Written by Alison
on Sep 03, 2025

Whales in Swanson Channel

Whales in Swanson Channel

August 28, 2025 – We left the dock and headed north we made a quick stop right away to check out a Bald Eagle then continued on. We had a report of Orcas up in Canada but they were heading into a boat “no go zone.” Captain JB was in contact with other captains on the water and we were hoping the whales would keep moving and be out of the zone when we got there. Well he timed it just right! The whales had just come out of the zone and it appeared to have had a successful hunt when we arrived. The first behavior we saw was backwards surfacing which is unique to this population and is a sign that they were sharing their catch. We had a great time watching T49A who is the 39 year old mother named Nan and 4 of her 6 offspring. Her two oldest sons have dispersed but we had 14 year old Nat, a sprouting male, 11 year old Neptune also a male, 8 year old Nebula, her only daughter and 3 year old Smoosh Face with the cute underbite. The whales zigzagged back and forth as they enjoyed their meal. We had several tail waves, some logging and two beautiful spy hops, one by Smoosh Face (ID’d by his underbite) and the other by Nebula (ID’d by her eye patch). In the end they grouped up and did a beautiful pass just before we had to leave. Captain JB heard that they went back into the no boat zone just after we left! We were so lucky!

 

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 03, 2025

Whales in Swanson Channel

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