{"id":345100,"date":"2026-03-14T00:48:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T00:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/345100\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T00:48:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T00:48:19","slug":"mystery-orcas-in-wa-puget-sound-where-did-they-come-from","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/345100\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery orcas in WA Puget Sound: Where did they come from?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

A previously undocumented trio of killer whales has been spotted traveling through the Salish Sea.<\/p>\n

Researchers say the whales were first photographed in Alaska in 2025 and may have come from the Gulf of Alaska or Bering Sea.<\/p>\n

Scientists are still studying why the mammal-eating orcas are visiting the region, calling them an unusual mystery.<\/p>\n

SEATTLE – Where did they come from? And why are they here?<\/p>\n

Those are the questions researchers are asking as a small pod of unfamiliar killer whales<\/a> moves through the Salish Sea.<\/p>\n

\"<div>Mysterious<\/p>\n

Mysterious orca spotted in the Salish Sea.<\/p>\n

(Orca Conservancy)<\/p>\n

The backstory<\/p>\n

Over the past few weeks, scientists have been closely watching a group of orcas that had never been documented in these waters before.<\/p>\n

According to SR3, a local nonprofit dedicated to marine wildlife<\/a> research and rehabilitation, the whales were first spotted in British Columbia before appearing in the Salish Sea.<\/p>\n

The organization says that prior to their time in the region this week, the only time the whales had been documented was in Alaska in 2025.<\/p>\n

Researchers have identified the trio as T420, T419 and T421.<\/p>\n

\"<div>T420,<\/p>\n

T420, T419 and T421 spotted in the Salish Sea.<\/p>\n

(Orca Conservancy)<\/p>\n

Timeline<\/p>\n

Scientists with the Orca Behavior Institute have been documenting the whales\u2019 movements.<\/p>\n

The institute says the animals were first photographed in Anchorage in March 2025, marking the first time they had ever been documented.<\/p>\n

This month, the whales were first spotted in Vancouver Harbor, before traveling south into Puget Sound.<\/p>\n

Online the institute wrote: “After five decades of research, it\u2019s not often adult killer whales show up in the Salish Sea who don\u2019t match any of the existing photo ID catalogues.”<\/p>\n

\"<div>T420,<\/p>\n

T420, T419 and T421 pod observed in the Salish Sea.<\/p>\n

(Orca Conservancy)<\/p>\n

What they’re saying<\/p>\n

Researchers say the whales have what are known as “cookie cutter shark marks.”<\/p>\n

Based on those markings, scientists believe the animals may have traveled from waters near the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands, or the Bering Sea.<\/p>\n

The whales are also believed to be mammal-eating killer whales, according to researchers.<\/p>\n

The Orca Conservancy reports the whales have most recently been spotted as far south as Tacoma.<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/p>\n

For now, scientists say the whales remain something of a mystery unusual visitors whose origins and reasons for traveling into the Salish Sea are still being studied.<\/p>\n

MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE<\/p>\n

WA double-murder suspect Samuel Ramirez Jr. captured, FBI Most Wanted<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrest made in 2024 triple fatal Everett, WA hit and run<\/a><\/p>\n

Former WA resident says she was victim of alleged License Express flaw<\/a><\/p>\n

WA judge rules on media figures’ access to Capitol in Olympia<\/a><\/p>\n

Seattle Mayor proposes $410M levy to fund city libraries<\/a><\/p>\n

To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store<\/a> or Google Play Store<\/a> for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

Information in this story came from SR3, the Orca Behavior Institute, the Orca Conservancy and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief A previously undocumented trio of killer whales has been spotted traveling through the Salish Sea. Researchers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[157570,61,60,26326,157242,157571,66856,82,263],"class_list":["post-345100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-bering-sea","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-killer-whales","tag-orca-behavior-institute","tag-orca-conservancy","tag-salish-sea","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}