T65B2 stranded near Minor Island on July 16

On the morning of July 16th, a Puget Sound Express whale watching vessel spotted a juvenile orca alive on the beach near Smith and Minor Islands, south of Lopez Island. Through photos, it was determined by his markings that this whale was seven year-old Bigg's killer whale T65B2 Corvus. His three family members were milling nearby.

The location T65B2 was located is one of the few shallow, sandy beaches in the area and a popular haul out for harbor seals. It's very possible that a slight miscalculation in shallow water can leave a killer whale high and dry, especially while the tide is outgoing as it was at that time.

A local stranding response vessel with a trained team from multiple organizations mobilized to monitor the situation, but thankfully on the rising tide he was able to self-rescue and get back out to deeper water. He was on the beach for at least 5 hours, but by the late afternoon had successfully rejoined his family.

While this looked like a happy ending to the story, it was still a relief to be able to see all four members of the T65B family together in Spieden Channel this evening. After his ordeal, T65B2 appeared to be behaving normally, and we can hope this was just a mistake to learn from rather an experience that will leave lasting damage!