Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Dedicated to the citizens of Mason County, Washington since 1886
Orca whales surface in April next to a boat just north of the Oakland Bay Marina and Shelton Yacht Club.
Transient killer whales have been spotted in the southern reaches of the Salish Sea.
Julie Watson, killer whale policy lead for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said transient killer whales are the ones most often spotted in Oakland Bay or Pickering Passage in recent months. Southern resident orcas are endangered, while transient killer whales are not.
"They are called transient because they come and go, but we have been seeing in recent years more transients and them spending longer periods of time in Puget Sound," Watson told the Journal. "Part of that could be there's plenty of their favorite food, they like to eat pinnipeds or seals and sea lions, and they hunt for those. There are some healthy populations of seals and sea lions in the Puget Sound and so they're finding plenty to eat and a lot of folks are having opportunities then to see these really cool animals, from shore or even from boats."
Watson said orcas all over the world are in three ecotypes: resident orcas, transient orcas and offshore killer whales. The Southern resident orcas are endangered and they eat fish, and that usually means salmon in the Northwest. The transient, or big killer whales, eat marine mammals. Offshore killer whales are out in the ocean and they hunt other whales or sharks and are not often seen in state or inland waters.
Watson said she's not sure whether they are appearing more frequently than usual or if it's just more people being out on the water during the summer and are taking more notice of the whales. She said there haven't been any reported sightings of southern resident orcas, but there have been reports near the San Juan Islands. Watson said one thing they have been seeing is resident orcas venturing farther south during fall and winter in recent years, and that is when they are more likely to be spotted in Mason County.
"There are ways to tell the differences (between resident and transient whales) but they're kind of hard. You have to get some experience seeing them and identifying the signs," Watson said. "There are people in our region who can tell which individual animal they're looking at. First, figuring out are we sure that these are transient killer whales and not southern residents is an important step because there are different rules."
Keep a distance from the whales, Watson said. Best viewing is from the shore where there's no chance of interaction, but you're on a boat, you're allowed to be within 200 yards of transient killer whales. You must be 300 yards away from their sides and 400 yards from their front and back from the southern resident orcas. Southern resident orcas use echo location to hunt and boat noise interferes with their ability to find food.
Watson said it can be tough to tell distances while on a boat so using tools such as a rangefinder help keep your distance. Watson said if you're not sure which type of whale is nearby, stay farther away and treat it as a southern resident orca and "give it the benefit of the doubt and give it some extra space." Watson said people can go to bewhalewise.org for more information on best practices for boating around whales.
If whales are swimming toward you while you're on a boat, move your boat out of the path of the whales. If it's too late and they're already coming up nearby, Watson said turn off the engine and stay put and let them pass.
Watson said WDFW encourages shore viewing.
"That's great for the whale and for people because they can fall in love with these animals and care about their conservation and help us work to make the environment better so that they can survive and keep coming back for generations to come," Watson said. "I love it when people fall in love with these whales and when they learn and they want to learn more about orcas and orcas conservation. I really enjoy seeing people get involved, too, and helping teach other people about how to be safe around these whales and be respectful of them so it's really exciting to see some of the public interest in helping inform and educate others."
For more information about orcas, go to orca.wa.gov.
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