Western Prince Whale Watching

Written by Alison
on Sep 02, 2025

Orcas and “Octo” the Humpback

Orcas and “Octo” the Humpback

August 21, 2025 – We left the dock with several reports of animals in the area, and we were excited to see what the day would bring. Our first encounter was just south of Friday Harbor in Griffin Bay. The T49A’s, which today was the 39-year-old mother, Nan, and 4 of her 6 kids: Nat -14, Neptune-11, Nebula-8, and Smoosh Face-3, spread out and appeared to be hunting. Sure enough, when looking through my pictures, there was a distant shot of Nat lunging as a seal was leaping out of the water! After a brief visit, we decided to leave them to their meal and continued our trip south. As we approached Salmon Bank, we came across a Humpback. It was thought to be one named Victory, but when it lifted its fluke, we saw that it was mostly dark on the underside, which had to be a different whale. Later, it was identified as Octo! We got some really nice looks, and the whale did several fluke-up dives while we watched. It was a beautiful, sunny day with flat, calm waters, so Captain JB and I decided to check out one more family group of Orcas. We kept heading south and eventually caught up to the T19’s. There, we watched 60-year-old Nootka surfacing with her 2 mature sons. Both Galiano (30 years old) and Spouter (24 years old) have huge dorsal fins. Galiano’s leans to one side, while Spouter’s wavey fin stands straight and tall. We had gone quite a ways south, so eventually, it was time to head for home after another beautiful day on the water.

 

Photographer and Naturalist: Alison Engle – Instagram: @Alisonengleart – Website: www.alisonengle.com

Western Prince Wildlife Adventures – Instagram: @Westernprincewildlife – Facebook: Western Prince Whale Watching

 

 

Written by Alison
on Sep 02, 2025

Orcas and “Octo” the Humpback

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