Gray whales return to Whidbey water

Published 9:08 pm Friday, February 15, 2013

Gray whales have returned to Puget Sound with a number of sightings this month.

According to Howard Garrett of the Orca Network based in Greenbank, the first was spotted Feb. 4, a single gray moving north in the evening, past Kayak Point Park (Port Susan).

Three whales reports were made Feb. 8, one gray whale south of Camano; another unidentified whale was seen by a captain on the Clinton to Mukilteo ferry route; and a gray whale was reported in front of Tulalip Shores at about 10 that morning.

On Feb. 10 a gray whale was reported southeast of Pebble Beach on the south end of Camano Island. The person reporting it said “it came up for three breaths, then disappeared like a ghost.”

On Wednesday, the Everett Herald reported a gray whale was seen off Mission Beach.

Each spring, resident gray whales return to Puget Sound waters. Along their way from Mexico to Canada and Alaska, they often stop to feed and frolic in Saratoga Passage, just off of Langley.

The Mystic Sea whale watching boat will start taking people on whale watching cruises from the Langley Marina on March 8.