A Day With The Biggs/Transient Orcas
Orca T124A2 Elkugu having an orca of a time out there
I woke up a little later on a Tuesday morning. I completed my breathing exercise, made my coffee, and, once more, breaking from my usual routine, I checked my phone. To my surprise, I saw a report of Orcas spotted in the Saratoga Passage. Since I sometimes drive out for two hours just to catch a glimpse of these magnificent creatures, I decided, without any hesitation, to get out there and see them in my own backyard.
Was it ever the right decision!
Once I spotted them, I knew exactly where to be, and boy, oh boy, they were right there! It was almost like being on a boat, except better because I was on land, on sturdier ground, except it wasn’t so good because it was raining, misty, and dark, and I mean DARK.
T124A2 Elkugu Spyhopping in the Saratoga Passage
The very first thing I saw was a colossal tail slap. I thought he’d breached but then realized from the water that he hadn't; it was a tail slap, also known as lobtailing. I aimed my camera, and she did it again. Got that one this time - Elkugu!
The spy hopping was slow. Most of them far out, but then Elkugu came out again, announcing an appearance. Slowly raised her head out of the water, subtly bounced a few times, and retreated back into the cold waters.
The light was much less than optimal for an encounter like this, but there is no caring about the light when you’re having the experience of a lifetime with wildlife. Sometimes, I wonder if these guys are in on it, they show up close to land when the light is so bad. lol
I was constantly adjusting my ISO - went up to 6400 at some point. I don’t like doing high ISOs due to the noise, but I also didn’t want to miss these shots, and my Z8 is able to handle the light differences without a problem. I tried to keep my shutter speed at over 500, even on the tripod, so I didn't risk blurry shots, which are not fixable. My aperture was almost always at 6.3 - except for a couple of shots where I went for 5 (getting a wider angle at about 240mm), and went up to f8 when there were a few of them passing stacked to eachother. I also use exposure compensation. It was a very dark PNW morning.
A few of them seemed like they were just pacing, between an invisible (to us) point in the ocean and a point so very close to the shore. They seemed undisturbed by anything else.
T46B Raksha and ?
There were at least 9 individuals in front of me, and they all just seemed like they were playing. Spyhopping, lobtailing, porpoising, rolling, etc. I didn’t see any full breaches, or hunts. They seemed like they were all just enjoying eachothers’ company.
Then a boat arrived - I’m sure not meaning any harm, curious and wanted to observe the pod. Except, once the boat zipped right over to their “hangout” area, their activity noticeably subsided. I waited, looking over my tripod, to see the next blow. It wasn’t long, maybe 2 minutes, but they were constantly at the surface before the boat. Surprisingly, the next blow came from closer to the boat than the shore. Then another blow, heading in that direction, and another blow. What were they doing?
T124A2 Elkugu
It seemed they were curious of the boat maybe? They got close enough, a couple of them passed. The boat had its engines shut off. They then started going North, leaving the cove. It was a beautiful 1.5-hour encounter that will remain etched in my orca memory book.
The orcas were heading north. Were they following each other? They belonged to different pods, I found it interesting they all decided to go up at the same time.
I headed north, got by the Camano Inn, and sure enough there they were, right in front of the Inn, playing around.
Being orcas. Another boat arrived, and now the orcas started going further out, mid channel. Was it the sound? Maybe the orcas don’t like the echo from the boats when they’re too close to the rocky shores. Who knows? They definitely went further into the channel, seeming closer to Whidbey from our side.
T46D Strider following along
T46D Strider was noticeable. He’s a large male with a distinct nick on his dorsal fin, and he’s very playful. Most of my encounters with him he was more of the surface active ones.
T46D and T137 Loon - belly rub time?
He’s a 25-year-old male (born in 2000) to matriarch T46 Wake - who is also the mom of one of my favorite matriarchs, T123 - Sidney, who was one of the orcas to live strand in 2011 while pregnant, and surprisingly, all survived! They are also recognizable, but that’s for another story.
T137 Loon is the 42-year-old (born in 1983) matriarch of the infamous T137s, which includes T137A Jack - one of the most recognizable and large males we see in Puget Sound. Not to mention the personality. It isn’t easy to describe how you get a different feeling with the different pods. Some are more curious than others. And some are more playful, and some are masters of evasion.
T137 is Jack’s mom - I don’t think Jack was in this pod, maybe he’s on one of his boy’s trips again, which he is known to engage in, early in the summer.
T46D Strider following T137 Loon
I decided to take a break, get home, charge some batteries, and look at my photos. I thought they’d likely continue swimming west and north into Penn Cove, as they mostly do, and then hopefully, they’ll head up to Deception Pass. The sun was now out (of course), and it would be a great day to see them pass below that bridge.
About two hours later I saw another note - the orcas flipped southbound!! They were tracking closer to Camano's side and heading south of Indian Beach. GREAT! That is close enough to Camano State Park, and I can park there.
Perfect.
I walked out to the beach, sat down, and waited. I saw some blows, but it was still too far north. But the sunlight was becoming more beautiful and tricky - it was reflecting right off the water in front of me.
I lowered my ISO, kept my shutter high - and waited. They got closer and closer, and the light got better and better. It was not going to be identifying shots, but great light with beautiful scenery. I was listening to a podcast earlier, as I was waiting for them to come back. And they mentioned that when you feel low, one of the things you can do to start feeling better immediately is to look for hearts in nature or outside somewhere, anywhere. Just look for hearts.
Just look for hearts.
Sure enough, as I saw them pass in front of me, and I took these shots, they were blowing hearts. Yes, I know, it doesn’t mean anything, and still, I just LOVE seeing those heart shapes form in the right wind conditions. And I definitely noticed it yesterday, and what was said certainly happened - I felt so much better, lifted, lighter, and connected.
How about here?
I hope you enjoy the photos. I definitely loved taking them, and this day will be etched in my memory. The way it started, the way it ended, the photos I got to take, just 10 minutes down the road from me. I am lucky, I am grateful for every single interaction I get to have with these guys.
Orcas are social animals. It was confirmed that there were members of four different pods - T46s, T99s, T124s and T137s. They were all playfully meandering in the deep blue waters of the Puget Sound. No one reported any hunts. I wonder if this day was a special gathering day for them, to celebrate something, to enjoy something, to experience something that wasn’t about hunting and food, but just about being. Whatever it was, it was delightful to watch.
