PUGET SOUND, Wash. – There have been rare sightings of a beluga whale in Puget Sound this week.
Orca Network founder and board president Howard Garrett says it appears to be in good health.
“It has a strange pattern of going to shipyards,” says Garrett.
It visited shipyards in Commencement Bay Sunday, Elliot Bay Monday and yesterday was seen near the Bremerton Navy shipyard.
He says it’s traveled a long way.
“The closest beluga population is in Cook Inlet in Alaska. I think that’s about 1,500 miles away,” says Garrett. “So, it’s way far away from home.”
The last documented beluga whale sighting in Puget Sound was in 1940.
Anyone who sees the whale should give it plenty of room but Garrett says they’d like pictures and video.
If you see a beluga, you can email pictures and video to info@orcanetwork.org.
Listen to the full interview with Garrett on our Podcast page.