Western Prince Whale Watching

Written by Alison
on Oct 30, 2024

Pec Slapping Orcas

Pec Slapping Orcas

September 12, 2024 PM – It was a perfect afternoon for a trip out on the Western Explorer II. We left the dock and headed east. We lucked out when just 15 minutes from the dock we had a group of 10 Bigg’s Killer Whales. They were just entering Cayou channel between Shaw and Orcas Islands. We had a group of 8 close together and at first were traveling close to the Orcas shoreline. In this group we had members of 3 different matrilines. The T37A’s lead my the mother who is named Volker and is now 30 years old. She was traveling with 2 of her 4 living offspring. Both are males, Inky who is 15 and Crinkle who is now 11. We also had the T100’s lead my the 45 year old mother who is named Hutchins, she was traveling with 3 of her 4 living offspring. Her adult son, Laurel who is now 22, her second daughter Tharaya who is 15 and her youngest, Estrella, who is 10. We also had T101, Reef, she is estimated to be 55 years old. Her two surviving adult son’s, Rush (31) and Lagoon (33) were off ahead of the group. We did not really see them till the end of our trip when they came by and one of them gave us several big Pec Slaps! Oh boy do these adult males have big pecs! We left them at the south end of West Sound and headed out to see what else we could find. Captain Ivan took us through the beautiful Cactus Islands where we saw some Bald Eagles, a few Harbor Seals and a variety of birds. Next we headed for the South side of Spieden Island were we found some exotic game animals including several of the Mouflon big horned sheep. How can you not love a day like this on the water in the San Juan Islands! Thanks for all of the great questions everyone!

Written by Alison
on Oct 30, 2024

Pec Slapping Orcas

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