July 21st, 2022
Abby Dahl
2pm M/V Sea Lion
Captain Erick and I chugged out of a busy Roche Harbor, with our sights set on a humpback whale just north of Stuart Island on the Canadian border. We cruised by some thermoregulating harbor seals and their newborn pups, with the sun glistening off the calm waters of Spieden Channel. When we got to the humpback whale identified as the female “Fallen Knight,” we had some great looks and some beautiful tail flukes.
Upon leaving the scene and already having a great whale watch thus far, we decided to head back in the direction we came with a stop at Mandarte Island, which hosts a beautiful bird colony. While on that transit, I heard the adorable little nine-year-old on the boat say, “there’s orcas over there!” I couldn’t believe my ears; there had not been any killer whales identified in our range for the day. Then a large, rounded dorsal fin pierced the water, and I knew the boy was right. Everyone on the boat cheered and had grins as big as the dorsal fin, it seemed.
I pulled out our ID catalog and began searching. At that time, we were the only boat on scene. I flipped through each page in search of a rounded male dorsal fin that fit the description of what I was seeing. I finally landed on the T069’s, a matriline of four:
- T069 “Komox” (Female born in 1974)
- T069C “Kye” (Male born in 1995)
- T069E “Kodiak” (Unknown gender, born in 2004)
- T069F “Kin” (Unknown gender, born in 2010)
The reason the alphanumeric designations are skipped among the kiddos of this bunch is because one of Komox’s offspring has died, and the other two are adult females who travel with their own children as their own matrilines. Komox in total has 12 living direct descendants! Mama has been busy building this family!
We had spy hops, tail slaps, and predatory behavior all in one unexpected viewing of these killer whales. What a treat!
Thank goodness for a child’s eyes, who are so optimistic, detailed, and less jaded than those of an adult. Sometimes it takes a child’s perspective and unrelenting energy to pick out the dorsal fins that hide among the bright waters and rocky shoreline. Denver gave us more than whales to watch that day; he gave us all back a sense of our childhood curiosity and wistfulness, and a nostalgia reminiscent of the first time I ever saw killer whales, which was right here in the San Juan Islands.