Lauren | M/V Osprey | Saturday, June 7th, 2025 | 12:30 PM
Today I had one of the most rewarding days of my career. I got to finally meet one of the whales I got to nickname! Each whale in the Coastal Biggs population gets an alphanumeric designation, along with a nickname. For the alphanumeric designation, each family gets a number and then it goes back-and-forth between letter and number based on lineage. For example, in this family of whales, the matriarch's designation is T036B. Which means her first born would be given the designation T036B1. The whales in this family are listed as follows:
- T036B/Tattertip — 27 yo (F)
- T036B1/Bhotia — 16 yo (F)
- T036B1A/Maple — 2025 calf (F)
- T036B2/Greenfelder — 12 yo (?)
- T036B4/Auk — 2024 calf (M)
- T036B1/Bhotia — 16 yo (F)
Tattertips mother, T036/Flapjack often travels with one of her daughter’s families, and she was with the T036B’s today. Alphanumeric designations can be confusing, and are also quite boring. Hence the nicknames! The Bigg’s get their nicknames from local industry folks. The captains, naturalists, researchers and biologists who work in this region all suggest names and then we take a vote.
When it was time to pick the name for T036B1A I put forth the name Maple. Not only is it a darling tribute to her great grandmother Flapjack. It is also to pay tribute to the iconic Bigleaf maple tree found at English Camp on San Juan Island. This tree used to be considered the largest Bigleaf maple in the world, that is until storm damage broke off several of its branches.
Well, the name Maple was just creative enough to get chosen. Born in 2025, T036B1A/Maple is one of the newest additions to the Coastal Bigg’s population, and I’ve been impatiently waiting to see her in the flesh!
The M/V Osprey left Friday Harbor, and headed south in San Juan Channel. We cruised by a large group of harbor porpoise just outside of Griffin Bay. We made a slow pass by Goose Island to look at several shore bird species before continuing on into the Strait of Juan De Fuca. This family of whales was found pretty far from us, near Victoria, British Columbia. Luckily they were moving in our direction. We began our long transit into Canadian waters. After crossing the border we were finally greeted by this family of whales.
We watched as the T036B’s zigged and zagged northeast where the Haro Strait and Strait of Juan De Fuca meet. These whales were changing direction frequently and would surface in different groupings after each deep dive. We got a fantastic look at grandma T036B/Tattertip traveling with little T036B4/Auk. Meeting Maple took my breath away! Lucky for us, the whales were moving in the direction of Friday Harbor so we got to stay with them longer than we had anticipated.
We waved goodbye to my new favorite family and headed back towards Friday Harbor. We made one last stop at Whale Rocks to view some hauled out Stellar Sea Lions before making our way back to the dock. I hope for more epic encounters with Miss Maple and the rest of the T036B’s!