SEATTLE — Three orcas not previously recorded in the Seattle area visited waters just off downtown Seattle this past month, according to researchers who track killer whale populations in the region. The same pod also cruised by other shorelines across the broader Salish Sea.

The pod consists of an adult female and two presumed offspring, including a large young adult male. The three orcas have been designated T419, T420 and T421, with the "T" indicating that they are transient — a classification for killer whales that prey on marine mammals such as harbor seals, sea lions and porpoises, all of which are present in the Salish Sea. That diet distinguishes them from the salmon-eating resident orcas that inhabit the same waters.

Researchers maintain detailed records of killer whales in the Salish Sea by identifying individual animals through their dorsal fins and saddle patches. Using those identification methods, researchers located photos of the pod in Alaskan waters in 2025, according to Shari Tarantino, a researcher at the Orca Conservancy. The three orcas were subsequently recorded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in March 2026 before their arrival off Seattle.

"We don't know their exact origin with 100% certainty yet, but the leading hypothesis is that they're from Alaska, possibly the Aleutian region, given their appearance and the fact that some Alaskan populations range widely across the North Pacific," Tarantino wrote in an email.

The visiting orcas bear circular scars from cookie-cutter sharks on their bodies. Cookie-cutter sharks inhabit open ocean waters and attach to larger marine animals, removing circular chunks of flesh. The presence of those scars on the pod members is consistent with time spent far from coastal waters before the orcas entered the Pacific Northwest.

"They have quickly become a crowd favorite. People spend a lifetime hoping to see a killer whale from shore, and these three have more than delivered," Tarantino wrote.

Hongming Zheng, an amateur whale photographer, described the experience of observing the pod near the Seattle waterfront. "It was epic," Zheng said. "People ... are all very happy to see this," he added.