West Seattle Blog…

Aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to pass West Seattle today

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.

West Seattle weekend scene: Bright sails on a gray day

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.

Video: New Year’s visit with an octopus in West Seattle waters

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:

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!”

West Seattle 2011 in review, installment four: Seagoing sights

(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!

West Seattle Weather Watch: New Year’s Eve might be OK

“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.)

West Seattle scene: ‘What Santa does the day after Christmas’

That’s how April Long captioned this photo she took from Alki, and shared via e-mail, this morning.

Up early? Watch ‘king tides’ along West Seattle shores this week

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:

And baby makes 89: New calf for oft-seen Puget Sound orcas

(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.

Video: Christmas Ship serenades Seacrest; two more West Seattle stops tonight

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.

Followup: Mega-cranes finally coming ashore at Terminal 18

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)

West Seattle wildlife: Wintertime visitors seen near Alki

(Click to see larger image)
From photographer Danny McMillin – a seasonal sighting:

Brant geese feeding on eelgrass near Constellation Park on Alki (today) This is my first sighting of Brant this fall/winter. They’ve migrated from their summer breeding grounds in Alaska and the high Arctic of Canada. Man, that’s a long way to fly!

Danny frequently contributes to the WSB Flickr group and we’ve been fortunate to be able to showcase some of his photos here on the site. You can see more of his work in a photography display that’s about to open at Shanti Salon and Spa (WSB sponsor), “A Sampling of Birds II,” opening next Wednesday and continuing all month. Danny will be at Shanti on West Seattle Art Walk night next Thursday (December 8), 6-9 pm (2138 California SW).

West Seattle scene: Headed north, partly visible … not an orca

Some of the folks out looking for the reported orcas at noontime today saw this instead – one of the submarines visible from Alki (and vicinity) from time to time. Thanks to David Hutchinson for sharing his photo! The nearest sub base is Naval Base Kitsap, with operations in Bangor (where the subs are based) and Bremerton.

West Seattle Whale Watch: Orcas back in the area

Second day in a row, the orcas are out there somewhere! Just like yesterday, a Bainbridge-Seattle state ferry spotted them – and Donna Sandstrom from The Whale Trail shared the news with us; they were headed southbound. So if you’re near the west-facing West Seattle shore, be on the lookout. We’ll add any updates we get.

West Seattle Whale Watch: Orcas in the area

(No orcas in this pic but they’re out there somewhere – shot around 1 pm, light on the Olympics)
11:48 AM: We’re getting reports of orcas in the area – they were first spotted from the Bainbridge ferry about an hour ago; Donna Sandstrom from The Whale Trail called to say they appeared to be heading this way; and now we’ve just gotten a phone call from someone who saw them from a ferry “between Alki and Blake Island.” We’re out looking – let us know if you spot ‘em!

11:55 AM: Just talked to Donna south of Alki Point – the whales are much closer to the Bainbridge side right now, so you’ll need really good binoculars/camera at this point – updates to come if that changes.

1:24 PM: They’re now visible from Lincoln Park, according to wildlife watcher/photographer/writer Trileigh Tucker. Donna also has checked back to say they’re between here and Vashon. Please share photos if you get ‘em! Thank you!

In Elliott Bay now: 3 huge new cranes for Port of Seattle

(See ‘em in the distance? From @sudsymaggie via Twitter)
The Port of Seattle says three “Super Post-Panamax cranes” have arrived in Elliott Bay, and will be delivered to Terminal 18 tomorrow morning. According to port spokesperson Peter McGraw, “These cranes reach 24 containers wide, and will allow port facilities to handle the largest container vessels made.” The arrival is apparently a bit earlier than expected; this Seattle Times (WSB partner) story from August said they’d arrive in January. ADDED 5:38 PM: A closer photo, from Danny McMillin:

Thanks to Danny and Maggie for sharing photos!

West Seattle wildlife: Yes, it’s still seal-pup season on our shore

If you follow Seal Sitters‘ updates on their “Blubberblog” site, you know that seal-pup season in West Seattle is still going strong, and volunteers are still getting calls to come out and guard pups on the beach. We in fact got a call earlier today (and referred them immediately to the SS hotline at 206-905-7235). Not sure if this is the same pup, but photos just came in, with this note:

I am just here visiting family in west Seattle. While out walking along the beach today i found a little white seal pup stranded on the rocks off of Alki Beach. He has apparently been seen stuck in this spot before. I called Seal (Sitters) and they came right away and set up a perimeter to help keep him safe.

