Humpback Soup and the T49A Bigg's Orcas
10+ humpbacks and T49A Bigg's orcas! Thursday was one of those days where imagery doesn't quite do justice to what we saw on the water. Our Port Townsend half-day tour started the day off finding two minke whales (thanks to eagle-eyed passengers!) off of Eastern Bank. We then headed to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve near Victoria, B.C. in search of humpbacks. We arrived on-scene to see a pair of humpbacks as well as...the T49A family of Bigg's orcas. Great looks at that family, as you'll see in the first part of this video. But as we were watching the orcas, we could see humpbacks ALL around us. We headed towards Vancouver Island to get closer looks and for the next hour, it was whale soup!
At 1:14 in this video, the humpback action kicks into high gear. Your humble videographer had a tough time of it, as there were so many whales it was a bit like a dog seeing "SQUIRREL" everywhere! Where to point the camera?! Here-there-everywhere - literally every direction had humpbacks surfacing. At a certain point, we just had to put the camera down and marvel at it all. This time of year large numbers of humpbacks are busy feeding before resuming their migration journey. Some days, we see more than others - but Thursday was a bonanza. Apologies in advance for the many quick clips in this video - it might give you a flavor for what it was like out there.
Our Edmonds tour also saw minkes, orcas, and humpbacks on Thursday...but all of them south of Edmonds in Puget Sound! Glorious.
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We have been seeing a lot of the T65B pod in the last few weeks. Here is a video compilation of this family of 4 including T65B, Chunk, T65B1 Birdsall, T65B2 Corvus/Nettle, and T65B3 (no name yet). This video has no sound. Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon Bart Rulon Art & Photography
Bigg's Orca Superpod + Lunge-feeding Humpback! Our tours had a special day on the waters west of Victoria, BC on Sunday, watching a Bigg’s orca superpod (T49As, T35As, T65Bs, T46B1s, and T46C2), along with a lunge-feeding humpback near Race Rocks Ecological Preserve. An unusual encounter and a day to remember for sure.
The T137 pod has been swimming around in Puget Sound since Wednesday, October 2, and they have a fun tag-along with them -T65A5 'Indy'! Indy is a unique 10 year old male killer whale that spends more time away from his family than he does with them. He often drifts around by himself or teams up with orcas from other pods. Watch to end in this video to see Indy slapping his tail flukes after the pod of 5 caught a harbor seal in Saratoga Passage on Oct 3! Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon Bart Rulon Art & Photography
T99 Bigg's Orcas Hunting a Seal near Whidbey Island
A "National Geographic" type of moment took place on Friday afternoon on our Edmonds half-day whale watching tour when the T99 family of Bigg's orcas took down a seal in a dramatic fashion off the coast of Whidbey Island. Bigg's orcas are apex predators, and frequently their hunts happen underwater. Not this time! We often see orcas play with their prey instead of immediately ending things - note that the final half of this video shows that behavior (nothing too gnarly, but we were really feeling for that poor seal). Video captured by Captain Brian and Naturalist Tony. (The video has no sound)
Why do orcas slap their tail flukes on the surface of the water? Tail slapping, sometimes referred to as a lobtail or tail lob, is one of the most frequent behaviors we see with orcas in the Salish Sea, but what does it mean? While there is no definitive answer to that question, we can at least draw some theories through many years of observation over a myriad of different circumstances. Scientists have already figured out that tail slaps and pectoral fin slaps can be a means of communication between whales. What they are trying to say to each other is usually a mystery though, but the circumstances associated with the behaviors can at least give us some clues. For instance, we frequently see tail slaps when orcas are in a playful mood, maybe after eating a meal, and it seems obvious that the behavior might just be a playful gesture between pod members in that situation. Other times we have witnessed tail slaps that seem to be more forceful and rapid that might be sending a more aggressive message towards other whales. We’ve seen mothers use tail slaps as if to bring their calves back into line when they are horsing around, and we’ve seen orcas slap their tails rapidly at a boater that approached way too close, as if to say, back off.
There are certainly more questions than there are answers, and it is likely that the subtleties in the way an orca slaps his or her tail flukes on the surface might make all the difference in what it means to other whales. For instance, the sound and meaning of a inverted lobtail, or upside-down tail slap, might mean something completely different than a lobtail performed right-side up. We probably won’t ever completely understand some of these behaviors, but maybe that is one of the things that makes these wild animals so fascinating. Here is a video compilation of the T65A pod demonstrating the behavior after eating a meal. Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon
A humpback whale by the name of Orion (CRC-15262, BCX1251) has been spending a lot of time in Puget Sound lately and we are still seeing several different pods of Bigg's killer whales swimming in and out of our corner of the Salish Sea on most days. Here is a video compilation from the last few days of whale watching trips showing Orion and the T34/T37 pods. Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon
Bigg's Orca Socializing - T46Bs, T75, T75A
On 2024 World Orca Day, our Port Townsend and Edmonds tours had the privilege of observing the boisterous T46B family of Bigg's orcas, who were traveling with T75 (born in 1971) and her *large* son T75A (born in 1991). The youngsters in T46B pod were full of energy - breaching, tail-slapping and just generally cavorting! Bookending that encounter was humpback "Orion," who was traveling alone. Our goregeous summer weather appears to have no end in sight. What a treat!
Breaching Orion, with T65As
A bonkers whale day. Our Port Townsend and Edmonds half-day tours witnessed humpback "Orion" conduct a breach-fest. 42 breaches (we only included 20 in this video). This was preceded by robust pectoral fin-slapping alongside an unidentified colleague. Both tours also spent time with local faves, the T65A family of Bigg's orcas, joined by T37A1. Our Port Angeles tours encountered multiple *large* groupings of humpback whales (post on that coming soon!). Quite a day. (Note, this video is slightly longer than normal; most of the T65A footage starts at 3:27)
We have been seeing lots of humpback feeding action lately, and its always exciting when it happens near the surface. Sometimes the humpbacks find food way down deep, but when its right at the surface we get a chance to see how they feed. In this encounter, on June 15, there was a huge school of krill we could see from the boat and this humpback whale was doing a great job of gulping them all up. It was a great opportunity for our passengers to see what lunge feeding is all about. You can even see the plates of baleen hanging down from the roof of the mouth in this slow-motion footage that has no sound. Photographer/ Naturalist Bart Rulon.
