Here’s our recap of whale sightings for this past week. We are enjoying the longer days that the end of spring brings as well as warming temperatures.
Between May 26th and June 1st, guests spent time with several different family groups of Bigg’s killer whales: the T46Bs, T65As, T68 and T75Bs, T73As, T85s, T100s, T117A with T117Bs and T172, T123s, T124Ds, and the T137s – roughly 44 different individuals spread across our tours!
This week, there was a noticeable increase in humpback activity as they are easting into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, some of which
continue north and are passing through Rosario Strait–not far from Skyline Marina! We spent some time with another prolific humpback mother, Zig Zag, and her 2025 calf near east Sooke, and then again a couple evenings later north of the Dungeness Spit area. Other humpbacks we saw this week were: Poptart, Achilles, Eros, Poseidon, and Sandstorm. A big, happy “welcome back” to these gentle giants.
Some notable sightings: while we encountered some Bigg’s matrilines traveling in their core family groups, we also had two instances where multiple families were grouped up and traveling together. The T46B family was with the T123s, and the matriarchs are probable sisters, making their meet-up a family social. They were joined a day later by the T73As, an assumed unrelated group that doesn’t spend as much time in the central Salish Sea. Seeing two large, adult male fins and several small fins all mixed in and traveling is always a lovely contrast.
We also encountered a trio of active humpbacks in Rosario Strait that didn’t mind the rainy, PNW morning we had–nor did our guests or crew while delighting in their social shenanigans. Achilles, Poseidon, and Poptart were rolling, waving their massive pectoral fins in the air, and occasionally throwing their flukes in cartwheels, providing a great case study in humpback whale anatomy. Guests were awed by their overall size, seeing much of their bodies at the surface during this encounter.
As always, we’ve cherished these small glimpses into the lives of these whales and are excited to see what this next week will bring us!
