Recent whale sightings in the Salish Sea
(Puget Sound, Northwest Straits, Gulf Islands and Georgia Strait)
Sightings Summaries Archives
Sighting report archives
To report whales please go to the Orca Network Sightings Report Page, or email Orca Network.
The purpose of Orca Network's Whale Sighting Network and Education Project is to encourage shorline observation and increase awareness and knowledge about the Southern Resident Community of orcas (J, K and L pods), and foster a stewardship ethic and motivate a diverse audience to take action to protect and restore Puget Sound.
The orcas' steep population decline of 20% from 1995 to 2001 is a reflection of the problems and issues facing the greater Puget Sound marine and watershed ecosystems: declining salmon runs, PCB contamination, and the effects of a rapidly increasing human population including habitat loss and resource depletion. Through a volunteer Whale Sighting Network, sightings and observations of this orca community are gathered and disseminated to researchers and volunteers, and posted on our website.
For information on the Southern Resident orcas, go to
Orcas of the Salish Sea.
Click here to find out about Northern Resident orcas,
and here to find out about Offshore orcas,
and here for information on Transients.
Click here to learn about Gray whales.
Commonly found marine mammals of Puget Sound
Other sightings networks can be found on the Orca Network Links page.
Or this link to the Center for Whale Research ID Guide
For whale watch information, contact the
Whale Watch Operators Association - North West
To hear orcas underwater in real time, when they're around, go to
OrcaSound - real-time underwater sound
To report stranded marine mammals, please contact
Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Summarized Sightings map HERE
For charts of the Salish Sea and Pacific Ocean, go to:
NOAA Nautical Chart On-Line Viewer - Pacific Coast
May 9, 2012
Ron Bates reported at 1:10 pm: Group A of J pod heading South near the County Park (W San Juan Island) moving fast.
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Hearing echolocation clicks now at Lime Kiln. Heard clicks and an S3 call at Orcasound at 13:13.
Scott Veirs
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We found the whales 1.5 miles offshore from Lime Kiln Point (48°32.49'N, 123°10.71'W). The whales were members of J-Pod. They were spread out, and cruising along the coast headed south. A member of the L-Pod, L87 "Onyx", was also seen among the J's. Unfortunately the seas were deteriorating and the whales were headed into rougher waters, unusual for San Juan Islands, so we turned around and headed back to more sheltered waters.
Naturalist Amy, San Juan Safaris Whale Watching
May 8, 2012
The Residents are being seen in all directions! We looped around San Juan to the west side and were able to catch up with four individuals from J-Pod. There was one large male, a female, and two calves. As we traveled with the group along the shoreline, just past East Point (Saturna Island), they milled around, and the calves began breaching a few times here and there! After about 15 minutes they changed direction and immediately gained speed heading north. We got to travel with them for a few more miles and in that time, the large male even breached!
Naturalist, Tara
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9:31 - More traveling up island!
9:02 am - Whales at Eagle Point heading North on SJI. I saw two, but they were close to shore and trees were blocking part of the view.
Brittany Helen
May 7, 2012
The J2 crew were around Point Roberts, making their way toward Sand Heads, foraging foraging foraging. There may have been others there, but I only managed to ID J8, L87, J14, J37, J40, and J45 ... they were really spread out.
Tasli Shaw
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We spotted the first dorsal fin at Robert's Bank, immediately followed by another. We followed the first two whales for about 15 minutes and had to start heading back, but just as the boat gained speed we spotted another two. Then we started seeing several more orcas, both off in the distance, and as close as 200 yards away. The passengers and crew grew very excited and it seemed as though the Residents fed off our excitement. A young calf started breaching, followed by an older member of the pod lobtailing, and another spy hopping. It was an amazing site to see! We then continued to travel with the Residents for a significant amount of time as we made our way back home.
Naturalist, Tara, San Juan Safaris
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8am - about 6 orcas coming past south end of Lopez, going east to west, far out, some tail lobs and other splashing.
Sally Reeve
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Humpback whale BCX1057 crossed paths with the southern residents west of Dungeness light as she headed east. She returned last season with a calf. An ongoing catalogue of humpback whales of the Salish Sea is available online through the Centre for Whale Research.
Mark Malleson, Prince of Whales
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1:50 pm - Minke or humpback. Stasha Decker called from just south of Whidbey NAS (northwest Whidbey Island) to say she's watching a large black whale moving south and lifting its flukes.
Fluking indicates a humpback.
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I have to say I think it was a Minke Whale due to the distinct fin I saw as the whale rolled across the surface. It looked like the Whale Boat out of Anacortes was following it North to South, about a hundred yards off the shore along the Naval Air Station today, at just about noon. Looked like he/she was alone?
Charles Niedzialkowski, Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island
Possibly a humpback.
