The southern resident orcas have been spy-hopping, breaching, slapping their tails, chasing down chum salmon and dazzling onlookers from the shores of the Salish Sea.
For nearly a month, they have been spotted mostly hanging around the “Possession Triangle,” or the waters from the south end of Whidbey Island to the Edmonds-Kingston ferry line. This may be one of the fish-eating orcas’ longest recent stretches in the inland waters.
The extended visit was a welcome sight for researchers working to better understand and protect the endangered orcas. And it was a reminder of the work needed to ensure they have more consistent access to food throughout their range.
The southern residents’ population is struggling. As of the latest census, just 73 southern resident orcas remain. It is one of the lowest tallies since the center counted 71 orcas when it began its survey in 1976.
So far this fall, the Skagit and Snohomish river basins are seeing strong returns of chum salmon, positive signs for chum recovery following lower returns to these watersheds over the past decade, said Chase Gunnell, a spokesperson for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. Gunnell added that it’s still early in the fall chum run, and fisheries managers don’t know yet whether the run is above forecast or just returning ahead of schedule.
While fishing near Bainbridge Island in late October, Jason Gobin said he spotted some of the orcas, blowing as they surfaced in front of Seattle’s skyline.
Gobin, the Tulalip Tribes’ executive director of natural and cultural resources, said fisheries managers have seen positive signals across most Salish Sea chum fisheries, and he hopes surveys counting spawning salmon in the rivers reflect that.
As of Friday morning, the latest estimated chum returns for central and south Puget Sound were approaching 1 million fish, almost double the earlier forecast, Gobin said.
He said in addition to a boost from good ocean conditions for the salmon, they are likely starting to see the benefits of massive estuary restoration projects and other efforts to improve salmon habitat across Puget Sound.
The orcas have been hanging around and taking advantage of it, Gobin said.
In recent years, the southern residents have spent less time in the inland waters spanning from south Puget Sound to the Campbell River in British Columbia, likely because of a lack of their preferred prey, Chinook salmon.
Instead they have likely been taking advantage of the salmon destined for the Columbia River or inland waters — holding at Swiftsure Bank, off the coast of Neah Bay, said Deborah Giles, science and research director of the nonprofit Wild Orca.
Since about mid-October, J pod has been spending most of its time around the Possession Triangle, with the exception of a couple of days. At the beginning of November, Maya and Mark Sears, contract researchers with the SeaDoc Society, spotted the superpod, or all three southern resident pods — J, K and L — together. They were traveling south around Vashon Island before heading north again.
The K and L pods have also been making appearances, with L pod making a surprise visit to Penn Cove, the site of whale captures in the 1970s. It looked like the orcas were leaving the Seattle area as of Friday.
The chum have been buzzing along the surface of the water and leaping in the air, sometimes multiple fish at once, Maya Sears said.
Researchers have seen the orcas alternating between foraging and playing, suggesting they must be eating well, Sears said. They’ve also seen the orcas resting more frequently.
A couple of days ago, Sears said they saw some of the oldest Js — 16 and 19 — both females, playing with a few other adult females. Typically Sears said she sees males playing more often.
“It was just such a joy to see them play — play like calves or little kids or playful boys,” Sears said.
The whales need more of these restored ecosystems that can support spawning salmon throughout their range, Giles of Wild Orca said.
On the Klamath River, once the third-largest producer of salmon on the West Coast, salmon traveled hundreds of miles to spawn in tributaries that had been inaccessible for over a century. The Yurok, Karuk, Shasta and Hoopa tribes of California and Klamath tribes of southern Oregon this year celebrated the removal of four dams after decades of advocacy.
“If we just give nature half a chance, it can recover,” Giles said.
The youngest southern resident orca, L128, hasn’t been seen in recent encounters with the L pod, according to the Center for Whale Research.
On the last encounter with the baby, researchers noted the shape of the baby’s skull was clearly visible, a sign of malnourishment. The calf was remaining limp for long periods of time, the center reported. At times, L83 was jiggling the calf draped across her head to try to keep the baby breathing. It was unclear why the calf was with L83, rather than its mom, L90, the center reported.
The center also reported that K26 is now on the list of missing whales. He has not been seen with the rest of his family in three encounters. The roughly 31-year-old male, also known as Lobo, was K14’s first surviving calf and has two younger siblings.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the agency tasked with bringing the whales back from the brink, has identified several main threats to the orcas’ survival: lack of adequate, consistently available salmon, particularly Chinook; underwater noise that makes it harder for orcas to hunt; and pollution.
And the southern residents have been struggling to recover since the 1960s and ‘70s when Puget Sound served as a main source of orcas to be captured and shipped off to aquatic parks.
Captors killed at least 13 orcas during the process, and 45 were shipped around the world.
Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, also known as Lolita or Tokitae, was the last surviving southern resident orca in captivity. A plan was shaping up to bring her home from the Miami Seaquarium when she died in captivity in August 2023.
Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut was among those taken from her family in Penn Cove.
Her pod’s visit to Penn Cove early this month was believed to be their first return since that traumatic event.
L25, or Ocean Sun, a female estimated to be nearly 100 years old who survived the capture era, was reportedly seen where the calves were netted and the moms were pushing back.
“Maybe it was a way of healing, a way of consecrating,” said Howard Garrett, board president at the Orca Network. “To visit and show that it’s safe now, to show that they can ease that memory somehow.”
Was it a memorial? Was it a ceremony? Jay Julius, former chair of Lummi Nation and president of nonprofit Se’Si’Le wondered. What was the spirit of those younger generations?
“You and I are never going to actually know the why,” he said.
