Lauren | M/V Kestrel | September 21st, 2024 | 2:00 pm
The T049 matriline owned the inter-island zone today. Reports were coming in with members from this famous family along multiple sides of Lopez Island. T049C was headed north in San Juan Channel, T049A1 was heading south in Rosario Strait and the rest of the T049A1’s (minus T049A2/Jude) were hanging out in Thatcher Pass! Captain Eric and I were excited to get on the water for this T049 family affair, but where to begin? T049C/Nielson made that an easy choice as he was passing Friday Harbor as we left the dock. We caught up with this 26-year-old male killer whale in San Juan Channel. Once on scene Nielson made a hard left and crossed the channel, heading right into Friday Harbor! We only see whales swimming through the harbor a handful of times a year, so this encounter was extra special. We observed Nielson as he swam right past the Friday Harbor ferry dock and continued south around Brown Island. As Nielson was about to exit the harbor, we witnessed a huge splash! The splash was followed by a behavior known as “milling” where Nielson was non-directional diving, circling a bit. It sure had seemed like he killed something, but it was almost too swift to believe. Sure enough, a few moments later a swarm of birds came in and started picking pieces of meat off the waters surface. Nielson was clearly successful in his endeavors. It only felt right to leave this encounter on a high note and go catch up with a different part of the T049 family. We cruised through Upright Channel and down into Lopez Sound, eventually making our way through Thatcher Pass, where the majority of the T049A’s were still hanging out. We caught up with T049A/Nan and her four youngest kiddos as they made their way south down the Decatur coastline. We ended our tour with a quick stop at Bird Rocks to look at some Double-Crested Cormorant nests, as well as some hauled out harbor seals and Steller’s Sea Lions. Big boy T049A1/Noah had already made his way into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, so we missed out and getting to see him. What a wonderful day with this incredible family of whales. I wonder what T049A2/Jude, Nans second oldest son was up to today? We missed you Jude, hope all is well buddy!