Admiralty Inlet Whales: it was one for the record books!
We did a Monika's play-by-play yesterday, never anticipating that today might be even crazier! But holy smokes, for anyone who was lucky enough to be viewing whales in or near Admiralty Inlet today, it was one for the record books.
In brief, by the end of the day there were more than 35 Bigg's killer whales either in or heading towards Puget Sound. These included the T46Bs, who were furthest south and seen with a new calf, and the T65As, T99s, and T419s, who we were lucky enough to catch up with.
Seen here are photos of our three mystery whales, who had only been photo documented once before in Anchorage, Alaska a year ago before turning up last week in the Salish Sea. After days of trying, it was extra thrilling to see them in person. It's still unknown what genetic population they belong to, but they are definitely transient-type killer whales, and are seemingly ingratiating themselves with the locals as they've now made the acquaintance of several of our most common Salish Sea matrilines. While we were on scene, the T419s were trailing the T65As and T99s by anywhere from 1/2-3/4 of a mile, but we heard from others that earlier and later in the day they were closely associated with at least some of the West Coast Transients.
On top of all the Bigg's killer whale excitement there were no fewer than three baleen whale species in or near Admiralty Inlet (gray, humpback, and a fin whale!!), plus we experienced all four seasons during daylight hours. In the morning heavy snow was falling and accumulating and by late afternoon you could comfortably walk outside in a T-shirt.
March Madness continues, and as the sun sets another day, we find ourselves asking: what in the world will tomorrow bring? It's an exciting time to be a whale enthusiast!
