Lauren | M/V Osprey | Monday, June 23rd, 2025 | 2:00 PM
The Bigg’s Killer Whale matriline the T049A’s is a group of 7 whales in total, but seeing all 7 traveling together is a rarity. The two eldest boys tend to travel solo, or with other relatives or non-related whales. This family includes:
- T049A/Nan — (F) 1986
- T049A1/Noah — (M) 2001
- T049A2/Jude — (M) 2007
- T049A3/Nat — (M) 2011
- T049A4/Neptune — (M) 2014
- T049A5/Nebula — (F) 2017
- T049A6/Charlie II — (M) 2022
Today was a very special day, because we were able to witness all but one of the T049A’s. T049A2/Jude was sadly not seen in the Salish Sea today. T049A2/Jude is always a cool whale to watch, as his dorsal fin has a significant lean to it, making him pretty identifiable… I will be (impatiently) waiting for my next encounter with him!
Our first wildlife sighting of the day happened just minutes after leaving the harbor. Captain Gabe spotted two bald eagles, perched high up on a tree near Point Caution. We admired these two majestic birds of prey before continuing north in San Juan Channel. Lucky for us, we knew of a whale report just minutes away from the harbor. We cruised northwest into Spieden Channel to meet up with the T049A’s. At this point, we did not know of the presence of T049A1/Noah. Mom and her youngest four could seemingly not make a decision on which way to go. They were changing direction with every surfacing. Eventually, these whales committed to a direction and started heading northeast towards Boundary Pass. We then got a report that T049A1/Noah was seen cruising into Spieden Channel from the Haro Strait just north of Henry Island. Was he trying to catch up with his family? Did the rest of the family even know he was there? We headed back west and watched as Noah swam tight to shore on the north side of San Juan Island. Eventually, Noah cut across Spieden Channel heading in the direction of his family. We were running out of time, so we unfortunately did not get to witness this family reunion, but fellow Pacific Whale Watch Association (PWWA) members notified us that Noah did eventually reunite with his family. Before heading back to Friday Harbor we did a quick shoreline cruise near Spieden to show our guests some Mouflon sheep. I hope the gang enjoyed their time with Noah.