The Whale Trail project, funded in part by a $20,000 award from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Neighborhood Matching Fund,  is a collaboration of community folks in West Seattle who are devoted to building community and public awareness around the whales (Orcas) that inhabit the Puget Sound.  The project focuses on public education, signage, stewardship training and oral history podcasts to attract public interest in the work.

The group recently co-hosted an event at the Alki Bathhouse to welcome the Orcas back to their winter range. From the opening songs of the Duwamish group “Singing Feet”, to the boy who came dressed as an orca, it was a well-attended and inspiring day.

The southern resident Orcas are endangered, and could go extinct in as little as 100 years. Living in the urban heart of their range, Seattle residents can make a huge difference in whether these whales survive. The group’s goal is to inspire that awareness, and provide the tools to make it happen.