What is going on in the water of Puget Sound that has whales trying to leave it for dry ground?The latest whale to reject the sound is a 38-40 gray whale.
He or she first beached itself at 2 beaches near Everett.
The whale was returned to the sound, but has now come ashore again, at Mission Beach on the Tulalip Reservation.
Tulalip Tribal police boats have set up a protection zone around the beached whale, keeping whale looky-loos at a distance, so rescue workers could work. Before the Tribal police moved to protect the whale, people were coming up to it in boats and kayaks.
Yesterday, when the tide hit its lowest point, the whale was completely out of the water. When the tide came in again the whale was still partly out of the water. Workers kept hosing the beached whale with water to keep its exposed to the sun back wet.
The whale shows signs of trying to move back into the water and is not thrashing, so far, in panic mode.
In a strange side note, in my current location in the Dallas/Fort Worth zone, area lakes do not appeal to me, due to things like water moccasins and garfish. And giant catfish.
However, in Washington, I never worried about swimming in Puget Sound, with whales, orcas, giant octupus, crabs, sharks, sea lions and seals. I guess, maybe, it's because all those Puget Sound sea critters mind their own business, while you really don't want to cross paths with a water moccasin when you are in a Texas lake.
I hope the Tulalip whale changes its mind about moving to land and happily swims off again into the Puget Sound.
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