First in-person Bigg's 301 field trip of the class

Following our first in-person Bigg's 201 class on Saturday, we also hosted our first in-person Bigg's 301 class on Sunday (March 29th). This group of seasoned "dorcas" has been deep-diving into Bigg's killer whale data on extended matriline groups since mid-January. We could tell they were SO READY for the chance to see some of the whales they're studying in person.

As luck would have it, we'd barely puttered out of the Friday Harbor marina before catching the sight of fins along the Shaw Island shoreline. The T49As had stuck around the islands overnight! We mentioned in our Bigg's 201 post that T49A7, estimated at roughly 3-4 weeks old, is stealing hearts and wrapping whale watchers around their little flippers, and it was no different with our 301 students! The chatter and "oohs" and "awws" began at the first surfacing!

This group of six was surfacing slowly and stuck close to one another, an indication that they may have been in a resting pattern. We clocked them at 7 minute dives until they appeared to wake up a bit, moving east, northeast into Upright Channel. Right before we left them, they had cut their dive times in half and appeared to make more headway than the lazier surfacings we'd witnessed before.

We turned our travels north toward Boundary Pass and crossed into the Gulf Islands scanning along the way. It had been such a busy day for orcas the day before, there had to be more Bigg's nearby. And soon that hunch would pay off when we encountered the T36A1s, T36 with the T36Bs, and the T99s! If the T49As appeared a little sleepy, this group was the exact opposite. Their porpoising behavior tipped Captain Jeff off with large splashes in the distance, and when we approached we found them in three separate groups. Though they would all come together during the encounter, the "cousins and calves" grouping—which consisted of the T36A1s, T36B1s, T36B4, and T99B--were  so much fun to watch!

Another wonderful day on the Salish Sea with some of the "regular" Bigg's family groups and passionate students aboard made for an exciting research encounter we won't soon forget!

A big, big thank you to Maya's Legacy for hosting us and being just as excited about these killer whales as we are!

Photos were taken by co-instructor Amanda Colbert