📸 First photo: Four transient killer whales — including a calf — were seen swimming out of the Yaquina River toward the ocean on May 10. Photographer Jaklyn Larsen captured the moment as the pod surfaced together near Yaquina Bay. 📸 Second photo: On April 21, Larsen photographed a lone transient orca known as T051, or Roswell, swimming more than a mile up the Siuslaw River. Roswell, a large adult male in his 40s, typically ranges between British Columbia and Alaska. He made headlines in 2023 after he and another orca were trapped in a remote Alaska lake for 44 days before escaping. Both encounters highlight a growing number of orca sightings along the Oregon coast — many of them captured by everyday observers. These are transient killer whales, also known as Bigg’s orcas. Unlike the salmon-eating southern residents, transients hunt seals, sea lions and even other whales. They don’t follow fixed migratory paths but travel where the food is. More whales in Oregon? Maybe. But more pe...