Written by Alison
on Jun 17, 2026

Afternoon with the T124As

Afternoon with the T124As

June 4, 2026 PM – We left the dock and headed north up San Juan Channel. Our first stop was by the Cactus Islands where we found over 2 dozen harbor seals hauled out on a reef. They were having a snooze, digesting some food and bringing their body temperature up in preparation for their next dive. After checking out the seals we headed east and encountered a group of 6 Bigg’s killer whales cruising the Orcas Island shoreline. After just a few minutes they pulled off shore and headed west over the top of Jones Island (Marine State Park). We were super excited to see 5 members of the T124A matrilline including a very young calf that was spotted for the first time a little over a month before. It was traveling very close to its mother’s side and still has its peachy color which is typical for young orca calves. Three generations of this family were represented 124A – Kittiwake is now 42 years old. Today she was with her oldest daughter 30 year old Bonaparte, Bonaparte’s young calf, her 10 year old son, Kasuun and her youngest daughter, 5 year old Kite. Also joining the family today was T100E, a 17 year old female named Thraya who has dispersed from her family and often travels with this group. My one question to all of you is can a person have too many orca baby pictures?? Yes! I picked out a few of my best for my report. Eventually we left the whales heading towards Spieden Island. As we headed back down the channel we found a bald eagle and made one last stop to check out our rare visitor, a Sea Otter!

 

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: @AlisonEngleArt – Website: www.AlisonEngle.com – Instagram: @WesternPrinceWildlife – Facebook: Western Prince Whale Watching Adventures

Written by Alison
on Jun 17, 2026

Afternoon with the T124As

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