Orcas may be continuing tour of South Sound

Five Transients: Animals likely those seen by residents last week

Five transient orcas were spotted patrolling the waters of South Sound on Thursday, according to reports compiled by Cascadia Research of Olympia.

“It’s highly likely they’re the same whales seen in Oakland Bay a week ago,” Cascadia marine mammal researcher John Calambokidis said.

He said the whale sightings came from several locations, including Eld Inlet, Dana Passage and Harstine Island. The whales also were seen in Budd Inlet as far south as Gull Harbor, Ralph Munro said.

Unlike the resident Puget Sound orcas, which feed on fish and are listed as an endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act, the transient orcas, which roam the waters from Alaska to Mexico in small groups, eat marine mammals and aren’t listed as endangered.

Three transient orcas last were seen in South Sound near Fox Island in May, Calambokidis said.

“I’d characterize their appearance here in South Sound as periodic – every one to two years, on average,” he said.

Six transients paid an extended visit to Hood Canal from late January to late spring 2005, a world-record stay in one place, according to marine mammal biologists. That came on the heels of a two-month extended visit to Hood Canal by 11 transient killer whales in 2003.

The 2003 Hood Canal visitors included T-14, a whale present in Budd Inlet in 1976 during the controversial, and last, capture of killer whales in Puget Sound for use in aquariums.

It’s not yet known whether any of the killer whales seen in South Sound this year were among the Hood Canal visitors in 2003 or 2005, Calambokidis said.

Male orcas have a life expectancy of 50 to 60 years; females have a life expectancy of 90 years.