CWR enjoys afternoon with the T69s

EncSummary: Following up on a report of inbound Bigg’s killer whales approaching Sooke, Mark and Joe departed Victoria just after 1530 and aimed west. Slowing well south of the Sooke Bluffs at 1615, they spotted a pair of fins disappearing beneath the surface nearly a mile north, near shore. On approach, a hulking bull broke the surface, and the guys quickly recognised him as T069C. This 31-year-old male is regularly encountered along the central coast of BC and along Vancouver Island with his mother and two younger brothers, T069E and T069F…though T069E has occasionally travelled separately from the group over the past few years. A group of the same composition – two larger males and two smaller individuals – had been reported in Becher Bay the day prior, and Mark and Joe had wondered then if perhaps the T069s were whole again, and in the area.

After an extended dive, T069C reappeared on his easterly track, but the others were yet to be seen. When he dove again, they finally spotted the rest in a tight grouping near shore, milling for a moment, then continuing toward Whiffin Spit. T069E’s most recent walkabout – lasting from mid-August until at least October – was evidently complete, as he was indeed present alongside matriarch T069 and her youngest, T069F. All four of the T069s were documented in October by our colleagues off the northeast end of Vancouver Island, though at that point, T069E had not yet rejoined his family, visiting the area a day before the other three.

Mom and the two younger males made their way along the approaches to Whiffin Spit, before splitting off east and angling toward Possession Point, perhaps nabbing a seal along the way; although no prolonged prey-sharing was observed, the trio stalled for a moment and T069F’s dorsal fin was observed shaking at the surface, often an indicator of killer whales eating. T069C also joined the group from nearly a mile offshore at this time, perhaps after some audible cue. All together now, the group moved on around Possession Point and eased east between Secretary and Vancouver Islands. Mark and Joe ended the encounter there as the sun dipped behind the Olympic Peninsula and began making way for home. A glance back toward Iron Mine Bay confirmed that the whales were continuing east slowly in a tight group.