A pod of Bigg’s killer whales breached and slapped their tails for about an hour off Alki Beach in Seattle’s West Seattle neighborhood on Friday, drawing dozens of spectators to the shoreline. Whale watchers identified the animals as Bigg’s killer whales, a population that hunts sea mammals and inhabits the Salish Sea, and said the pod appeared to be hunting.
The Orca Network, which tracks whale movements using reports from observers on land and in the water, posted an alert on its Facebook page as the pod arrived. Summer Staley said she drove from across the city after seeing the post.
“It’s just such a beautiful connection with nature and with the universe to be sharing the same space with these beautiful creatures,” Staley said. “How lucky am I to be able to share this space with them?”
Staley said she has seen orcas a few dozen times over the past year. Seabirds and a bald eagle trailed the pod as it moved through the area, looking for scraps.