Written by Alison
on Jul 29, 2025

Windy Whales!

Windy Whales!

July 24, 2025 – We had a beautiful sunny and blustery day to head out. We had reports coming in that the Orcas seen on the morning trip had not moved far and they would be in range for our afternoon trip. Captain JB picked the best route to take avoid the worst of the rough water and off we went. We started our encounter southwest of Discovery Island which is not far from Victoria, B.C. The morning group had split with the T65B’s being about a mile ahead of the T36A’s. We decided to stick with the closest family group of 6. Shortly after we got on scene they started hunting. It was all very exciting to see them in action. The wind added to the experience by creating a lot of spray with each lunge and tail slap the whales made. Captain JB had us perfectly situated for lighting, action and with the beautiful back drop of the Olympic Mountain range. In one of my pictures, although a little blurry, you could see the Harbor Seal that they were hunting. I believe it was still out maneuvering them when we had to leave. The T36A’s are a family group of 6 Bigg’s Killer Whales, T36A – Leland is the 35 year old mother/grandmother. Today she had all of her 4 offspring and her grandson, T36A1A – Drift who is just 3 years old. He is the son of her oldest daughter T36A1 – Tierna. It was fun to see her hunting with her 13 year old sister, Kailas. They both have nice nicks in their fins making them east to identify. Also, active in the hunt were T36A3, Mike III a 10 year old male and T36A5, Auk, he is just 4 years old. We finally had to leave as we had to go the long way home. We did manage a quick stop at Spieden Island to check out a Bald Eagle and look for exotic game animals. It was a great end to a wild and wonderful 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 Jul 29, 2025

Windy Whales!

Latest Blog ...