Photo and update from Puget Sound orcas’ thrilling appearance
Jeff Hogan of West Seattle-based Killer Whale Tales, who brought us first word of the big orca group that passed through on Friday, shares that photo of L-pod whales along with an update on his adventures as they headed north:
I got the opportunity to go out on the “fecal follow” boat with our friends from NOAA Fisheries after (watching from West Seattle shores) … We caught up with the 40+ members of L Pod at the Kingston Ferry terminal and stayed with them for nearly three hours as the whales moved northwards. The scientists I was with were trying to collect fecal samples, (yes..poop!) as well as fish scales left over from predation events.
The scat samples will allow the scientists to measure and determine a variety of things, including hormonal levels in the individual whales. These levels can be used to determine many systemic problems in the individual whales, like stress, illness or even something positive like pregnancy in females.
Check out this link to find out more (May 2008 KING5 story).
The prey samples collected will help to narrow down what these animals are eating throughout the year. Right now it looks like their diet is nearly 90% salmon, and mostly Chinook or King in the summer and Chum in the winter. The DNA recovered in the samples can also identify exactly which stream those salmon come from and can help to steer recovery of those specific runs.
By the time the orcas had moved to northern waters, three Seattle TV stations had recorded aerial video; here are links to those 3 clips – KOMO (4), KING (5), KIRO (7). Find out more about the “southern resident” orcas here.
West Seattle Whale Watch: Keep an eye out in the morning
(December 2008 photo by Jeff Hogan)
This afternoon, Jeff Hogan from West Seattle-based Killer Whale Tales called to say a sizable group of orcas was reported off Point No Point on the Kitsap Peninsula (map) and possibly heading this way. No sightings reported by sundown but Jeff – who provided us with photos and info about West Seattle’s last major orca sighting in December (photo above) – e-mailed this update tonight:
Turns out up to 20 plus killer whales were at the Edmonds/Kingston Ferry and still heading our way. It’s quite possible that they will be off WS in the morning. My scientific colleagues are very interested in getting out on the water to collect both photos and scat samples, especially if the new baby is with them. If any WSB’ers see them, please contact Orca Network at 1.866.ORCANET or they can call me at 206.660.0835. I will let WSB know what is going on as soon as I know something.
Two babies have been sighted/photographed with Puget Sound orcas recently, in fact – photos are on this page at the Orca Network’s website. (9:50 pm note – we just received the Orca Network’s nightly “sightings” newsletter – you can subscribe here – and it includes several sightings of this group, with the last one reported at 5:10 pm, passing Carkeek Park.)
West Seattle weekend scenes: Low tide; smooth sailing; cleanup
Lina Rose says she and husband Scott Rose are glad they saw the most recent edition of the West Seattle Weekend Lineup – they decided to go on last night’s low-tide walk across from Me-Kwa-Mooks, organized by Camp Long, and their memorable discoveries included the beautiful creatures shown in Scott’s photos above and below:
Lots of future Camp Long adventures ahead – browse online here. Earlier in the day, a different sight on Puget Sound – the Three Tree Point Yacht Club‘s Duwamish Head Race (thanks to Hopey for the heads-up it was happening), photographed by Gary J:
And first thing Saturday morning, dozens of volunteers — including the mayor — fanned out in the South Delridge/White Center business district for a Clean-and-Green spruce-up event:
Those two pix are WSB staff photos, but the great Puget Sound pix preceding it came from WSB’ers – if you have a photo to share with your West Seattle neighbors (and others who use WSB to keep in touch with WS), please e-mail us any time at editor@westseattleblog.com – thank you!
West Seattle scenes: Spectacular sunset
Thanks to WSB contributing photojournalist Christopher Boffoli for capturing the beauty of tonight’s sunset, from Beach Drive.
Reminder, Christopher’s photography will be featured at Ama Ama (WSB sponsor) next Thursday night, 6-9 pm, on the inhouse bigscreens, during the Holiday Edition of the West Seattle Art Walk.
