SEATTLE — Not something you see every day!!!
Videos circulating on social media, including one posted by the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (better known as the Ballard Locks), show at least two orcas swimming in the Seattle waterway.
“As Chinook salmon runs approach their seasonal peak, the waters below the spillway offered an extraordinary example of the connection between salmon, predators, and the greater Salish Sea ecosystem. Yesterday, visitors with the *Salish Wildlife Watch*, @alanalouise_, and Peter Horsman witnessed these rare visitors firsthand!” posted the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks - Ballard Locks Facebook page.
“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.
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," the Locks Facebook page wrote.
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