Signs of summer as local orca pod returns
PUGET SOUND -- A pod of orcas that often call the Puget Sound their summer home returned early Wednesday, Orcanetwork.org reported.
According to the Orca locating site, the 27-member J Pod was spotted off the coast of Henry Island near Friday Harbor, Wash. The pod had been absent from the Puget Sound for about 70 days.
Part of a clan of Orcas known as the Southern Resident Killer Whales, the orcas are the only killer whale species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The pod is commonly referred to as the Orcas of the Salish Sea. Little is known about their range of movements during the winter months.