West Seattle orca sightings update, with photos from Alki!
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.
More on the West Seattle orca sightings: Who saw what, where
(file photo of Puget Sound resident orcas, from NOAA)
In our morning report about nearby orca sightings, we mentioned the Orca Network‘s daily “sightings” e-mail (subscribe to it here). The latest one just arrived, and it tells the story of today’s sightings – we’ll paraphrase:
*8:15 am, six orcas reported by captain of ferry Tacoma on Seattle-Bainbridge run
*9 am, orcas reported off Alki Point by captain of ferry Hyak on Seattle-Bremerton run
*9:09 am, orcas reported “at the mouth of Elliott Bay” by captain of ferry Kalama (Seattle-Vashon)
*9:30 am, five whales seen from Alki Point identified as: J1 (Ruffles), J27 (Blackberry), J2 (Granny), J8 (Speiden) and J30 (Riptide) [find out more on individual whales here]
*9:45 am, report of three orcas “traveling southwest from Alki Beach”
*9:45 am, report from a vessel that saw “about 4 whales just south of West Seattle and east of Blake Island”
*10:20 am Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth ferry run, passenger reported the captain announcing a pod of orcas, one male and four females: “They appear very active and look to be feeding. … The male appeared to be herding salmon down to the others.”
*10:43 am, captain of the ferry Issaquah reported orcas “milling near the Fauntleroy dock”
*10:50 am, sighting between Vashon and West Seattle
*11:40 am, two orcas spotted heading from Alki Point toward West Point (Magnolia)
*11:41 am, captain of the ferry Wenatchee spotted orcas near Bainbridge
*Noon, chief mate of the ferry Tacoma spotted orcas near Bainbridge
Last report says a Vashon spotter saw the whales heading north around 5 pm “after spending at least 8 hours in south Puget Sound.” Tomorrow, perhaps? Thanks to the tipsters who sounded the alert this morning for WSB-land!
Bulletin: Orcas spotted off Alki/Beach Drive
(photo added 10:57 am – they’re out there SOMEWHERE)
That very quick note just in from David: “Orca pod spotted off Alki Beach at 9:45 am!!!!” We’re getting in the car now. Add comments if you see them – where, when, which way. Photos welcome. 10:52 AM UPDATE: Just back from driving the entire length of West Seattle waterfront, both directions. Got the nice sunbreak photo above (looking south from just south of Alki Point), but no whales. However, as noted in the comments, they seem to have headed southwest; this post on Beach Drive Blog says the same. So they’re out there somewhere – keep a lookout. This is the time of year when the orcas often venture into central Puget Sound. The Orca Network sends daily e-mail with the latest sightings from all around Puget Sound (including the San Juan Island waters where they’re most often seen); you can sign up for it here. 3:05 PM UPDATE: Got e-mail from Mike, who thinks he may be seeing them in Elliott Bay from downtown.
Another reason to be thankful: West Seattle’s water wonders
Fauntleroy’s Ron Richardson sent that Thanksgiving Eve photo, along with the next one and the story that follows:
Jason, a Fauntleroy resident, brings his paddle board to Fauntleroy Cove two or three times a week.
Wednesday is a perfect day for Jason to share the cove with the Washington State Ferries. Jason works for REI and is obviously very proficient with one of their new product lines. The board can be navigated and propelled by a single long paddle or it can be rigged with a sail to use as a wind surf outfit. Folks in Fauntleroy are used to seeing Jason aboard his rig in fair weather and foul. Look for him around Alki as well.
-submitted by Ron Richardson (who is continually rewarded by his walks through the Fauntleroy neighborhood)
We love to share photos, with or without stories, from all over West Seattle – send ’em to editor@westseattleblog.com any time! Ron also recently shared a story with our partner site White Center Now, a belated Veterans Day tribute to Al Skaret – you can read it here.
