Submitted by Orca Network

On Feb. 17, 2016 while out looking for a possibly entangled humpback whale seen off Edmonds, Alisa Lemire Brooks, Orca Network’s Whale Sighting Network Coordinator, and volunteer Stu Davidson checked out the blows of a whale across the sound and found one of the returning “Saratoga” Grays, #723, off south Whidbey Island.

The “Saratoga” or North Puget Sound Gray Whales return to Saratoga Passage and Possession Sound each spring, for their annual three-month feeding foray in North Puget Sound. Cascadia Research of Olympia has been studying this population of whales for decades, and has photo-identified a group of approximately 10 – 12 whales that visit this area each spring.

In greater Puget Sound, we see approximately 12 to 50 grays per year, and along the Pacific Coast is a population of 250 Gray Whales known as the Pacific Northwest feeding aggregation (or seasonal residents).

These whales can be found along the coast of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The whales are identified by the markings on the underside of their flukes, as well as by the patterns of barnacles, scars, and markings on their backs.

For info, orcanetwork.org/nathist/graywhales.html  and www.cascadiaresearch.org/graywhale.htm .