CWR Encounter #3 • Bigg’s Killer Whales

EncSummary: Mark and George ended their encounter with K pod west of Hein Bank at 1426 (see Encounter #02) and decided to intercept a gang of incoming Bigg’s that were nearing Race Rocks from the west.

T030s had been found spread a little over a mile across Juan de Fuca Strait by a commercial whale-watch vessel, and Mark was hoping to see them group up by the time Mike 1 arrived on scene. Sure enough, as Mark and George arrived at the whales, south of Race Rocks, the 39-year-old bull, T030A, had angled north to join his sister, T030C, and the rest of the living T030s; T030B and her three offspring. T030A and T030C have often seen traveling separately from the T030Bs since their mother passed in 2022.

The CWR team was able to collect right-side shots of all six individuals as they passed south of Race Rocks lighthouse, tight together, traveling at close to 8 knots with the strong flood current. Mark repositioned to the north side of the group and got left-side pictures during their next breath sequence before ending the brief encounter to head for home.