Maxx | M/V Kestrel | August 31st 2024 | 2:00pm
Kestrel’s second tour of the day was incredible. The family of three Bigg’s Killer whales, the T018s, continued thy journey around Lopez and had now made their way up to Orcas islands eastern coastline. We found them by the Peapod islands and were almost immediately greeted with a spy hop (when a whale propels its face vertically out of the water) as birds buzzed around them. I only assume that this family was once again, feeding.
The T018s are currently a set of three whales:
Galiano and Spouter are young sons, 29 and 23 respectively. I reckon these are potentially some of the largest killer whales we can see in this region. Galiano in particular is an absolute behemoth, he must be at least 25 feet long and 10,000 lbs. His younger brother is no small fry either. Spouters dorsal stands proudly at an easy 5 feet.
Their mom is Nootka, T019. From my observations, she is an incredible mother, educator and very capable hunter. This family is notorious in this region for being formidable hunters, often foraging for ever abundant harbor seals though they have also been witnessed taking down Minke whales in the waters of the Juan de Fuca. Mind you, minke whales can reach lengths of up to 35 feet and weigh an astounding 20,000 pounds so successfully hunting one of them is no small effort and requires tremendous tact and skill.
This tenacious family is typically led by T018, Esperanza. While she was absent from our visit today, this roughly 70 year old grandmother deserves ample credit for the success of her small family. As we know, Orcas are typically led by the oldest female in the family. She acts as the beacon of all cultural knowledge, teaching her descendants how to hunt, where to find that food, potentially who to mate with, and so on. Given how long their territorial range extends (SE Alaska potentially down to Northen California) I imagine they’re guiding their families on “road trips,” pit stopping at familiar regions. The scope of her impact extends beyond our understanding so far, and truthfully, we may never know just how impactful these matriarchs truly are. What we do know, is that matriarchs are essential leaders of their families and have even evolved as such- Killer Whales are one of three species we know to go through menopause.
We left the T018s at Barnes and Clarke island and made our way back to Friday Harbor as the sun began its descent over Vancouver island. Thanks to all who came out on the tour today- that was truly an incredible trip!