It’s been a busy, busy time for Blue Kingdom crew AND wildlife sightings around the central Salish Sea! Because of this, we bring you TWO weeks worth of sighting updates from our trips out on the water! This report covers trips that occurred from July 13th through July 26th.
Often in late July, humpbacks begin really stepping into the proverbial spotlight, and we sometimes see a temporary dip in how many Bigg’s killer whales peruse the central portion of the Salish Sea. Whether preferentially because of harbor seal pupping and weaning season happening in other places along the coast and in the northern portion of the Salish Sea, we aren’t 100% sure.
Nonetheless, Bigg’s killer whales that were sighted on our tours around the central Salish Sea the past two weeks include: T30A and T30C (2), T35As (with a new calf, likely the first for T35A1 at 16 years old!) traveling with the T38As (9), T37 traveling with T34As and T34B (4), T37A with T37A1 and T37A2 (3), the T37Bs (3), T38C and T38E (2), T77C & T77E (2), T100s (3), T109As (6), and the T123s (4) for a total of 38 individuals. The T77 duo and the T38 duo made up a large portion of our sightings, with the 77 brothers being quite playful on a few of our encounters.
Our humpback numbers were certainly UP over the last two weeks! It has been a treat to see some “familiar flukes.” Humpbacks can be encountered on solo feeding ventures, but we sometimes also see a pair or even several traveling together for a short period of time. One encounter consisted of a trio that really delighted guests with their tight surfacings, some playful rolling, and a couple of “grumping” noises made as they exhaled. The trio consisted of BCZ0298 “Split Fin,” BCX1251 “Orion,” and BCY0770 “Gibbous.” Other humpbacks encountered were: MMX0099 “Gretzky, BCX1057 “Divot” and her 2026 calf, BCX1795 “Scuttle,” BCX1878 “Exclamation,” BCX2488 “Rumble,” CRC-22921 known currently as the 2025 calf of Olympus, BCX2081 “Bandit,” BCY1289 “Monsoon,” and several other humpbacks that do not currently have nicknames – CRC23509, CRC-19815, CRC-16719, CRC-22144, and HW-MN0510926. This makes for 17 different humpbacks, which is incredible over the span of 14 days.
We also had several encounters that included minke whales, a sea otter, and some ochre sea stars (when the tide was right). Steller sea lions and harbor seals continue to be seen on almost every tour, and some of the harbor seal pups are beginning to look much bigger than just a couple weeks ago. A beautiful time to be out and about on the Salish Sea, indeed!
We look forward to what this next week has to offer!
