PORT ANGELES — A pod of three orcas made a rare trip Tuesday afternoon into Port Angeles Harbor, trailed by about a dozen boats of whale watchers.
The marine mammals arrived at about 2 p.m. and were headed back into the Strait of Juan de Fuca two hours later.
Observers on land called the Coast Guard Group/Air Station Port Angeles and the Port Angeles Police Department, concerned that the boats had driven the orcas into shallow waters or had trapped them there.
But Coast Guard Operations Specialist 1st Class Ian Banks said the crew of a helicopter that was detoured over the area saw no boats within the 100-yard no-encroach zone set by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
A Coast Guard patrol boat also was sent to the area off the Rayonier pier to enforce both the no-encroach zone and a 400-yard no-wake zone that requires boats to reduce speed.