May 6, 2012
Two small groups of Orcas, the first with about four members and the second with about six members, swam past Sandy Point, Lummi Nation, at sunset. They were traveling south.
Gary Apel
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Superpod in the Strait of Georgia! Very spread out and lots of foraging. We were able to ID a few including L2, L78 and L79 but they were all over the place.
Gary Sutton, Wild Whales Vancouver
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4:09 - Orcas in Boundary Pass right now - and whaleboats
Jennifer Conkie
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11:30 am - This report in from Ron Bates: J's K's &L2's going North, looks like Active Pass for now and 5-6 Transients in San Juan Ch. going up.
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3:38 am - Hearing clear multiple echo location clicks, the occasional call of a single orca on Line Kiln from 0255. This was right after the tanker Alqadisia passed South. Recorded some of it using Audacity. I assume they/it were resting??
Gareth Herd, UK
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Humpback Whale At Deception Pass between 3:00-5:00.
Deception Pass Tours
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William White called about 4-6 orca off the northeast side of Patos Island (northernmost island of the San Juan Islands), at 1:15 pm today, heading north about 500-1,000 feet from shore. He saw one male, 3-4 females and one juvenile.
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We spotted a large group of six to seven transient killer whales identified as T18s just outside of Friday Harbor. The transients were more active than usual, tail slapping, rolling around, and spy hopping. As we were heading back through Spieden Channel, we came across the transient killer whales again! This time a huge male joined the group, with a dorsal fin at least five feet tall. It was a spectacular site and perfect ending to an amazing day.
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
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11:24 am - We had 6 Transients on our morning tour today! They were at Cattle Point heading up San Juan Channel.
Deception Pass Tours
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9 am - cruising east to west along south end of Lopez, 6 orcas - 4 in first group including a baby, 2 in second.
Sally Reeve
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Friend of mine saw 2 grays feeding at Priest Point (north of Everett).
Dave Davenport
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Humpback Whale At Deception Pass between 3:00-5:00.
Deception Pass Tours
May 5, 2012
Single gray whale in Rosario Strait, sighted from ferry to Friday Harbor at 6:30 pm. It was about 1/2 mile south of ferry lane and and 1 mile offshore of Decatur Island.
Sharon Grace
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The K and J southern residentOrca pods seen from North Beach and Point Wilson Light House, Port Townsend, Washington. There were 40-50 Orcas in all.
Samantha Thomas
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Port Townsend hydrophones had J and K pod calls from 6:25 pm until 8:30 pm.
Jeanne Hyde
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"Spouting News" - BIRDSEYE VIEW OF ORCA POD - Around 7PM this evening, on the 6:45PM Kennewick ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville; we were treated to ORCAS!! Lots of them, spread out over a mile; maybe, up to 2 miles. Resident or transient pod??? Difficult, to guess how many, 15? More? Viewing them/looking down from the ferry "top deck" was also a neat experience. Lots of tail/fluke splashes as quite a number of orcas got into the act. Contagious? Spouts, tall dorsal fins out on display, along, with some frolicking. Also, the "top deck" provided a birdseye view. Seeing lots of white on their sides/underbellies; when several surfaced close-by. Orcas are magnificent. I grew in my appreciation for them immensely this evening/watching them do their thing. As the Kennewick continued east to Whidbey Island, the orcas were heading south towards Marrowstone Island to get ready for the sunset.
Robert Stonefelt, Oak Harbor/Whidbey Island
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From Lagoon Point, watching some J pod and K pod orcas, and maybe the L2's if it's the same group that was up on the San Juans yesterday, probably about 30-35 whales in all. At 6:45 pm they were way spread far apart, from mid channel off Pt. Wilson to many miles south of Port Townsend, a good eight to ten miles apart, all within our view from 8-10 miles away at about 250 feet elevation. We were seeing blows, dorsals, taillobs and a spyhop, all backlit by the setting sun, for over an hour. Almost always one or another group was at the surface doing something. Then a few minutes after 8 pm they just disappeared. We watched for about 55 minutes afterward and never saw another sign of an orca until dark. This was an amazing disappearing act. So we don't know which way they went.
ON
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8 pm: still seeing blows spread out across Admiralty, from Pt Townsend to Whidbey, still foraging, none have passed Marrowstone Pt yet.
ON
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7:44 - I just saw them at Pt. Hudson (Port Townsend)! We just left now and they were breaching. There's at least four females and one male.
Kara Matthews
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We're still watching distant blows, the orcas are spread out across Admiralty Inlet from Pt Wilson to Ft Flagler, foraging as the tide comes in at 7:35, still heading slowly east.