Thanks for sharing the photos!

Video: A Puget Sound plunge, practicing for something colder

It wasn’t a “polar bear swim” that sent an international group of visitors into the water off Alki Beach – it was a warmup, so to speak, for something more hardcore than even your average polar bear usually faces. In a story broadcast tonight, our friends at KING 5 covered a visit by swimmers getting ready for next summer’s “Meeting of the Sun,” a 50-plus-mile relay swim across the Bering Strait between Russia and the U.S. (here’s a map on the event’s official website). Check out extended video coverage we found on that site – albeit, in Russian:

Our water is tropical compared to what a group of 30 swimmers is expected to face next July/August – average temperature, freezing!

West Seattle Weather Watch: Blustery Thanksgiving night

The mid-afternoon high tide was receding when the wind started to pick up late today, but still good for some sea spray at Constellation Park south of Alki Point. The tide peaked around 3, but an hour later, it was still high enough to swamp a walkway at Jack Block Park:

Fran and Samuella shared the photo; that’s Samuella in the foreground – she says, “It was surreal, but also very, very beautiful.” (Tide-watchers please note, there’s a tide-tracking widget on the semi-new WSB West Seattle Weather page.) Though the wind’s had some powerful gusts this past hour, our area is not currently covered by any advisories or alerts, according to the National Weather Service. Tomorrow’s forecast? Partly sunny!

West Seattle weekend scene: Just barging in

ORIGINAL 3:43 PM REPORT: Thanks to Debra Salazar Herbst for sharing the sight she spotted off Alki a little earlier this afternoon. Certainly our area has its share of boatbuilders, including at least one yacht company on the Duwamish River, so perhaps this is heading in for the final phase of its transformation. Closer look:

Let us know if you know where it’s headed!

5:40 PM UPDATE: Consensus seems to be Delta Marine, the aforementioned yachtbuilder on the Duwamish. Via e-mail, Tom A reports finding the path of the tug, the Triumph, on marinetraffic.com, starting early this morning at Dakota Creek Industries in Anacortes. That information led us to an online discussion about this vessel – see it here; apparently it arrived in Anacortes from Chile last month. (The discussion also includes this gallery of previous photos of the project, and the photographer has traced it to a Chilean company with under-construction “megayacht” renderings that fit the description.

West Seattle wildlife: Call it ‘The Bachelor,’ Puget Sound edition

Been to the beach lately? Off Beach Drive, or Lincoln Park, in particular, there is much to see and hear – if you look closely. Thanks to another much-appreciated wildlife photographer (and sharer), Trileigh Tucker, for that photo of hooded mergansers. She writes:

We’ve just begun the exciting season when the sea ducks begin their dating-and-mating process! The males are going all out to impress the ladies, splashing and head-bobbing in ways that the females apparently find pretty endearing. Keep an eye out for mergansers, scoters, buffleheads, and others in waters near the West Seattle shore!

Trileigh is also writing about this topic on her Natural Presence website.

And more West Seattle wildlife: ‘Octopus’s Junkyard’ off Alki

A sea-life doubleheader tonight! Also just received this from diver/underwater photographer extraordinaire Laura James – not an “Octopus’s Garden,” as the soundtrack goes, but rather, an “Octopus’s Junkyard” off Alki. (Thanks to Laura for continuing to share the submerged sights for us landlubbers!)

Seen in West Seattle waters: Purse seiners at work

Every year right about this time, we get the question – What are those boats with the big nets out there? Reply: Purse seiners fishing for salmon. They have been working off West Seattle’s west-facing shore, as Beach Drive Blog reports. (Our files yield photos from 2009.) The times when this type of fishing is allowed are reported here.

West Seattle Whale Watch: Orcas this morning

(Photo added 2:55 pm, thanks to Trileigh Tucker for sharing!)
Thanks to Chris for sharing news of an orca sighting in the Brace Point area south of Fauntleroy less than an hour ago. They are probably out of the area by now – Chris said they were northbound, and checking the Orca Network Facebook page, they seem to be continuing to head in that direction. So this is just a heads-up, keep an eye on the water today, and let us know if you see any!

2:55 PM: Thanks to the commenters who continue to share info. They’re out there somewhere!

6:52 PM: Added Trileigh’s photo a bit earlier – and here’s a gallery of close-up shots featured on the KING website.