Visiting whales head north

Originally published October 26, 2001

Some or all of the orcas that paid a visit to South Sound on Wednesday are on the move back north, according to Rowanne Tallmon, data manager for The Whale Museum in Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands.

They were seen by a Whale Museum spotter heading north off Bush Point on Whidbey Island on Thursday morning, Tallmon said.

As many as 60 of the mighty marine mammals were in the Nisqually Reach on Wednesday, apparently chasing and feeding on chum salmon returning to South Sound rivers and streams.

The three extended families of 78 killer whales known as the southern residents spent much of the year in the waters off the Vancouver and San Juan islands.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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