Orcas in Nehalem Bay!!!

[sandy77]

Well, after hearing a report on here about killer whales in Tilly, I was a LITTLE less shocked when I spotted three Orcas in Nehalem Bay on Sunday but still plenty surprised!!!!



It was late in the day after clamming with our friends from MN who had never seen the Pacific Ocean. We launched from the State Park ramp on the spit, further up in the bay and were cruising out to the mouth at a pretty good clip to throw crab pots. Then all of a sudden I saw a huge black fin and also a grayish one. I hollered at Jim "STOP!!!!" and we were amazed to see three orcas across from us. Seemed like an adult and a baby and one other that seemed to me to be mid-sized but our friends think it was two young ones, so not sure on that. Anyways, they were really splashing and thrashing around and the sea gulls were all over the water, so it's pretty clear they had just gotten a meal of some sort. Salmon or harbor seal, probably.

We got a little closer after they started to mosey very slowly back towards the ocean but we were waaaay in, north of both the ramps along 101. There was one other boat, a little rental one with a dad and young son. This little boat was closer to them than we were and again to our amazement the whales (we marked 9 ft of water where we were at that moment) each went UNDER the little rental boat.




Then they turned, porpoising and blowing air all the while, very relaxed, checking us out, and they headed OUR way...! This was the most exciting part: they went UNDER OUR BOAT, headed right to us and dove in and under.



I was tripping out! We had our polarized sunnies on, so could see them even when they were submerged, gliding and turning under the boat to look. It was chilling but we weren't real worried. The whales and people kept checking each other out and we rode along side of them for some time until we got to where we wanted to throw pots, then they headed out into the salt.



It was definitely the highlight of our trip and we feel very lucky to have seen them and hang out with them for several minutes in such a gorgeous little bay.

[butwhymalemodels]

Amazing

[River Ranger]

Flat out AWESOME!!!

RR.

[the apprentice]

Cool bonus thanks for the photos

[Dave G]

That is cool, thanks.

[Waterfish]

That's the coolest thing I've seen on here in quite a while!

[Reel_Big_Fish]

Very cool!

[HuntNFishAddict]

Nice pics. That is cool.

[First Light Bite]

That way cool. Thanks for posting. Hopefully they were able to reduce the available food source in the bay.

[CHROME CATCHER]

Got to see that when I was in Knight Inlet in B.C. a couple years ago,but never got that close. Glad you had the camera with you!!

[Bird Dog]

AWESOME PICTURES!

These are the stories that usually start out with "I wish I had my camera,"!!!!!!!!!!

Bird Dog

[salterc]

that is cool!!!!!!!!!!

[SPL]

There will be stories told in MN for many years to come....don't ya know.

Great pics...thanks for sharing!

[SlipKnot]

Those are some great pics. Were there any seals around? Still amazes me they will come in there looking for lunch.

Thanks.

[pintail]

Great pics, really amazing. Just think it was better happening to you than me.

[Oregon_Lass]

That is so awesome. I'm jealous! I spent a lot of my childhood in that area, and never once saw an Orca. That's exciting and rare! Thanks for getting those great pics and sharing your encounter.

[Kencreep]

Please direct them up to Bonneville. Thanks!

[Rubber Robin]

Fantastic pics. Thank you for sharing.
I sure hope it was seal they had for lunch.

[edsr]

Plenty of Orca snacks in Nehalem Bay . Great pictures, closer than an aquarium.

[garyk]

You "impending collision" pic is going to be a tough one to top!!!!

[ajaxmoody]

That's incredible ! too bad we can't coax them to head up near bonnyville dam to "help" out with the sea lions

[Oregon_Lass]

Originally Posted by sandy77

I was tripping out!

That's an understatement! !!

[Lou]

Great! Thanks for sharing!

[sandy77]

Originally Posted by Bird Dog

AWESOME PICTURES!

These are the stories that usually start out with "I wish I had my camera,"!!!!!!!!!!

Bird Dog

Funny thing is a third boat came in further up and none of the 5 or 6 folks in it had a camera so they flagged us down and gave us their email to send pics to.

The entire encounter was definitely thrilling!! As the whales headed out, we tried to point the way to Bonne!! There were definitely no harbor seals in there later that day, like they commonly are. Scattered!


Oh, and other than the great bald eagles, pelicans, blacktails, etc and usual critters we see in those parts, I was pretty happy to see this little guy in Tillamook Bay on Monday. Of course, after the Orcas the day before, it was all downhill from there!!!


See if you can spot him.




Getting closer.. (no, not the heron)



It looked injured so we (the two gals) were worried and investigated while our boyfriends dug for sandshrimp.. We saw the mama pop her head up so we left right away. After a quick lunch on the beach we looked over and it was gone!!! Very strange.

