The Salish Sea has been buzzing with a new kind of mystery: orcas changing the rules in our own backyard. Over the last few months, marine researchers and shorebound witnesses alike have clocked pods trying tactics that feel fresh – sometimes startlingly so. One moment that stuck with me was watching a crowd on a ...
On a windless morning in Seattle’s Elliott Bay this spring, a pod of Bigg’s killer whales sliced through green water and did something few onlookers had ever seen: they pursued and caught a seabird at the edge of an urban shoreline. The scene played out below ferry docks and cranes, a reminder that apex predators ...
For decades, the iconic southern resident killer whales of Washington’s Puget Sound have followed familiar coastal paths, echoing their haunting calls through the Salish Sea. But marine biologists and Indigenous observers are reporting a subtle yet striking shift—these orcas are changing their routes. The reason? A blend of hunger and noise. As their main prey, ...
