It was whale-watcher paradise at Bush Point during the weekend as the local mammal population continued its annual fall travels.

“I’ve never seen them that close,” Howard Garrett of Orca Network, the local marine animal tracking organization, said Monday.

“They were in the shallow area right in front of the lighthouse,” Garrett said of the group of 12 to 15 orcas showing off for the spectators late Saturday afternoon.

He said the Bush Point show, the first of the season, was part of an annual migration of 50 or more orcas that routinely head south, circling around Vashon Island looking for food.

Garrett said the whales were seen near Seattle’s Shilshole Bay Marina on Sunday, heading north again.

“They probably passed by here during the night,” he said. “We have some hydrophonic microphones set up at Port Townsend.”

Garrett said there’s a prime whale-viewing window for Whidbey Islanders from now through December.

The best place to watch?

“Anywhere there’s a view,” Garrett said. “From Possession Point to Double Bluff, to Bush Point, Fort Casey, Lagoon Point, any point.”

He said it’s difficult to predict where the whales are ultimately going in their eternal search for Chinook salmon.

“They often head for open ocean,” Garrett said. “They could go to California, or to northern British Columbia, but most likely they’ll head for the mouth of the Columbia River (between Washington and Oregon) looking for the Chinook moving upstream.”

He said the three resident orca pods have been visiting Whidbey Island for several years, and that whales in general have been cruising the area “for as long as there’s been a Chinook salmon, a lot longer than we’ve been here.”

Garrett said the current regular visitors number about 85, and that the population appears to have leveled off after a period of decline.

“We’d like to see the population get to about 100,” Garrett said, “but we’re pleased that it seems to have stabilized.”

He said the orcas remain on the federal Endangered Species List. “They’re still endangered all up and down the coast,” he said.

Garrett said the orca population began to dwindle at the same time the Chinook salmon population began to dwindle.

Meanwhile, Orca Network, based in Greenbank, continues to assist other regional agencies in conducting research to track the winter travels of the orcas.

This year, the group also is participating in marine-mammal monitoring in Admiralty Inlet as part of Snohomish Public Utility District’s tidal-energy pilot project.

The network particularly hopes to collect sightings of resident orcas, Steller sea lions and other marine mammals between Admiralty Head, Fort Flagler and Point Wilson, Garrett said.

He urged anyone spotting the mammals in those areas to call immediately, so that research boats can be launched to photograph the animals for study.

Garrett also urged anyone who sees the whales anywhere throughout the area to continue to report the sightings to the network, and to send along photos if they have them.

Call the Whale Sighting Network at 1-866-ORCANET toll-free, or call Garrett at 360-678-3451. Or e-mail info@orcanetwork.org, or visit the Orca Network Web site at www.orcanetwork.org.