[Trout]

Very Cool!

[Oregon_Lass]

Originally Posted by sandy77

It looked injured so we (the two gals) were worried and investigated while our boyfriends dug for sandshrimp.. We saw the mama pop her head up so we left right away. After a quick lunch on the beach we looked over and it was gone!!! Very strange.

You can read his face almost: Mom! Come get me off this beach please! Mama probably put the little guy up there to keep him safe.

[David Johnson]

opportunity of a lifetime

[Gun Rod Bow]

Originally Posted by David Johnson

opportunity of a lifetime

under a bobber for Orcas

Did I say that out loud?

Very cool pics.

[arkansasbasser]

OK, but how was the crabbing?

[spinnermaker]

WOW that is very cool.

[SandySteel]

Originally Posted by arkansasbasser

OK, but how was the crabbing?

It's not all about crabbing..... some folks come for the meat.... some come for a whole lot more.

[finnfisher]

Awesome!!!!!!

[ling killer]

Originally Posted by Kencreep

Please direct them up to Bonneville. Thanks!

that would make for some good video footage

[TheCamel]

Nice mention in the Oregonian by Bill Monroe this morning and a link to this thread on Ifish!

[Fly Junkie]

Looks like that was a very exciting day!!!!
Thanks for the story.

[letsfish]

Channel six had a piece about ten years ago about orcas in Nehalem Bay. It seems they were seen coming into the bay and heading over to the beach were the seals like to lounge. After a quick meal they headed out to sea.

[sandy77]

Originally Posted by arkansasbasser

OK, but how was the crabbing?

The crabbing was so-so. Our friend from MN pulled LOTS of pots and over about 3 days we got approx 36.

[sandy77]

Originally Posted by ling killer

that would make for some good video footage

In fact, Jim got some fair video on his phone but he was driving the boat at the same time and trying not to spook the whales. I'll see if I can post it here at some point.

[sandy77]

Originally Posted by TheCamel

Nice mention in the Oregonian by Bill Monroe this morning and a link to this thread on Ifish!

Cool!!

[husker]

absolutely incredible. i have gone on orca site seeing trips 2x. i love them. man i thats awesome. the impending crash pic is da bomb

[SalmonSeason]

Originally Posted by Gun Rod Bow

under a bobber for Orcas

Did I say that out loud?

Very cool pics.

yes it was out loud and I was just thinking I have enough cork to make it work

[fishbait]

Hopefully they ger a chance to meet and enjoy a few sealions.

[SummitOne]

Awesome post, thanks!

[Bass-ackwards]

Originally Posted by SandySteel

It's not all about crabbing..... some folks come for the meat.... some come for a whole lot more.

Took a late Hali trip last year. Highlight was a pod of Orca's about a mile out. Too cool with the mountain backdrop with a vail of fog. I can still seeit / smell it. Never saw anything like it in Tennesee.

[wille]

Can I say that tooo???Way to cool pics

[RickR]

Hello Sandy 77,

I am 99.9% sure that is my son & I on the small rental boat. I believe we both were (both boats) intently watching the Orca's & you mentioned they swam under our boat at the time & we were both off again. I wrote a story about our day & our encounter with the Orca's as well. It pretty much matches your encounter. The only thing is our encounter happened Sunday the 14th. I called the boat rental place in Wheeler, OR to find out if another sighting had occurred on Monday the 15th & they said as far as they knew there had not been any more Orca's since Sunday. We did not have a camera & were hoping someone would post some photos. We were thinking probably your day was just off.

Anyway it was an incredible day. We spotted them earlier while we were crabbing closer to the mouth of the bay. I saw something pop out of the water about 25 yards from us & asked my son if he saw it, he had not. We headed more toward the mouth of the bay & all of a sudden a big fin pops out of the water about 10 to 15 feet from our little rental boat. Then 2 more fins pop out of the water. My son & I looked at each other & said holy @#$%! We passed like 2 boats just happening to pass each other except they were not another boat. They dove under water about 10 yards past us & we did not see them come out of the water again. After not such a good crabbing day we looked at each other & said let's go see if we can find the Orca's. We looked down the bay & saw seagulls hovering about 1/4 mile where we first set our first pots. It was a little cove & we could see fins sticking out of the water & water spouting. We immediately took off to that area. We saw your boat heading toward us from the opposite direction. You guys were probably about 20 to 25 yards from us. We went in the little cove & we could not see them for a moment. Then all of sudden we could feel the water churning a little & the boat teetering a little & one pops out of the water about 4 to 5 feet from our boat, then another does the same on the left side of the boat. We did not see the little one at this time. My son thought they were going to hit the boat. Then we look at the front of the boat & we see 3 fins sticking out of the water heading right at our bow. They dive & go underneath our boat & we could see the side of the big one & his eye looking up at us. It was unreal. Then the big one heads right at the back of the boat & dives underneath the boat again. I thought it was going to hit the prop of the boat engine. My son kept saying let's get out of hear. Like you I never felt threatened but after the last dive from behind the boat I figured it was time to head home. That was pretty close. Then that is when our boats met (if it was you guys). We had to get back to return the boat & as we looked back they started heading back out to sea about 30 yards behind us as you guys tracked them out & we pulled into Jetty Fishery.

