Written by Bethany
on Jul 23, 2023

Whale Report: July 3, 2023 – The T69s

Whale Report: July 3, 2023 – The T69s

July 3, 2023 AM – What an incredible day on the water! We headed out from Friday Harbor towards the south into the Strait of Juan De Fuca. As we were cruising over Hein Bank, suddenly, we spotted a little brown animal floating on the surface. It was a Sea Otter! Sea Otter sightings are incredibly rare already in the San Juan Islands but for one to be floating out in the middle of the straits several miles from the nearest reef or shoreline was extra special! We got some great looks at the otter with Mt. Baker in the backdrop before continuing to move west. We got a report of a group of bigg’s killer whales over by Victoria, BC so off we went. It turned out to be a family known as the T69s. This family is mom T69 “Komox”, her adult son T69C “Kye”, her 19-year old son T69E “Kodiac” and her youngest T69F “Kin”. They were just milling in one area and we assumed they had made a kill and were eating. We got some great looks as they surface together and then suddenly, the huge male “Kye” did a big lunge and then a tail lob! They had caught something else! “Kye” then treated us to a gorgeous spyhop, showing off his massive pectoral fins and body!

Photographer and Naturalist: Bethany Shimasaki – Instagram @Adventures.with.Bethany – Website: www.bethshim.com

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

Written by Bethany
on Jul 23, 2023

Whale Report: July 3, 2023 – The T69s

Latest Blog ...