CWR encounter #53 • Northern Resident Killer Whales C and G Pod

EncSummary: Having photographed many of the present members of J Clan, the team on Mike 1 decided to push a little further south in search of the yet-unseen greater L4s, while the KCB III team continued to document some members of J and K pod along with the extended L12s and L54s (see Encounter #52).

Just a mile from the Southern Residents, a distant bull was seen on the horizon, and as they approached, Mark and Joe began seeing many more killer whales, perhaps 15 individuals, and wondered if they may have found the remaining Ls. As they got close enough to recognize the whales, they noted several unfamiliar mature males and females, then a large bull they had seen before appeared. To their surprise, they recognized him as Northern Resident G71, whom they had encountered in the same area in September 2022! He was travelling amongst a large group of G Clan whales, along with an additional three killer whales just a few hundred yards offshore. The team moved to collect left-side ID photos of each individual present, the standard side for rarer killer whales along the coast, and found members of the G2, G31, G62 and G64 matrilines.

Leaving the large group for a moment as they dove, the team approached the spread trio to their west, who appeared to be exhibiting similar foraging behaviour to the Southern Residents just seen to the north. The three peripheral whales proved to be A Clan members C8, C22 and C27! While it is not uncommon to find G Clan killer whales along the outer coast of Washington, A Clan appears more rarely.

As those three closed the gap to their kin, the team returned to the G Clan whales for a few minutes to ensure complete documentation of any matrilines they may have overlooked on the initial round of photos. They ended the encounter shortly afterward, watching the NRKW lazily poke north, toward the Southern Residents’ chosen foraging grounds for the day. Interestingly, the team dropped the hydrophone while on scene with the Northern Residents, and while they could hear distant Southern Resident calls, it seemed the Northern Residents were silent. Upon departing the NRKW, the team came across J27 just under two miles north of them, within eyesight for the research team.