When we got into shore we were pretty excited telling everyone our adventure. We then wished we had photos & then thought about you guys & hoping that something showed up on the internet. My wife & daughter were with us earlier but after an hour got board & went back to shore. They had all the cameras. We figured that they must see this sort of thing all the time in the bay. There was a marine biologist I believe we talked to who told us that was a rare thing. That only once every 5 or 6 years to Orca's enter the bay. Needless to say we have done lots of studying on Orca's since. I hope this was you we saw June 14th, we would love to see any other pictures you may have. Thanks.

Rick R

[Buck50]

Oh my God, what an amazing experience. And you had the presence of mind to get it on film.
Absolutely incredible!
I've heard of Orca in the Nehalem, but not for a while. You are very lucky to witness such an amazing act of nature.
I thank you for sharing your experience and pictures. Man I wish I was there.
I bet it blew those MN folks away! Don't find those in the Great Lakes, do they?

[salmon15]

Please send them to Coos Bay there is plenty sea(lion) food here

[Buck50]

I'm thinking they have plenty of forage up north. We and you can use all the natural help we can get!
GO ORCA!

[sandy77]

Rick, that was defintely us! Sunday, Monday, it's all the same!

I remember hollering over to you after they went under your boat. How thrilling. Never thought they would then come over to us and do the same! It's so amazing you saw the eye of the one looking at you. I know you will never forget that just as I will never forget how it looked gliding underneath us, with the gray markings standing out in the darkness of the water.

I also remember (now) you saying you followed them in from the mouth. I have several more pictures, some of them with your boat. We just got our friends' pictures downloaded last night and they left for MN this morning. I can send you a CD of all the pics. Suzie got two short bits of film on her camera phone. It's pretty neat!

Didn't it feel like we were in Alaska??
Cheers,
E

Originally Posted by RickR

Hello Sandy 77,

I am 99.9% sure that is my son & I on the small rental boat. I believe we both were (both boats) intently watching the Orca's & you mentioned they swam under our boat at the time & we were both off again. I wrote a story about our day & our encounter with the Orca's as well. It pretty much matches your encounter. The only thing is our encounter happened Sunday the 14th. I called the boat rental place in Wheeler, OR to find out if another sighting had occurred on Monday the 15th & they said as far as they knew there had not been any more Orca's since Sunday. We did not have a camera & were hoping someone would post some photos. We were thinking probably your day was just off.

Anyway it was an incredible day. We spotted them earlier while we were crabbing closer to the mouth of the bay. I saw something pop out of the water about 25 yards from us & asked my son if he saw it, he had not. We headed more toward the mouth of the bay & all of a sudden a big fin pops out of the water about 10 to 15 feet from our little rental boat. Then 2 more fins pop out of the water. My son & I looked at each other & said holy @#$%! We passed like 2 boats just happening to pass each other except they were not another boat. They dove under water about 10 yards past us & we did not see them come out of the water again. After not such a good crabbing day we looked at each other & said let's go see if we can find the Orca's. We looked down the bay & saw seagulls hovering about 1/4 mile where we first set our first pots. It was a little cove & we could see fins sticking out of the water & water spouting. We immediately took off to that area. We saw your boat heading toward us from the opposite direction. You guys were probably about 20 to 25 yards from us. We went in the little cove & we could not see them for a moment. Then all of sudden we could feel the water churning a little & the boat teetering a little & one pops out of the water about 4 to 5 feet from our boat, then another does the same on the left side of the boat. We did not see the little one at this time. My son thought they were going to hit the boat. Then we look at the front of the boat & we see 3 fins sticking out of the water heading right at our bow. They dive & go underneath our boat & we could see the side of the big one & his eye looking up at us. It was unreal. Then the big one heads right at the back of the boat & dives underneath the boat again. I thought it was going to hit the prop of the boat engine. My son kept saying let's get out of hear. Like you I never felt threatened but after the last dive from behind the boat I figured it was time to head home. That was pretty close. Then that is when our boats met (if it was you guys). We had to get back to return the boat & as we looked back they started heading back out to sea about 30 yards behind us as you guys tracked them out & we pulled into Jetty Fishery.

