Sightings Report: T123s April 18th, 2022
Date: Monday, April 18th, 2022Location: West Seattle, (Beach Drive, SW and Lincoln Park)Weather: Raining 48 degrees Farenheight with 3mph winds from E/NETide: FloodPods/Matrilines: T123sTotal Whale Count: 4Behaviors: Hunting and foraging, and travelingBoat Count: 2 (1 recreational vessel, 1 Washington State ferry)
This was both a very exciting and wet day! The Orca Conservancy Board Secretary MK was visiting from out of state, and this was her last day in Washington. After a fundraising meeting, we got report of a pod of killer whales, the T123s, heading south in Seattle. Since the orcas were traveling south, we knew we might be able to catch up to them without risking MK missing her flight home. We hopped in our cars and headed out to West Seattle, contemplating where we thought we could best intercept them. We started at Lincoln Park, but to save time to intercept them, we decided to venture a bit north in the Alki area. MK was the hero of the day spotting them from her car. We pulled over on Beach Rd. Drive SW, just south of Alki Beach and watched the orcas swim by.The T123s consist of T123 “Sidney” (37-year-old female), T123A “Stanley” (22-year-old male), T123C “Lucky” (10-year-old female), and T123D “Darcy” (4-year-old female).Prior to our arrival, the T123s had been traveling with T124C "Cooper", a 30-year-old male, but he ended up turning a different direction while the T123s continued southbound. The T123s had first appeared in Puget Sound Proper on Saturday May 16th along with T124C. He spent three days traveling with the T123s in Puget Sound prior to departing, after which it is unknown where he ventured to.During our encounter we observed some hunting behaviors and traveling. Due to the weather, there were very few boats on scene. A private vessel passed through the area the orcas were traveling, and there was a Washington State ferry traveling to the south. All vessels remained over 300 yards distance and followed Whale Wise Guidelines. No research or enforcement vessels were present.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_BoS8efstc
