T046Bs KELȽOLEMEĆEN and ḰENES

June 23, 2025

Big Momma and baby

June 23rd our team was notified of two Humpbacks in Boundary Pass. We transited there and saw blows along the TEḴTEḴSEN (Saturna Island) shoreline- two ḰENES (humpbacks) close to shore in the Vessel Restricted Zone. We watched as Big Momma and her 2025 calf travelled various directions, took identification photos, and then left them to be on their way. We travelled through TIU,IL,ES (Tumbo Channel) to the site of our BRUVS deployment and were notified of killer whales nearby. We completed our task and headed over towards PEN,ÁW̱EṈ, (Patos Island), where we encountered the T046Bs KELȽOLEMEĆEN (Killer Whales). We remained over 1km away, monitored Washington regulation compliance, witnessed a distance infraction, and as the whales continued further south into Washington waters, we turned back.

It’s not uncommon for us to observe distance infractions, it happens almost every time we are around whales with other boats. We’ll be analysing this as part of our 2025 annual report. Want to see what else we analyse? Scroll up to our header, click “Annual Reports” and download our 2024 report to dive deep into our analyses!

All photos are taken with a 200-600 zoom lens.