May 1, 2023: T Party | Edmonds, WA
Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023
Location: Mouth of the Strait of Georgia (between Point Roberts, US and Pentos Island, CA).
Weather: Raining, 54 degrees Fahrenheit with 4mph winds from N
Tide: High
Pods/Matrilines: T65As, T75Bs, T99s, and the T123s
Total Whale Count: 12 (estimated based on individuals present)
Behaviors: Traveling, socializing
Boat Count: 0
The morning started out with multiple reports of orcas within Puget Sound proper. A large group of orcas containing individuals from multiple matrilines (T75Bs, T99s, and T123s) were traveling north from Seattle towards Possession Triangle. There were also reports of another group of orcas traveling south in Admiralty inlet that were confirmed to be the T65As.
At some point in the day, both the southern and northern groups met up and traveled north together. We were able to catch up with both groups in Edmonds, Washington. We started our search at Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, and after an hour of searching were not able to locate the whales. There were other people seeing the whales mid-channel from this location, but with the orcas continuing to travel northbound, we decided to relocate to a smaller park further north to get fresh eyes and hopefully be able to get some looks.
We relocated to Kayu Kayu Ac and from there with the help of the people already viewing the orcas we were able to see them. The whales were still about mid-channel from us, but we were able to get a few positive IDs on some of the individuals including T123A Stanley, T65A2 Ooxjaa, T65A3 Amira, and T65A Artemis. During the time we watched the whales, they appeared to be traveling and socializing. We saw a lot of intermixing of the different matrilines, play behaviors with the young whales, and a few tail slaps and spy hops. The whales were broken off into small subgroups, with two of the males, T123A and T65A2 trailing in the back, and T65A3 in front of them. Once they reached Possession Triangle, the angled north into Admiralty inlet and re-grouped.
What was really exciting for us, is this was the first time we had seen the T65As with the T123s. We have a running joke within our organization that the T65As are the social butterflies of the transient killer whale population. Every spring and summer they are seen traveling with different matrilines. When they first returned to the Salish Sea last year, we saw them spend multiple weeks traveling with the T64Bs who are rare visitors to this area. The previous year we had seen them spend some time with the T18s, and the year prior they had spent a good amount of time traveling with the T137s.
The T65As also appear in the Salish Sea and Puget Sound at the same time of year, just like clockwork. In fact, the day prior to this encounter, Executive Director Shari Tarantino asked if the 65As had been seen yet, to which I replied, “Well it’s almost May, they should be here any day now.” The day following, May 1st, was the first report of the T65As showing up in Puget Sound. We sometimes joke that one could even set the clocks to the T65As.
T65As: T65A "Artemis" (female b. 1986) and her offspring, T65A2 "Ooxjaa" (male b. 2004), T65A3 "Amira" (male b. 2007), T65A4 "Ellifrit" (female b. 2011), *T65A5 "Elise" (male b. 2014) and T65A6 "Callisto" (female b. 2018)
T75Bs: 75B “Pebbles” (female b. 1995), T75B2 “Jasper” (sex unknown b. 2015), T75B3 “Rubble” (sex unknown b. 2017), and T75B4 (sex unknown, b. 2021).
T99s: T99 “Bella” (female b. 1984), T99B “Holly” (female b. 2007), T99C “Barakat” (male b. 2009), T99D “Puck” (male b. 2015), and T99E (female b. 2021).
T123s: T123 “Sidney” (female b. 1985), T123A “Stanley” (male b. 2000), T123C “Lucky” (female b. 2012), and T123D “Darcy” (female b. 2018).
* Denotes individual was not present during encounter
Learn more about the matrilines on our Transient killer whale page
Download the free Department of FIsheries Canada Bigg’s Transients ID guide
