Written by Alison
on Sep 05, 2024

Orcas Hunting a Harbor Porpoise

Orcas Hunting a Harbor Porpoise

August 8, 2024 AM – We headed south with the hope of making it to a pod of Orcas that were at the edge of our range. The good news was they were currently getting closer. We made a stop at Whale Rocks to check out the Steller Sea Lions. From there we headed out into the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and headed south to Dungeness Spit on the Olympic Peninsula. There we started our encounter with the Dungeness Spit Lighthouse in the background and one of our favorite families of Bigg’s Killer Whales, the T65A’s. They were a bit spread out hunting in different areas. We spent quite a bit of time watching Amir, T65A3 a 17 year old male. He is getting so big, but will not reach full maturity for a few more years. We think he snagged a Harbor Seal for himself then put on the speed to catch up with the rest. He did a couple of breaches along the way. Our passenger Ethan caught one that was behind the boat on his phone and was gracious enough to share it with every one via my report. Then we decided to try to catch up with the rest of the group which included the mother, T65A – Artemis who is now 38 years old! She was with 3 of her 5 offspring: oldest son, T65A2 – Ooxjaa, her 2 daughters, 13 year old Ellifrit and 6 year old Callisto. Captain JB had seen some action off in the distance and apparently they had killed a Harbor Porpoise and were now feeding. As usual they did leave the lungs behind! What a day!

 

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 05, 2024

Orcas Hunting a Harbor Porpoise

Latest Blog ...