When we got into shore we were pretty excited telling everyone our adventure. We then wished we had photos & then thought about you guys & hoping that something showed up on the internet. My wife & daughter were with us earlier but after an hour got board & went back to shore. They had all the cameras. We figured that they must see this sort of thing all the time in the bay. There was a marine biologist I believe we talked to who told us that was a rare thing. That only once every 5 or 6 years to Orca's enter the bay. Needless to say we have done lots of studying on Orca's since. I hope this was you we saw June 14th, we would love to see any other pictures you may have. Thanks.

Rick R

[RickR]

Originally Posted by sandy77

Rick, that was defintely us! Sunday, Monday, it's all the same!

I remember hollering over to you after they went under your boat. How thrilling. Never thought they would then come over to us and do the same! It's so amazing you saw the eye of the one looking at you. I know you will never forget that just as I will never forget how it looked gliding underneath us, with the gray markings standing out in the darkness of the water.

I also remember (now) you saying you followed them in from the mouth. I have several more pictures, some of them with your boat. We just got our friends' pictures downloaded last night and they left for MN this morning. I can send you a CD of all the pics. Suzie got two short bits of film on her camera phone. It's pretty neat!

Didn't it feel like we were in Alaska??
Cheers,
E

[RickR]

Sandy 77,

Great hearing back from you. My son & I are still pretty excited about our adventure. The last thing we thought that would happen when we went crabbing was that we would see 3 Orca's pop out of the water. Then to be able to be close enough to literally reach out & touch them if we wanted was unbelievable. My son thought for sure they were going to ram the boat. For a few minutes there, there was a lot of action going on around our boat. It never crossed my mind about them ramming the boat. When I saw the father Orca, I assume, that was heading right at the back of the boat & diving under us at the last second, similar to your picture on this sight coming at you guys. I thought to myself wow maybe it's time to head on out of here. That's when they head over toward you guys.

We thought it was a mother, father & baby Orca but who knows. I mentioned to my son that the smaller one was more grayish (& lots of gray) not as white on his side as the others.

We guessed we were in maybe 15 to 20 feet of water because that is where we dropped our first pots crabbing. The rope from the pots could not of been more than 25 or 30 feet long & we had lots of slack when we pulled the pots earlier.

You guys were much luckier than us with the crabs. We got 1 keeper crab with only his right claw, ugh. We pulled one pot right before we saw the Orca's & there was not any bait in it & when we pulled our 3rd pot my son grabbed the buoy & for some reason the knot came off from the buoy attached to the rope & the rope was slowly making it's way to the bottom of the bay. We were a one pot crew. So much for our Jetty Fishery special! That's when we decided it was time to go find the Orca's again.

I remember seeing a third boat heading up the river as (yellow on the side of the boat) we were heading back to the Fishery. They had just missed all the action & looked like they were heading toward you. They looked like they had a small rental boat as well with lots of people in it. I remember seeing both boats tracking them back out to sea & people on the side of the river by Jetty Fishery watching on the side of the river as the Orca's went by.

We saw lots of seals in the bay earlier while we were crabbing & I can't remember seeing another after the Orca's entered the bay. There maybe a few missing or they head for the hills!

We would love to see the pictures you have (I never use a camera & my wife was on the dock who always takes a million pictures). If my daughter & wife would of stayed on the boat we never would have gotten that close (I know my daughter for sure would of been like the seals heading for the hills!). I imagine you guys thought you would not be that close either! As you well know it's one of those you had to be there experiences to understand what it was like. I have done a lot of neat things in my life but that will be an experience I will not forget (or son). I am glad we were able to share it with you guys as well! Take Care.

Rick R

[ling killer]

seen em in yaquina about 9 years ago when i charter fished, and it was a bloodbath! think they got like 3 seelions wished i had a camera

but, it will b something i will never forget

[blacktail519]

Thats incredible! you ceratinly dont see that everyday.

[flyinbrian]

I know if Jim Erickson was still around he would have been very happy to see orcas feast away in the bay. I was there in the good ol days when he used to film sea lion doing damage. The worst I ever saw was when steelhead were fleeing and were v'ing in the sand trying to escape. Hats off to you Jim and they finally arrived.

[Muddy Water]

Thanks for the KILLER report! Awesome pics!!!

[tear-a-bite]

very cool to see. one time a transit pod came through Hood Canal in Puget Sound when we were there. over the 6 weeks they were there, the fish+game estimated the seal population went from 1600 down to less than 600... but that seems like ALOT of eating!

the few seals we saw when the pod finally left were shivering on the beaches, and VERY reluctant to get into the water!

one caution - several people got MAJOR $$$ fines for "harrassing" the orcas by driving their boats up too close... be careful not to 'harass' them!

they are great to see, and great when they eat up the seals and balance the environment...