A pod of orcas were hanging out near Ballard yesterday, with sightings at both Golden Gardens and the Ballard Locks.
Photographer Seonwoo Lee took the below photos, saying he spends a lot of time at the Ballard Locks and has never seen orcas.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) at the Locks shared the below video, taken by Alana Lyons, which they say were a transient pod.
The orcas showed up during one of the busiest times of the year for Chinook in the Ballard Locks’ fish ladder.
“A rare occurrence of transient orcas below the spillway coincided with Chinook making their way toward the fish ladder and upstream habitat. While Chinook salmon are an important food source for fish-eating Southern Resident killer whales, transient (Bigg’s) killer whales primarily prey on marine mammals,” the USACE shared in their social media post.
“Their appearance during the salmon run may have been just that—a coincidence. Or perhaps the activity of harbor seals and sea lions that gather where salmon concentrate helped draw these marine-mammal hunters into the area. Either way, seeing transient orcas this far into the Ship Canal was an exceptional reminder of the ecological connections that extend from the Ballard Locks all the way to the Salish Sea,” they wrote.
Boat rental company Ahoy Rentals also shared a video of the pod as they made their way back out of the ship canal.
While they’re not often at the Ballard Locks, two years ago, the Bigg’s transients put on a show at Golden Gardens.
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Featured photo by Seonwoo Lee