Orcas Make Their Way Past San Juans

Sunday, November 6, 2005
SAN JUAN ISLANDS, WASHINGTON — After a summer of grazing on salmon runs around the San Juan Islands, the orcas are finally leaving the Washington coast.

The most famous of orcas have been traced to Washington state. Shamu, who wowed tourists with her slip-’n-slide moves at Sea World in San Diego, was caught off the coast of Washington state in the mid-1960s. Free Willy, a popular mid-1990s movie, furthered the killer whale mystique.

Orcas have been newly placed on the federal “depleted” species list, which is one step away from going on the endangered species list.

There may be hope for more orcas, however — Susan Berta of the Orca Network said that since last October, six new calves have been born and there have been fewer deaths than births in the last year or two.

So now, calves in tow, the orcas are heading south for warmer waters.

And as they have every year, whale-watching aficionados have assumed their perches to watch these tuxedoed creatures swim down the Puget Sound and out of Washington.

The orcas don’t make a direct beeline south, however. Instead, they opt for a “two steps forward, two steps back” approach, traipsing down to Edmonds and back up to Whidbey or swimming around the Puget Sound. This makes their West Coast trek, from Alaska to California, many miles longer, and often, their entry into the Seattle area that much more exciting for whale watchers.

But the orcas’ behavior on Saturday morning didn’t fit with their meandering reputation.

Based on reports to Susan Berta at the Orca Network, the orcas seemed anxious to leave Washington’s coast.

On Friday, they were still nosing about the southwest tip of Whidbey Island. But by 7 a.m. Saturday, they were reported to have passed Edmonds. And by 9 a.m., someone had called Berta to say the orcas looked as though they’d passed Blake Island, which sits north of Vashon Island.

“There’s no doubt about it,” Berta said. “They’re heading south.”

Perhaps they, too, found the dreary weather discouraging.

Source: The Skagit Valley Herald