Olivia Ellman | M/V Sea Lion | September 20th, 2024 | 12:30 pm
Nobody could have predicted the crazy trip ahead of us as we left Friday Harbor on our afternoon Classic Whale Watch! We had reports of some killer whales traveling interisland, so we began by heading around Turn Island and stopping to look at some harbor seals before continuing east. We traveled in between Shaw and Lopez Islands, and soon saw a group of boats ahead of us rounding into East Sound of Orcas Island. As we approached the scene, we soon saw a number of dorsal fins in the area. There ended up being six Bigg’s Killer Whales here, consisting of the two brothers Onca (M, 20) and Lynx (M, 16) of the T60 matriline and the T137 matriline with mom Loon (F, 47), Jack (M, 22), Tempest (F, 18), and Wright (F, 12). The whales were quite spread out to start, but the fun was just beginning! Jack and Lynx were traveling together, and soon began to get a bit splashy with some tail lobs and upside-down swimming. At the same time, we saw some splashes coming from the distance in the group of the other four. Soon both groups were heading towards each other, which was also right towards us, so we got great looks as they approached a bit closer. However, the groups remained separate and we quickly realized they were split into three different groups of two: Jack and Lynx, Loon and Wright, and Onca and Tempest.
Jack and Lynx were quite close as they continued to roll around at the surface, giving us fantastic looks at their tails and even a surprise sea snake from Lynx! We didn’t know what was happening as they continued to splash and roll around behind our boat, and then they gave us an even better surprise as they slowly swam right past us! We could see them underneath the water, giving us amazing looks at their entire bodies – we truly could not believe our luck. The boys continued on past us, towards where Loon and Wright were still traveling together. In the distance, we could see more splashes coming from Onca and Tempest. While we cannot truly know what these whales were up to, the reality TV loving part of me wants to believe that Onca and Tempest were having some ~alone time~, while Loon was with her youngest daughter and the two other boys were having their own fun. Was Lynx jealous of his brother? Did Loon pick out Onca for Tempest? Will Tempest have a calf sometime in early 2026? As the excitement was coming to a close, it was soon time for us to make our way back towards Friday Harbor and ponder all of these questions and more. We may never know all of what happened today in East Sound, but stay tuned for a possible future calf and any more whale drama!
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