West Seattle weekend scenes: Salmon; sunset
The fish “flag” is flying at the Fauntleroy Creek overlook – because the first coho spawner has arrived! The notice posted at the overlook is the same one you can read on this page of fauntleroy.net. It says: “Our first coho spawner (dubbed “Hillary” as a kind of consolation prize!) came in on Saturday, Nov. 8, and as of Monday is still awaiting a mate. Congratulations to watchers Ann Samenfink and Cathy Follis for making the first sighting.” So, “Hillary” arrived less than two weeks after the gathering to “call the salmon home” (WSB video coverage here); the fish ladder is marking its 10th anniversary this fall. Shortly after visiting the creek, we headed north to catch tonight’s glorious sunset from just south of Alki Point:
More “Time Capsule Day” scenes
More photos just to capture the scenery on the day that’s being recorded for posterity — with contributions of “life as we lived it on 11/13/08” being accepted for consideration for inclusion in the time capsule that will be buried next year at the Alki Statue of Liberty Plaza, for opening on this date in 2058 (11/13 is the anniversary of the Denny Party‘s landing on Alki in 1851). Above, we didn’t pull over in quite enough time to get a head-on shot of what appeared to be a father and son on wheels – with their dog leading the way – liked the photo anyway. Minutes earlier, this shot from the Duwamish Head viewpoint looking back at the downtown skyline:
About an hour before that, we took this photo from the meeting room at Alaskan Way Viaduct project headquarters, 24th floor of the Wells Fargo building at 3rd/Madison downtown – we’re about to write up the West Seattle-specific results of the briefing we attended there – that report’s next.
“Time Capsule Day” continues till 11:59 pm, so if you see, receive, create something you might want to submit for consideration – this previous WSB post explains how to do that.
Getting chummy off Alki Point
Seems like a distant memory, but the sun WAS out for a while Monday morning – and these photos sent by Alki’s Bob Bollen (thank you!) are proof. He spotted the Endurance and Quandary out fishing Monday morning off Alki Point. According to this state bulletin, it’s chum-salmon time. (But we will completely confess to being fishing-expertise-deficient, despite having extensively trawled the state and tribal websites, so if you think/know these vessels were doing something else, please advise!)
West Seattle scenes: Private park-n-ride; cruise season ebbing
One week ago, we were first to break the news (outside the company, anyway) that Microsoft’s Connector employee bus service had picked the date to expand into West Seattle; today, a tip from Sue led us to signs like that one in the parking lot by the Masonic Hall on the east edge of The Junction, one of several pickup/dropoff spots with which the service will launch next Monday (and we’re told it’s already full up!). Now, a seagoing sight from Alki:
During the heart of the summer cruise season, you don’t usually see the big ships in Elliott Bay on Mondays. But now it’s shoulder season and schedules are different; late this afternoon, Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas (left) and Celebrity Cruises’ Mercury both headed out. Serenade was the last non-Celebrity ship scheduled to visit this year (according to the schedule on the Port of Seattle website); Celebrity’s Infinity stops in tomorrow, and Millennium on Wednesday, then Mercury is in four more times (running a schedule of short Northwest cruises) until its departure ends the cruise season on Wednesday, October 15.
Seen at sea: Sub sighting; lettuce-lugging
Thanks to Chris Hannemann for that shot of a U.S. Navy sub and a U.S. Coast Guard boat, taken from Alki. “You don’t see that every day!” Chris noted. Meantime, thanks to the state Ecology Department for sending a couple photos taken in Dumas Bay (map) but of Fauntleroy relevance:
Those photos show a trial run on Wednesday for Blue Marble Energy, which DOE hired as a contractor for removing sea lettuce when it’s necessary — in other words, when it’s causing “high odor problems” at Fauntleroy Cove and/or Dumas Bay. It didn’t happen this summer but Blue Marble needed a trial run, so the operation was set up for Wednesday at Dumas Bay. As first announced earlier this summer, Blue Marble will harvest sea lettuce for use as a replacement for petroleum products; read about it here.
these days. Just posted last night – an update on 
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