Beluga whale startles Puget Sound boaters in first Seattle-area sightings since 1940

SEATTLE – Out of the blue, a beluga whale has been sighted around Puget Sound at least six times since Sunday, the first of its kind since 1940.

It started on October 3rd with a report from the south end of Fox Island, then another from Point Defiance, and then into Commencement Bay. The fourth sighting saw the whale reported in West Seattle and the fifth it was glowing in the waters of the Bremerton Ship Yard, according to Michael Milstein, West Coast Region spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

There is no way of knowing why the whale is far from its home and family in Cook Inlet in Southcentral Alaska or other populations in the arctic and subarctic waters of the United States and Canada.

But there are several possible explanations, said Paul Wade, a research fisheries biologist at NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Sand Point. He leads research on the critically endangered beluga population at Cook Inlet.

On the other hand, this could be an animal exploring new habitats. A more dire possibility is that the fish-eating beluga is starving and so desperate for food that it has strayed far from its usual feeding grounds. Or it could be domoic acid poisoning from a red tide.

Domoic acid is a naturally occurring neurotoxin produced by harmful algal blooms. It can be ingested by whales with their food and disrupt the part of their brain that helps with navigation.

There are no signs that the whale is sick, said Wade. If NOAA determines that an approach could be attempted, researchers will likely attempt to get a boat out and take a picture of the whale. This could help determine if it is a member of the endangered Cook Inlet population, Wade said.

Scratches, scars, and other similar marks on the bodies of belugas are used by researchers to create a photographic catalog that can be used to track the whales.

Beluga whales hunt their prey up the Turnagain Arm in northern Cook Inlet on August 27, 2013. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

It is unusual to see a beluga not only here but seemingly alone. Belugas are social animals that usually travel with at least a few others. This animal appears to be fully grown in color, said Wade. Belugas are gray at birth, but turn pure white as they mature.

Called canaries of the sea for their chirping, whistling, and calling, belugas eat fish, mainly chinooks, in summer. But they varied their diets throughout the year and also eat coho, eulachon or smelt, Pacific cod, saithe, flounder and shrimp. Belugas in their home waters will band together in large groups to take advantage of prey such as eulachon or salmon at the mouth of a river.

In addition to their amazing color, belugas have behaviors that set them apart from others. They tend to lift their entire head out of the water to get air. And unlike other whales and dolphins with overgrown vertebrae in their necks, belugas’ necks are flexible.

“It really makes them different to be around – they’ll turn their heads and look at you,” said Wade.

Like orcas, belugas hunt by echolocation, which allows them to nail fish even in murky, muddy water. Top predators, just passing orcas that hunt marine mammals, are known to take on a beluga.

While it is rare to see a beluga in these waters, it is not unheard of. A beluga made headlines last year when it showed up outside San Diego. Shortly afterwards, a beluga was found dead in Baja, perhaps the same animal.

There is only one other known sighting of a beluga outside of its home range in the Pacific, oddly enough, near Point Defiance as well. The April 24, 1940 edition of the Tacoma Times ran the story of an unidentified greyish, whitish marine mammal that was seen as page-one news by locals:

“Too big for a seal or a porpoise, too small for a whale, maybe it was a manatee or something that stormed through the Narrows on Tuesday morning on its merry way to Olympia alone,” the newspaper reported. “The saltwater beast entertained the natives by approaching the bank and performing for them. Several eyewitnesses agreed that they could not determine what kind of manatee it was … at least it went to Olympia to speak to the governor. “

A report by boaters at Point Defiance on social media last Sunday left viewers equally confused and amazed.

The West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network is on standby to respond to further sightings of the beluga to collect passport photos, assess the health of the whale, attempt to record the sounds it makes, and possibly obtain genetic samples, Milstein said .

As always, boaters must keep their distance from all marine mammals.