Southern Resident and Bigg’s KELȽOLEMEĆEN, and ḰENES all in one day!
July 14, 2025
Geometry
Bigg’s in Active Pass
SRKW J40 and J63
Honu
Bigg’s in Active Pass, highlighting the hazards faced by our marine relatives
SRKW Tail Lobbing in Haro Strait
July 14 marked World Orca Day, and brought a reminder to our team of the importance of the work we do and the role we play to protect our killer whale relatives. On this important day, our team set out with reports of killer whales in S,ḴŦAḴ (Active Pass). As we were leaving the marina, our thermal imaging cameras sent us a detection of humpback whales in Swanson channel- on the way to S,ḴŦAḴ. We transited slowly to the site of the detection and after scanning the channel with binoculars, spotted the humpbacks travelling North. These two ḰENES were ID’d as Geometry and Honu. After monitoring marine mammal compliance around these two, we headed North to S,ḴŦAḴ, where there was heavy whale watching presence. Upon our arrival, vessels were departing and the whales had a moment of solitude. We observed from as distance as they travelled north in the pass, tail slapping, breaching, and deep diving. These whales were members of the T036As, T037A1, T065As, T065Bs. While taking identification photos of these Bigg’s KELȽOLEMEĆEN, our team got the notification we’d been waiting over two months to hear- the Southern Residents were back in Á,LEṈENEȻ ȽTE (our homeland).
Upon receiving this news, we headed south towards Haro Strait and their last observed location. We encountered the residents on the west side of San Juan Island, near SḴE,ANEW (Pile Pt.) heading North in Haro Strait towards Swanson Ch. The residents were very spread out and were transiting quickly! We remained over 1 mile away while educating boaters who were too close, and taking identification photos. Based on reports from other research organizations and our photos, it has been determined that J pod were the only SRKW that has returned to the Salish Sea… for now!
All photos are taken with a 200-600 zoom lens.