ON
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6:55 pm - Multiple blows at the top of Admiralty Inlet, btw Pt. Wilson & Ft. Casey, in the Coupeville ferry lane
ON
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Watched more than 10 Orcas round Point Wilson tonight (around 6:45PM) and head South down the Sound - tail slapping and one full breach.
Bill Wise
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At about 6:20 pm we thought we heard some possible distant calls on the Port Townsend hydrophone.
ON
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A terrific sighting of orcas today off North Beach, Port Townsend around 6:10pm coming down the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Rounding Point Wilson, at the light house of Fort Worden and continuing down the strait. Being a whale novice, there seemed to be numerous pods probably about 40 orcas in total. One breached, numerous tail slaps and another coming vertical out of the water showing it's head. As a new resident of the PNW this was an honor to see, as my first ever Orca sighting.
Samantha
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6:00 PM - At least 3 orcas heading east - seen just west of North Beach in Port Townsend. Relatively close to shore. Happy!!!
Polly Lyle
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The sun was shining high in the sky as we left Friday Harbor this afternoon. We headed south, far south, enjoying the natural beauty of the islands along the way. At 48o 10.80'N 122 o 59.70'W, off shore between Dungeness Spit and Port Angeles, we spotted our first blow. It was the Southern Resident killer whales. The Orcas were spread out all around us. We watched as they milled around in groups of two to four individuals, diving and blowing, their dorsal fins cutting through the water. What a sight! After spending some time with the whales it was time to make the long journey back. But time did not stop us from viewing two bald eagles on Long Island, a group of Steller sea lions on whale rocks, and gulls and cormorants on Goose Island. We couldn't have asked for a better day!
Kristen, Naturalist, San Juan Safaris
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1:55 pm - Whales headed towards Port Townsend.
John Boyd
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09:30 - KWs hdg north at Eagle Cove, but no sounds yet at Lime Kiln (from Erin Corra via Facebook).
Scott Veirs
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8am Saturday morning - About 10 orcas, spread out, traveled east to west along the south end of Lopez. They provided a distraction to those bouncing up and down in their boats while waiting for shrimp traps to fill. One small boat motored right through where several orcas were - either oblivious to them or not caring about them. Orcas were bigger than some of the boats.
Sally Reeve
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Got a call from Jim Prince, who saw orcas 1.5 miles off Sekiu, travelling west at 12 noon. He saw about 6, including 2 males.
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John Rogstad of WSF from 6:40 am this morning: The ferry Hyak on the Anacortes/San Juan Island run, reported a pod of 12+ orcas frolicking in Thatcher Pass at 6:40 am.
May 4, 2012
Beam Reach students were with orcas from 12:06 - 48.63633N/123.21509W to 14:52 - 48.70473N/123.24132W. That's about four miles southeast of Turnpoint, at the western tip of Stuart Island in Haro Strait, to about 4 miles northeast of Turnpoint, in Boundary Pass.
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8:10 a.m. - I heard Resident calls on Lime Kiln hydrophones, but they didn't last very long. I located the whales as they were reaching the west side of San Juan Island from the west. As they came north starting at about 9:30, Granny J-2 and Spieden J-8 were in the lead with Onyx L-87 offshore from them. Granny and Spieden foraged as they passed they approached the lighthouse and a fish could be seen at the surface. The rest of Granny's group passed on through over an long period. Behind them were the K13s, the K12s and the K14s. Another long time period and the J11s, J17s, J22s, K-40, K16, K35 and surprisingly the L2s - Grace -L-2, Gaia L-78 and Wave Walker L-88. The last ones passed by the lighthouse at 12:15pm heading north. More of the encounter and pictures are on my blog - Whale of A Purpose.
Jeanne Hyde, San Juan Island
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Yay! J's and K's and a rumor of L's?!!! Saw Granny chugging along by Battleship (Haro Strait) doing 7 minute dives!
John Boyd
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11:37 am - Orcas on the West Side. San Juan Island right now.
James Mead Maya
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11:33 am - I hear K pod calls.
Meg McDonald
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10:32 - Echolocation clicks and J pod calls now on Lime Kiln hydrophones ... SRKW sounds were not heard earlier on Orcasound hydrophones to the north, so pod is likely heading north in Haro Strait this morning.
Scott Veirs
May 3, 2012
May 2, 2012
So excited...saw a Gray Whale this morning off the 7:00 am Clinton/Mukilteo Ferry as we left the Clinton dock. It was heading south and along Columbia Beach. What a great way to wake up!
Marilyn Armbruster
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Sighted two humpbacks in Clover Pass near Ketchikan, AK at about 5PM today. Looks like the whales have finally returned to Southeast Alaska.
John Kenneth Schultz
Note: there were lots of humpbacks on the west side of Prince of Wales Island around April 1, and in Sitka AK the next week.
May 1, 2012
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