Kelly | M/V Osprey | April 20th, 2026 | 1:30pm
We left Friday Harbor with nothing but a solo whale report potentially too far into Canadian water for our boat to transit. Wasting no time, we began our journey heading north in San Juan Channel, quickly slipping into President's Channel. As we cruised into the bigger body of water between Waldron and Sucia island, I heard chatter on the our local radio- fellow naturalist Abby spotted something in the distance! Through Binoculars and with Abby's guidance, Captain Vaun and scanned at 1 o'clock. It didn't take long for dorsal fins to appear! Two miles in the distance, just off Patos Islands shoreline, there was a group of Biggs killer whales! Kudos to Abby for saving the day! It was quickly starting to look like we were not going to make it up to the original report. Shortly after arriving on scene, we were able to identify this family group as the T49a's. Consisting of:
-T049A/Nan — female, born in 1986
- T049A3/Nat — male, born in 2011
- T049A4/Neptune — male, born in 2014
- T049A5/Nebula — female, born in 2017
- T049A6/Charlie II — male, born in 2022
- T049A7* — born in 2026
It is hard to say with 100% certainty what exactly killer whales are doing at any point, most of their life occurs underwater. We are only treated to a small fraction of the complex lives they lead by the clues we get at the surface. Based on context clues, I believe that we found these whales at the tale end of a hunt. Many sea birds and a pair of bald eagles were extremely interested in the commotion underwater as the family milled in different directions. We watched many tail slaps and lunges at the surface. Just as we thought the action was over and the family was continuing their transit, 3 full breaches! After reviewing photos, I believe this whale was T49A5 "Nebula". Perfect end to our exciting encounter! Shout out to all-star Abby for finding these whales!!