2026年4月6日 / 美国东部时间早上6:27 / 哥伦比亚广播公司/美联社
游客前往西雅图时，通常会从普吉特湾俯瞰太空针塔和市中心天际线。
这群新近抵达的虎鲸似乎也遵循了这条游览路线。
过去一个月里，三头此前从未在西雅图海域被记录到的虎鲸多次在市中心附近海域现身，让观鲸爱好者欣喜不已。它们还在该区域其他海岸线附近巡游过。
“大家看到它们都特别开心，”业余时间拍摄鲸鱼的郑洪明说道。为了找到这群神秘虎鲸，他开车奔波了10个小时。“这次经历太震撼了。”
这张由郑洪明提供的照片显示，2026年3月26日，一群此前从未在西雅图地区被观测到的虎鲸在华盛顿州达什角附近游动，图中为其中两头虎鲸。郑洪明 / 美联社
研究人员通过识别虎鲸的背鳍和鞍状斑纹——即它们身体侧面的灰色印记，对出没于华盛顿州与加拿大之间的萨利希海的虎鲸进行详细记录。
因此，今年3月当这三头虎鲸群出现在不列颠哥伦比亚省温哥华时，所有人都感到意外。这三头虎鲸并未出现在当地鲸鱼的任何记录目录中。
总部位于华盛顿州的虎鲸保护组织的莎丽·塔兰蒂诺表示，经过一番排查，研究人员找到了去年在阿拉斯加海域拍摄到该虎鲸群的照片。这个虎鲸群包括一头成年雌性虎鲸，以及被认为是她的两头后代，其中一头是体型较大的年轻雄性虎鲸。
它们现已被命名为T419、T420和T421——其中的T代表“过境型”，而非“观光型”。
这群到访的虎鲸带有当地虎鲸没有的特征：被雪茄达摩鲨留下的圆形疤痕。这种鲨鱼会吸附在大型动物身上，撕下一块皮肉。这证明它们曾在开阔海域活动过，因为这类鲨鱼就栖息在那里。
“我们目前还无法百分百确定它们的确切起源，但根据它们的外形，以及部分阿拉斯加虎鲸种群会广泛活动于北太平洋海域这一事实，主流假说认为它们来自阿拉斯加，可能是阿留申群岛区域，”塔兰蒂诺在一封邮件中写道。
至于这三头虎鲸为何会远离栖息地数千公里，塔兰蒂诺表示，它们有可能是来“觅食研学”的。与依赖濒危鲑鱼为生的定居型虎鲸不同，这群虎鲸以海洋哺乳动物为食，而萨利希海中有大量港海豹、海狮和鼠海豚。
“它们很快就成了众人追捧的明星，”塔兰蒂诺写道。“人们一辈子都盼着能从岸边看到虎鲸，而这三头虎鲸可说是超额完成了期待。”
2026年4月1日周三，一头虎鲸在埃利奥特湾游动，背景是西雅图市中心天际线。直到本月早些时候三头虎鲸出现在不列颠哥伦比亚省和华盛顿州附近海域前，研究人员都未曾在该区域记录到这类虎鲸。曼努埃尔·巴尔德斯 / 美联社
近几个月来，西雅图海域的虎鲸被镜头捕捉到。去年11月，一名参加观鲸之旅的野生动物摄影师在西雅图附近海域拍摄到了虎鲸群捕猎海豹的精彩视频和照片，那只海豹最终只能爬到船尾才得以逃生。
2025年3月，一段视频记录下一群虎鲸在西雅图近海靠近岸边游动并捕猎鸟类的画面。
Mysterious pod of killer whales never seen before visits Seattle
April 6, 2026 / 6:27 AM EDT / CBS/AP
When tourists travel to Seattle, it’s common to take in the Space Needle and the downtown skyline from Puget Sound.
It’s an itinerary that a newly arrived pod of killer whales appears to be following too.
Three orcas that had not previously been recorded in the Seattle area have delighted whale watchers with several visits just off downtown this past month. They’ve also cruised by other shorelines in the region.
“People … are all very happy to see this,” said Hongming Zheng, who photographs whales in his spare time. It took him 10 hours of driving to find the mysterious pod. “It was epic.”
This photo provided by Hongming Zheng shows two killer whales, part of a pod of orcas that had not been seen in the Seattle region before, swimming near Dash Point, Wash., on March 26, 2026. Hongming Zheng / AP
Researchers keep detailed records of killer whales that frequent the Salish Sea, the waters between Washington state and Canada, by identifying their fins and saddle patches – the grayish markings on their sides.
So it was a surprise when this pod of three orcas showed up in Vancouver, British Columbia, in March. The three weren’t in any catalogs of local whales.
After some digging, researchers located photos of the pod in Alaska waters last year, said Shari Tarantino of the Washington-based Orca Conservancy. The pod includes an adult female and what are believed to be her two offspring, including a large young adult male.
They have now been designated as T419, T420 and T421 – the T standing for “transient,” not “tourist.”
The visiting orcas have something that local whales don’t: circular scars left by cookie-cutter sharks, which latch on to larger animals and slice a chunk off them. It was evidence they’ve spent time in the open ocean, because that’s where the sharks live.
“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.
As for why these three are thousands of miles from their home range? Tarantino said it’s possible they’re on a culinary field trip. This pod feeds on sea mammals – unlike the endangered salmon-eating resident orcas – and there are plenty of harbor seals, sea lions and porpoises in the Salish Sea.
“They have quickly become a crowd favorite,” Tarantino wrote. “People spend a lifetime hoping to see a killer whale from shore, and these three have more than delivered.”
A killer whale swims in Elliott Bay in front of the downtown Seattle skyline on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The orca is a part of a pod that had not been recorded by researchers in this region until this past month when three whales appeared in waters off British Columbia and Washington state. Manuel Valdes / AP
Orcas have been captured on camera in Seattle in recent months. In November, a wildlife photographer out on a whale watching trip in waters off the city captured dramatic video and photos of a pod of killer whales hunting a seal that survived only by clambering onto the stern of her boat.
In March 2025, video captured a pod of orcas swimming close to shore in Seattle and hunting a bird.
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