VIDEO, PHOTOS: Transient orcas pursue seal off West Seattle

| Seen at sea | West Seattle news | Wildlife

11:17 PM SATURDAY: Thanks to Jamie Kinney for the video of transient orcas off Constellation Park late today. He explains, “I went down to Constellation Park to see the transient orcas that were reported via the Salish Wildlife Watch WhatsApp group. I saw these four transient orcas (a.k.a Bigg’s Killer Whales) pursue a harbor seal that was swimming directly toward us. The whales were approximately 100-150 feet away when I captured this video.” The video isn’t gory – in fact, Jamie believes the seal got away: “I have a photo of a seal catching its breath on the surface ~20 feet away from us after the orcas began to head back toward Vashon.” If it indeed got away, it’s lucky, as transient orcas are the ones that feed on other marine mammals such as seals and sea lions (while the endangered resident orcas prefer fish).

ADDED 9:07 AM SUNDAY: David Hutchinson sent photos, including one of the seal:

ADDED SUNDAY AFTERNOON: As mentioned in comments, Jamie Kinney also has a photo gallery from the event. He gave us permission to republish some, too – here are three that caught our eye:

anonyme September 29, 2024 (5:44 am)

I wonder if seals know the difference between transient and resident orcas?

Kersti Muul September 29, 2024 (7:53 am)

These were the 65Bs. They were close to shore from Duwamish head all the way past Constellation. Then as Jamie’s video shows, epically close to shore hunting the harbor seal.Group 6 of my Salish Wildlife Watch app (free, real time sightings via text) has room if you want to sign up. Southern Residents will be here soon, don’t miss them!

https://chat.whatsapp.com/E303XKYgS5kH963fV2FtyvPS

when viewing whales this close to shore during predation attempts please make sure to give marine mammals space to come ashore – it’s their natural escape route. Yes it’s the circle of life, however we need to share the shore and be respectful of how other species go about their lives.

M September 29, 2024 (8:26 am)

Thank you for sharing that awesome video!

Kristin September 29, 2024 (8:51 am)

I would love to join the WhatsApp group but the link given says it.doesnt exist.

Jamie Kinney September 29, 2024 (10:10 am)

You can see more of my photos of yesterday’s encounter on my website at https://www.jamiekinneyphotos.com/collection/orcas-in-pursuit and my Instagram.

J September 29, 2024 (10:22 am)

Before the whales came back to Constellation, they were hunting a little further south of the condos. We watched them for about 40 minutes circling and thought we saw a seal, or something, in the mix. Then several birds started circling them looking for scraps.

Kersti Muul September 29, 2024 (11:09 am)

https://chat.whatsapp.com/E303XKYgS5kH963fV2Ftyv

Evan September 29, 2024 (1:24 pm)

Cool video. Still not sure I agree that the whale sighting alert groups are “ethical.” What happens when those thousands of people see those alerts? Many of them hop in their cars to chase the sightings. And who does that benefit? Not our environment, including the whales.

Emily September 29, 2024 (2:02 pm)

How does it affect the whales?
- Evan September 29, 2024 (2:41 pm)
  
  So many ways. That group has so many followers because it’s sending real-time alerts, which wasn’t something readily available to the public previously. So now there are followers who jump in their cars to chase a whale sighting. I assume you already know that cars, especially the standard internal combustion engine (ICE) types, create multiple types of pollution. Emissions, oil runoff, tire particles… All of these end up in our air and oceans, among other places. It may seem trivial, but it adds up. I just don’t think there are environmental benefits to this alert system that outweigh the drawbacks.
  
  Of course I also didn’t agree with the repeated rescue of invasive barred owlets from the same nest last spring (due to the owl parents, not an external force), so clearly my priorities as a biologist don’t align with this community naturalist’s.
Jamie Kinney September 29, 2024 (3:39 pm)

The group is ethical because it makes it easier for people to see the whales from shore, driving at most a few minutes, as opposed to traveling to Anacortes or another location and paying to ride in a noisy boat that emits air and noise pollution. Noise pollution from boats makes it harder for the critically endangered Southern Resident orcas to find the salmon that they exclusively feed on. There were maybe 20 people at Constellation Park yesterday. At most, I have seen ~100 people gathering at a West Seattle waterfront location to watch the whales. The alerts go out to a large group, but you don’t ever see hordes of 1,000 people rushing in their cars to drive to a viewing location.
- Evan September 29, 2024 (4:27 pm)
  
  I disagree with contrasting against whale-watching boat tours. The vast majority of people who have subscribed to the alerts would never have bothered to go whale-watching because, as you said, it’s time-intensive and costs money.
  
