ILWACO — Photographer Jane Webb enjoyed a field day in more ways than one Wednesday, June 8, when she sighted whales from the vicinity of North Jetty in Cape Disappointment State Park.

“Spent three hours out there — spouts started dwindling so I guess they moved on. All along Benson Beach, one of the viewers said there must have been at least 10 whales. Feeding frenzy for birds, too,” Webb said Thursday. Benson Beach, named for an ocean liner that wrecked there, is the southernmost beach of the Long Beach Peninsula.

Whales have become a familiar sight in south Pacific County waters in recent years.

Eastern North Pacific gray whales make a 12,400 mile round trip between their southern breeding grounds off Baja California, Mexico and their northern feeding grounds off Alaska and the Beaufort Sea, according to the website whaleroute.com. The north-bound migration lasts from February until as late as July, with a few mainly younger whales dallying along the mainland U.S. coast on their way.

“That definitely looks like a gray whale to me. I don’t think it’s that unusual, particularly if it is one of the members of the resident gray whale population (which stay year round and do not migrate north to Alaska). Or it could just be a late straggler,” said Karlyn K. Langjahr, a manager at Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary.

Humpback whales also make epic migrations, and have been showing up around the mouth of the Columbia in growing numbers in recent years. In the summer and early fall of 2015, humpbacks followed small baitfish inside the Columbia, putting on a show around the Astoria-Megler Bridge.

Orcas, known as killer whales, are often sighted in local waters from fishing boats and even from shore. Southern Resident Killer Whales based in Washington state often visit the Columbia to hunt for Chinook salmon, their favorite food.

Blue and fin whales are occasionally present here, though typically out of sight of shore, feeding on small marine creatures that congregate above deep ocean canyons off the Washington coast.

In addition to the whales, Webb photographed brown pelicans and other birds and wildlife on or near the jetty. The jetty is not specifically designed for pedestrian access. Anyone choosing to climb on it should be extremely careful while clamoring on its huge boulders. Waves also impact local jetties. People have been killed while visiting these structures, which were built to help keep the river’s navigation channel open.