Orcas Return to Central Oregon Coast on Mother's Day - with a Baby Killer Whale

Published 05/13/25 at 7:25 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Newport, Oregon) – Once again, killer whales hit the limelight in the ocean off Oregon, this time wandering into Yaquina Bay and close to Depoe Bay. (Orca sighting last month from Dockside Charters, Depoe Bay)

As if to make the appearance even more noteworthy, the pod of orcas showed up with one of their babies – on Mother's Day.

The first sighting was on Friday about 20 miles offshore of Astoria. That report had them chasing dolphins.

On Sunday, the social media bandwidth along the central Oregon coast was buzzing with sightings of this group of three to five from the transient group. The FB and research group Oregon Coast Killer Whale Monitoring Program lit up with posts on Sunday, May 11 as well as numerous outlets on social.

Click to see photos of this event from Jacklyn Larsen.

See photos of them in Newport.

They were ID'd by the group's leader, Canadian researcher Josh McInnes, as mammal-eating killer whales from at least two pods that are known to show up on the Oregon coast. One is from the group known as the “Coos Bay Killers,” which showed up here in mid April. The latter group was the pod that killed the gray whale calf in 2023 in a much-publicized incident.

From the April sighting in Florence - Jaklyn Larsen Photography

At least three others – including the baby killer whale – were from another pod. According to McInnes, the male from the Coos Bay Killers spotted on Sunday appears to wander off with different pods.

On Mother's Day, they first caused a stir around Rocky Creek State Scenic Wayside and Cape Foulweather near Depoe Bay a little after 7 a.m. By early afternoon, McInnes said they were “foraging” in Yaquina Bay at Newport, wandering quite a ways inside the bay. Some reports had them nearly upriver.

Donate to the killer whale research group

By 7 p.m., they had made it out to sea again and were zipping northward.

Video of them is rather spectacular, showing them popping up and plowing back down as they zoom through the waters. The baby killer whale is the cutie-pie of the bunch and a fan favorite on social. Many photos and video show the pod quite well.

From 2023: an incredible sighting on the south coast from Brookings Charters

Given the calm conditions of the Oregon coast in recent days and for the next few days, it should be decent weather to continue to see the orcas if they remain close to shore.

Killer Whale Sightings Making Big Splash on Oregon Coast - And It's the Apex Predators

If they're still heading north or turned southward once more is impossible to predict. However, it simply means orca-spotting season is not done yet in the region.

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Photo Josh McInnes

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