Aly Liu | M/V Kestrel | June 26th, 2026 | 2:00 pm
The population of Bigg’s (Transient) killer whales in the Salish Sea is growing exponentially every year; sometimes you must only travel 15 minutes before spotting their blows!
After going north up San Juan Channel from Friday Harbor, we hung out with the T049A matriline of Bigg’s killer whales, including the following individuals:
T49A "Nan" (F) b. 1986
- T49A3 "Nat" (M) b. 2011
- T49A4 "Neptune" (M) b. 2014
- T49A5 "Nebula" (F) b. 2017
- T49A6 "Charlie ll" (M) b. 2022
- T49A7 "Nimbus" (?) b. 2026
I am not exaggerating when I say this was my favorite encounter of the season so far; these whales were in a very social mood, demonstrating a behavior called logging, in which the animal stops swimming and hangs out at the surface rather than diving back underwater between breaths. Watching the new calf born this year, Nimbus, play with his/her family and show off his/her golden-yellow calf-colors was truly heartwarming.
Remaining at a respectful distance from this family, we watched them circumnavigate Crane Island before another family joined the party…it was the T065Bs!
T65B "Chunk" (F) b. 1993
- T65B1 "Birdsall" (M) b. 2011
- T65B2 "Corvis" (M) b. 2019
- T65B3 "Rook" (M) b. 2023
We witnessed a beautiful phenomenon; the matrilines intermingled, swimming in slow circles with one another. The two oldest males from each matriline, Birdsall and Nat, were like two peas in a pod, and the sight of their two massive dorsal fins undulating at the surface next to one another was probably my favorite part.
With immense gratitude, we left the scene to let these animals enjoy their social hour, and finished the trip off back south down San Juan Channel, where we observed both Harbor seals and Harbor porpoises, still in awe of our experience at Crane Island.
Thanks so much to all who shared the afternoon with us, I hope you all enjoyed as much as I did!
Want more information about the Pacific Whale Watch Association? See https://www.pacificwhalewatchassociation.com/
Want to see more photos from our trips? Visit our SmugMug page at: https://sanjuansafaris.smugmug.com/