Haleigh | M/V Osprey | June 25, 2022 | 5:30 pm
Summer is finally here! We’re experiencing our first string of warm, sunny days now that the end of June is nearing and the whales were here for it, too! For today’s Classic Wildlife and Whale Watching tour, sunset edition, we left the dock to see the sun glowing on the water in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. We detoured through Castle Island and McArdle Bay, a pristine inlet of steep cliffs, towering trees, and calm seas on the south end of Lopez. If this beautiful pocket of islands was the highlight of our tour, I would have been satisfied.
Luckily, we were able to follow up this detour with a sightings report of Bigg’s Killer Whales! The family was on the hunt when we arrived. Splashing from the distance followed by moments of tail lobs and belly rolls by the younger members of the families known as the T65A’s and T77’s. Here’s the whale family breakdown from our trip:
T65A - Artemis, 1986, F
T65A2 - Ooxja, 2004, M
T65A3 - Amira, 2007, M
T65A4 - Ellifrit, 2011, F
T65A5 - Elsie, 2014, M
T65A6 - Callisto, 2018, F
T77 - Asja, 1981, F
T77E - Misneach, 2016
The T65A’s are a special family for us because they were one of the first Bigg’s Killer Whale families to consistently utilize the Salish Sea as their home. We’ve seen them hunting together, traveling together, and socializing with other T’s (Transient Orcas AKA Bigg’s Killer Whales). For the T77’s we more often see Asja’s calves traveling separate from her, T77C and T77D. Tonight it was a treat to see the two families making their way through the waters together.
Following the encounter, we finished out our trip with a tour of the inter islands that hold a special magic at golden hour. Nothing makes me more excited than warm, sunset tours full of whales!