Killer Whale Pod Returns To Central Oregon Coast

Ravenous Orcas Visit Oregon Coast

By Joseph Friedrichs, 4-25-07

Montana, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah are all marvelous Western states. However, they each share one problem: they’re landlocked.

For most Oregonians, the coast is only a few hours away by motor vehicle, and for a large chunk of the state’s population it’s less. This weekend is a perfect time for Central Oregonians to take a trip west and witness one of the planet’s most marvelous creatures in action. We’re talking about, of course, the killer whale.

A transient pod of black-and-white killer whales, or orcas, are making their usual mid-April appearance, mostly between the Florence area and Cascade Head near Lincoln City, according to the Associated Press.

They are more predatory than the somewhat dull orcas that live full-time in Puget Sound around the San Juan Islands and live mostly on salmon. The Oregon coast group is ravenous in its search of seals and baby gray whales. You know those nature videos that show killer whales bashing a small seal from the frigid coastal waters in an explosion of raw thrashing death? Well, that’s what is going down along the Oregon coast right now. 

The orcas are along the Oregon coastline to intercept migrating baby gray whales. There is nothing clean in the death of a gray whale, but it’s merely nature’s law so deal with it. Besides, a baby gray whale can feed an entire pod of orcas for a week.

The gray whales are migrating north, from birthing in Mexico’s Baja California to their summer foraging grounds in Alaska, the AP reported.

For the best chance at spotting a gray whale go to a high vantage point such as the lighthouse at Yaquina Bay, the Yaquina Head area, Don Davis Memorial Park in Nye Beach or Cape Foulweather, all located due west of Bend.

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