whale watching Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Reducing collisions between ships and whales? There’s apps for that, but they need work

By Tom Banse November 8, 2022

A way to prevent large ships from striking and killing whales is to transmit alerts to the officers at the helm when whales are nearby.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often in the Pacific Northwest that ships collide with whales. But when it does, it's upsetting, tragic and the whale probably dies. Three separate teams have developed smartphone-based systems that can alert commercial mariners to watch out, slow down or change course when whales have been sighted nearby. A recent ride-along on a big Read More

Record Numbers Of Bigg’s Killer Whale Sightings And Humpback Calves In Salish Sea

By Tom Banse November 1, 2021

Salish Sea whale watchers were treated in May 2021 to humpback whale mother Slate surfacing with her young son Malachite.

Whale watchers have spotted a record number of humpback calves in inland Pacific Northwest waters this season. There was also a record streak of Bigg's killer whale sightings that just ended, according to a local whale research nonprofit. Those observations offer some good news to offset the ongoing concern about the survival of the Northwest's iconic, but critically Read More

New Washington Whale-Watching Boat Rules To Help Struggling Orcas Take Effect In 2021

By NWPB News December 26, 2020

An endangered female orca leaps from the water while breaching in Puget Sound west of Seattle. The orca is from one of three groups of southern resident killer whales that frequent the inland waters of Washington. CREDIT: ELAINE THOMPSON/AP

According to the rules approved by the commission last week, from July through September, commercial whale watching companies can view endangered Southern Resident orcas during two, two-hour periods daily, The Skagit Valley Herald reported.Read More

Judge Strikes Down Ballot Measure On Whale Watching Distance Rules In San Juan County

By Tom Banse August 19, 2019

Southern Resident orcas in the J pod made a rare 2019 appearance in inland waters on Thursday, August 15, near Lime Kiln State Park off of San Juan Island. (Image taken under the authority of NMFS permit No. 22141) MEGAN FARMER / KUOW

Whale watch tour companies have knocked a proposed orca protection initiative off the November ballot in San Juan County, Washington. The ballot measure would have asked voters to greatly increase the stand-off distance between boats and endangered killer whales.Read More

Puget Sound Whale Watchers Accused Of Loving Endangered Orcas To Death

By NPR News June 18, 2019

The question of whether boat-based watching tours are really harmless has become more urgent in Washington state, where Southern Resident killer whales have been declining since the 1990s.Read More

Gray Whale Sightings Up Off Northwest Coast

By Jes Burns March 22, 2018

Western gray whale off the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island in the Sea of Okhotsk taken during the 2011 tagging season under the joint effort of A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IEE RAS) and Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute in collaboration with the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and Kronotsky State Nature Biosphere Reserve. CREDIT: OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY

Gray whale sightings are up on the Oregon and Washington coast in recent weeks.Read More