Orca alert: Closer to the city than usual

The daily update from the Orca Network mailing list (subscribe here) just came in, including this from a couple hours ago. That’s enough to get us away from behind the computer since one of our stated New Year’s goals was an in-person orca sighting. But first, sharing this with you:

Hello, I just wanted to let you know that I am watching orcas in Elliot Bay from my office window, 10:00 am 1/16/2008. I have never seen them this far into Elliott Bay. They are on the west side of Elliott bay, southwest of the Ferry Route, closer to the Alki side, down where there are some cargo ships moored out in the bay. It’s now 10:38 am and it looks like they have moved south and west around the point at Alki. There was a helicopter very high above them for a little while so I’m guessing it might have been one of the news stations. You might be able to track down some footage and determine which pod it is. It’s hard to tell from this distance how many there are, but at least 4. A very special treat for the day. Hope this is helpful. Have a great day!

Two other reports from the Orca Network suggest they were “transient” orcas, not members of the J, K, and L pods usually seen in the sound; and the e-mail also provides this link to the helicopter video, which was from KING 5.

Rhonda Porter January 16, 2008 (12:54 pm)

I thought I saw something big splashing around out north of Vashon…but I’ve never seen a whale before so I’m not sure.

The Doggg Father January 16, 2008 (1:05 pm)

Here is a link to the video from that heli.

Jo January 16, 2008 (1:43 pm)

WSB- did you get to see them.
I hope so.

deb January 16, 2008 (2:18 pm)

I was lucky enough to see this group of whales from my window at work this morning. (I work in an office just north of the sculpture park, right on the waterfront.) I watched them swim around near the surface through a telescope on and off for about half an hour, and the experience was nothing short of breathtaking. I was so excited to finally have the opportunity to send a sighting report to the Orca Network people! (Apparently, a lot of other people were busy doing the same.) There were also a lot of seals in the Bay this morning, which (a) explains why the whales were hanging out here, and (b) didn’t bode well for the poor seals.

The video posted on the KING5 web site is incredible; I highly recommend watching it.

This whale sighting made my day!

WSB January 16, 2008 (2:22 pm)

Jo – I just came back from an hour tour of the West Seattle waterfront, from Fauntleroy around to Don Armeni and back the other way, and sadly, no whales. Did see a sea lion very close in at Don Armeni. Tried to catch him/her on video but it was very busy fishing and didn’t stay surfaced for long enough. Now I’m back here at WSB HQ’s main computer in front of a window with a little sliver of water view in the distance looking westward to Vashon, and picking up my binoculars from time to time (luckily they have a decent zoom) to see if they might come by :)

Jo January 16, 2008 (6:54 pm)

WSB – I was at work and didn’t see them either. Next time!
If you ever see seals racing for shore, you know that there are transient orcas in the neighborhood.

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