  But tell these thousands of people that it’s “ethical” to drive to watch the whales from land and they don’t think twice about it. Of course you don’t see hordes flocking to cars, because it’s a few thousand people dispersed around Puget Sound. But even if only 5% of people getting the alerts hop in their cars and drive 10-20 miles round trip in hopes of seeing some whales, you’re creating a net negative environmental impact.
  - Elton September 29, 2024 (11:40 pm)
    
    A bit presumptuous that people will be driving from miles away each time they get an alert, isn’t it? There are a lot of people live in the Alki area or other West Seattle coastline neighborhoods where they could walk to the shore, bike to the shore, or, for those who are especially lucky, see the whales from their homes with binoculars. I’m all for people being environmentally conscious, but I think the amount of impact associated with short distance driving is tiny, and even smaller for folks using EVs. Do you order things from long distances away on Amazon? Buy items from the grocery store made of plastic? Use disposable cups at cafes?
    - Evan September 30, 2024 (8:52 am)
      
      I actually do not order from Amazon (strongly opposed) and try to avoid online ordering overall. I do take packaging into account when shopping, and buy packageless bulk when possible and bring my own reusable bags and containers. And I do try to avoid disposable cups. I use a disposable cup maybe 3-4 times a year. These are my own choices. I know there are plenty of things I can be criticized for. Believe it or not, I’m not judging the individuals who want to see whales. I’m pointing out, probably fruitlessly, to the organizer of the WhatsApp group, that the alerts she sends do have a negative effect on the environment.
    - Kersti Muul September 30, 2024 (10:56 am)
      
      Several things to point out here. For starters, thousands of people do not go out. Most people don’t have the time or the resources or are even free to get down to the beach, and the ones that do are pretty hyper local. Many of them walk, several of them are on bikes, and yes some people drive. They usually go to one place and stay there. Of course some people do follow them from spot to spot over a distance of a couple miles maximum. I can tell you how many people I have seen from my notifications because when I go out I make a point to talk to people and interact with my app users and do a lot of education And community building. I met several people over the weekend, a lot of them were on foot. Two were on bike. And yes, some drove. A majority of them were the same people I see regularly down there, long before this app was even a thing.This app is in no way making thousands of people people drive hundreds of miles. That is preposterous.And the folks who drive all over hillandale were already doing that, And are going to keep doing it. I’m here to educate people, not to police them. I arm people with information and facts then it’s on them to decide what they want to do with that. My vision with with this app is to create opportunity and promote diversity among groups that get to enjoy Wildlife and experience awe. Everybody deserves that. Also giving people a free service and especially where they don’t have to get online and keep checking notifications over and over again – gives people more of a chance of actually getting to the beach on time. This app is also creating tremendous community And opportunity – In fact, I hear from people all over the world. As far as ethics go, the definition here is that this is land based Wildlife viewing. Every sighting is vetted for accuracy and to make sure there’s an ethical way to see said species. This means not harassing any animal, not closely approaching it, being an ethical photographer.. So on and so forth. It’s ultimately my decision, and if I decide the animal cannot be viewed ethically, I don’t post about it. For example, I would never give out locations of nesting birds, beached, or hauled out marine mammals or animals and much much more. Yes, there are people in the group who have boats. They mostly self-identify And everyone knows there’s a lot of eyes on each other. There is so much education that goes on in this group. It is a very open and drama-free group. There’s no gatekeeping and the flow of information back and forth makes my heart happy. I continue to learn a lot myself from everyone in the group. And it has exponentially increased my ability to help and respond injured or sick Wildlife, And to educate people about what they are seeing. A lot of the time people don’t understand Wildlife behavior and there’s really nothing wrong, but I’d rather hear all those questions, because there will be a time where there is actually something wrong. This is a free service. It is a work in progress and a labor of love. If you want to have a deeper discussion about it and what I do, feel free to email me kersti.e.muul@gmail.com
      
      On October 19th we will be having a meet and greet down at Alki and you can get a whale flag!

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