"THAR' SHE BLOWS" - Whale sightings on the Fjord

A shoreline guide to Orcas.

Stella Wenstob |

Walking along the shores of Hood Canal and the waters of Hammersley Inlet you can spot many interesting marine creatures from the lowly (yet delicious) Olympic oyster to the lumbering California sealion. Although not as dependable as catching a glimpse of a harbor seal, or a great blue heron, the sight of an orca (Orcinus orca) is perhaps the most rewarding.

With newborn calves weighing as much as 400 lbs, orcas are the largest species within the oceanic dolphin family. Full grown female orcas may reach lengths of 18-21 feet and weigh as much as 9,000 lbs and males can get to be 21-24 feet and weigh as much as 12,000 lbs. Because of their size these giants need to eat 150-250 pounds of food a day to survive.

Usually traveling in multi-generational pods of two or more family groups, lead by older matriarchs (grandmas) these whales are strongly devoted to family. The matriarchs have been observed to aid in the raising of their grandchildren (in a way similar to human grandmothers) and, like human females, they live many years past their reproductive age.

The eldest sons and daughters of matriarchs tend to stay with the family unit (or matriline). Researchers using specially adapted microphones hung underwater, have documented that each matriline has distinctive calls special to it and apparently understood within the pod. This has led some scientists to argue that orcas have dialects and languages, something that no other animals are documented as having (beyond humans).

Orcas are found across the globe, usually favoring cold waters, but they swim to tropical waters to moult their skins. In the Pacific Northwest, researchers have documented three populations of orcas which have distinct feeding and social behaviors: the Transients who prey on other marine mammals, such as dolphins and seals; the Residents who find sustenance primarily in chinook salmon; and the little understood offshore orca that are found from California to Alaska and are purported to eat fish and varieties of sharks. According to researchers there are no obvious biological reasons why these whales eat such specific food.

In fact, this preference may be starving the chinook dependent Southern Resident whale population seen in the inland waters of the Salish Sea (Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands, and Georgia Strait), which are in such small numbers they are listed as endangered in both Canada and the United States.

Researchers have been struggling to save these whales and understand why they do not diversify their feeding habits. The most interesting argument researchers have made is that the Southern Residents, although physically able to eat sea mammals or other fish, have established taboos within their groups that prohibit them – in an essence they have cultural constraints, such as seen amongst humans refusing pork or beef on cultural grounds.

Additionally, Residents and Transients have been observed to actively avoid one another, which is reflected in the fact that the Transients tend to visit the waters of Southern Puget Sound between the months of March and September, when the Southern Residents make their migration out of the Southern Puget Sound area. Genetic research has further revealed that there is no interbreeding between these two groups– almost as if they were a different species.

The Southern Residents may be seen chasing the chinook on their upriver run during the fall from several easily accessibly points on shore: on Hammersley Inlet from Walker Park (near Shelton), on Totten Inlet from the Arcadia Point Boat Launch, on Case Inlet at Latimers Landing, and at the Allyn Waterfront Park.

Along the Hood Canal orcas are more rare, but this Spring, a pod of Transients was spotted several times from the Hood Canal Bridge all the way down to Belfair. This group stayed in the area for quite a while much to the delight of the shore residents.

Before you head out to look for whales, check out the many online resources provided by the Orca Network. They offer a constantly updated list of orca and whale sightings. In May the reports on the Orca Network Sightings orcanetwork.org logged orca sightings along Hood Canal from vantage points at Dabob Bay, Brinnon, Seabeck, Lilliwaup, Potlatch, Union, and Tahuya.

If you plan to search from the shoreline a good pair of binoculars and a zoom lens are recommended. Look for sudden sprays of water and the tell-tale black dorsal fin. If you are searching by boat, exercise caution and remember you are a guest in their waters.

If you see a blow go slow, it is the law in the US to travel less than 7 knots and stay at least ½ mile away when traveling by boat near orcas. If the orcas come closer than 300 yards to your boat, you must turn off the engine, as the noise from the engine can confuse the whales and there are many accidents resulting from props and whale collisions. Also fish finders and depth sounders should be turned off when not in use.

http://www.orcanetwork.org