We had another exciting week on the water around the central Salish Sea, seeing whales on all our trips this week. They really took us the distance on some of these trips, and there were several trips that really stood out.
This week we encountered humpbacks, grays, and Bigg’s killer whale families the T65As, T65Bs, T86A1s, T87, T100s, T124A2’s, and a “new-to-us” group, the T23Cs. The T23Cs are more often seen around SE Alaska, the northern coast of British Columbia, and around the north end and central-west side of Vancouver Island, so it was a treat to have their group of 5 in our area this week!
Humpback whale CRC-19888 Schooner cruised north through Rosario Strait; we had several “Sounders” gray whales down in Possession Sound, but also spent time with two gray whales just south of Orcas Island that may be beginning to move further north into their Bering Sea summer feeding grounds. We’re noticing a shift in abundance of Steller sea lions as well, with many of the big males already absent—likely pushing out to coastal rookeries where breeding and birthing take place.
Our most memorable trip happened on Mother’s Day, Sunday May 11th, and I couldn’t be happier for all the mothers on board, as well as our first-time-to-see-orcas-in-the-wild whale watchers. It was a trip that one might call a whale-a-palooza!
First, we spent some time with two humpbacks in Rosario Strait who turned out to be BCY1225 “Scuba” and BCX1416 “Phi.” Then, breaking away to head north to a killer whale report, we didn’t make it far before stumbling onto our own group of three killer whales heading south in Bellingham Channel. Big male T100C helped us to quickly identify the group as the T100s (group of 3 including his mom and sibling), and folks on board had their FIRST orca sighting of the day. These whales were moving south at a decent clip and being a little cryptic, so after several surfacings with them, we turned to make our way to the first report we had received.
After a twenty minute transit, just on the other side of Guemes Island, a group of 6 orcas were spread out with a very iconic male bringing up the rear: T87 “Harbeson.” Born around ~1962, he is currently the oldest cataloged male orca in this population. Those onboard were thrilled to make his acquaintance and watch as the other 5 whales (T86A1s and T124A2’s) began a ramp up to take down a harbor seal. Splashing, thrashing, tail slapping, cartwheeling, and breaching
ensued! As gulls began to circle overhead, and several whales were surfacing facing each other, we knew they had their meal. They made quick work of their prey and began to travel in the direction of our marina, taking us back the way we’d started. All in all, a very memorable day with 2 whale species, 11 individuals in total!
