the amphibious-assault vessel USS Bonhomme Richard part of the parade, and a hovercraft right behind it. Gary shared the view looking over the Alki Lighthouse.
WHY WE ALL LEARNED THE WORD ‘NOCTILUCA’
In June, many people spotted this phenomenon close up along local waterways, and worried about “red tide.” It was reddish, but that’s not what it was – it was a nontoxic microorganism bloom called “noctiluca.”
WEIRDNESS AT SEA – BEACH DRIVE’S BEACHED COW
Maybe the weirdest West Seattle story of the year – a dead cow washed up in front of multiple Beach Drive homes over the course of a few days in February. Police finally got involved and towed it to Don Armeni, where a rendering company picked it up. As far as we know, the cow’s origins remain a moo-stery.
Track “seen at sea” stories on WSB any time via this archive (newest-to-oldest). Meantime, more year-in-review coverage to come!
“The extended models are trending toward a drier forecast for the weekend,” says the newest “forecast discussion” from the National Weather Service. In the meantime, though, soggy/breezy will prevail for the next few days, according to the “special weather statement” that is in effect. (Thanks to Craig Young for the photo, taken at Constellation Park this morning as gusty winds collided with the “king tide.” Tomorrow, it’s a bit lower – 12.5 feet just before 8:30 am.)
That’s how April Long captioned this photo she took from Alki, and shared via e-mail, this morning.
Thanks to Debra Salazar Herbst for sharing the view from south of Alki Point before sunset today – and David Hutchinson for a closer view of what we believe is the same kayaker:
The waves came as the day’s second high tide approached – but today’s afternoon high tide wasn’t as high as the morning high tides coming in the next two days (here’s the chart). Tomorrow (6:41 am) and Tuesday (7:16 am) bring the highest of this season’s so-called “king tides” – both 12.8 feet. Obviously that’s before it gets light, but the day after that, you might get a good look at a tide almost that high, 12.7 feet at 7:51 am on Wednesday. P.S. If you photograph any of these really-high tides, the state Department of Ecology would love to see your photos (and so would we!).
ADDED TUESDAY: We did go out early this morning to see what the “king tide” looked like – a little dark for anything really spectacular but if you regularly visit Seacrest, for example, you can tell in our photo (taken just after 7 am) that the tide was quite high:
(October 2010 photo by Jeff Hogan of Killer Whale Tales)
Orca pregnancies are said to last up to 17 months – so when southern resident killer whale J16 was photographed by West Seattle whale educator/researcher Jeff Hogan of Killer Whale Tales 14 months ago, she just might have been carrying the newborn calf that’s with her now. The new baby orca was announced in Orca Network‘s Tuesday night e-mail newsletter (see it here if you haven’t already). S/he may not even be a week old yet. The baby, known as J48, is in this photo. Writer Candice Calloway Whiting says this is only the second baby born to the southern-resident orcas this year, and that they now number 89 with J48’s arrival. Reports so far do not say where researchers saw and photographed the newborn orca last weekend.
Bigger fleet than usual accompanying the Argosy Cruises Christmas Ship tonight for its first West Seattle stop this season. The Dickens Carolers are on board tonight, and they serenaded Seacrest Boathouse and vicinity with Christmas classics:
Two more stops for the Christmas ship tonight – and The Dickens Carolers are scheduled to be on board for those too – Lowman Beach Park at 8:50, Alki Beach at 9:40. Like Seacrest, those two stops also are scheduled to have a beach bonfire for spectators who want to warm up; the weather at Seacrest wasn’t too bad, chilly and a little drizzle (three years ago, on this night, The Big Snowstorm began right after the Seacrest stop – we never made it to the other two). If you can’t get out tonight at all, you do have one more chance – the Christmas Ship will come to Don Armeni on Monday, 8:40 pm, with Soundwave on board; the full regional schedule for the rest of the Christmas Ship season is here.
More than a week after their arrival in Elliott Bay (here’s our story from November 28), the three extra-jumbo new cranes that SSA is adding at the Port of Seattle‘s Terminal 18 are finally being unloaded. Justin McDonald shared the photo on Facebook; we’re republishing it here with his permission. This one, he wrote, is the first one coming off. Last week, our friends at KING 5 took a closer look in this story (with video)
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