July 21, 2023: T46s | Strait of Juan de Fuca
Date: Friday July 21, 2023
Location: Strait of Juan de Fuca
Weather: Sunny, 63 degrees Fahrenheit with 8mph winds from W
Tide: Flood
Pods/Matrilines/Individuals: T46s
Total Whale Count: 3
Behaviors: Traveling
Boat Count: 2 (2 whale watch boats)
We took a trip out on the water with a local whale watch company, Outer Island Excursions, and sailed out of the Skyline Marina in Anacortes on the afternoon trip. We were excited to learn that the T46s were in the area. Despite their repeated presence in the Salish Sea, we at Orca Conservancy haven’t seen them in a few years, so we were excited to see this matriline.
Typically, this matriline is seen in the springtime in northern Puget Sound, around the same time as the gray whale season. Throughout the summer, they come and go throughout areas of the Salish Sea.
On the way out from the marina, we stopped at Bird Rocks and saw some harbor seals hauled out thermoregulating. From there it was a short ride to the location of the T46s, who were South of San Juan Island in the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
When we arrived, there were only three individuals present, T122 Centeki, T46E Thor, and T46F Loki. T46D Strider was not present during our encounter, but he had been seen earlier that day with the group. The mother and the matriarch T46 Wake was not present during this encounter and had not been seen earlier in the day. According to our sources, T46 has not been seen since March. We are waiting for the official population census update from Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to confirm the status of T46.
During our encounter, we had a direct westerly wind along with a flood tide that was producing a sizeable swell with roughly 3 to 5ft waves, making viewing and photographing/filming the whales quite tricky. We were able to get some good looks at T46E, whose body size made him easy to see amongst the swell. The other two whales, T122 (female) and T46F (young sprouting male) were sometimes hard to see behind cresting waves which concealed the two who have much shorter dorsal fins and are smaller in size compared to T46E.
The whales appeared to be traveling north towards Haro Strait. For most of the encounter, the whales would take about 3 short surfaces followed by a deep dive of about 5 minutes. At one point, the whales seemingly vanished for over 10 minutes. All the passengers had been viewing from the starboard side, when after a long time of searching, T46E surfaced close to the vessel on the port side. Towards the end of the encounter, we continued to view the whales off the port side with the Olympic Peninsula and the Olympic mountains in the background which made for some great photos.
Once we left the whales, we sailed to Smith Island, which is part of the San Juan Island National Wildlife Refuge, in search of Tufted Puffins. The Smith and Minor Islands Aquatic Reserve sits about five miles off the west side of Whidbey Island and is 36,308 acres. Smith Island has the largest bull kelp bed in Washington State. On the west end of the island are tall sandy bluffs where many species of sea birds nest, including the only colony of Tufted Puffins in the San Juans. The puffins can usually be seen floating off the kelp bed, diving into the water in search of fish. Because of their small size, they can be tricky to spot, especially in bigger swells. They can be identified by their black bodies with white faces, bright orange bills, and yellow tufts on the top of their heads. We saw 6+ puffins as well as multiple other bird species including rhinoceros auklets. Outside of viewing orcas, puffins are one of our favorite species to see, and in this area can only be seen from the boat.
After viewing the puffins, we sailed east to the Deception Pass Bridge and traveled below it. On the east side of the bridge, there was a bald eagle perched in a tree. After viewing the eagle for a few minutes, we headed back west below the bridge and back to the marina.
T46s: *T46 Wake (female ≤ 1966), T122 Centeki (female b. 1982), *T46D Strider (male b. 2000), T46E Thor (male b. 2003), T46F Loki (male b. 2012)
*Indicates individual was not present during encounter
Learn more about the T46s and other matrilines on our Transient page.
Download the free Department of FIsheries Canada Bigg’s Transients ID guide
