Kelly | M/V Osprey | Friday, June 27th 2025 | 12:30 PM
As the years progress, we are seeing more and more Biggs Killer whales in the Salish Sea! This means that with every year, we are introduced to new Biggs killer whale families as they start to explore this nutrient rich interisland sea. One of these new families to me is the T46C's, one of two families we encountered on todays Classic Tour!
We started the trip turning north up San Juan Channel and into Spiedan Channel, stopping briefly to look mouflan sheep peppering the dry hillsides. We quickly slipped over the Canadian border and began to see dorsal fins in the distance. Two families reported here included the T46C's and the T75C's made up of:
T046C/Carmanah — female, born in 1994
- T046C1/Tsunami — male, born in 2006
- T046C3/Razor — born in 2013
- T046C4/Hobi — born in 2018
- T046C5 — born in 2025
- T075C/Bam-Bam — female, born in 1998
- T075C3/Flint — born in 2021
- T075C4/Slate — born in 2023
The group was mixed up and spit into two distinct groups of 6 and 2 whales. We spent our time with the group of 6 that included the large male, T46C1 "Tsunami". This massive male has an incredibly distinct dorsal! You can clearly see to two notches on the lower half of his large 6ft dorsal fin. Another clear standout in this group was the newborn T46C5! That adorable yellow and black head sticking all the way out of the water with each surface. After leaving the whales we pointed south for a full San Juan circumnavigation! Stopping, of course, for those lovably rambunctious Steller sea lions on our way back to the harbor.