Unusual Visitors to the Salish Sea: the T146s and T146As

If you've been following regional whale sightings lately, you may have seen some reports of the T146s. And if you saw those reports, you may have followed up by asking yourself: who?!

On April 27, four members of the T146 matriline popped up in Rosario Strait: T146, her son T146B, her daughter T146C, and her grandchild T146C1. These whales have made brief appearances in the Salish Sea in 2019 and 2022, but are very rare visitors! On this day they were traveling with the T75Bs, T125A, and T128.

Then on April 30, additional whales from this matriline showed up, but in the Strait of Georgia! Present were T146A with her two offspring, T146A1 and T146A2. On the afternoon of the 30th and again this morning on May 1st they were traveling with the T124As and T124A4s. As far as I can tell from the records I have access to, they have never been documented in the Salish Sea!

It's always exciting to "meet" whales you haven't seen before, and we were lucky enough to get out with both groups. It's fascinating two T146 groups showed up in such close proximity to one another both in time and space, but not together. It's not uncommon for them to split, but why did they both decide to visit now? Killer whales always leave you with more questions than they answer!

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Photo: T146A in Wasp Passage on May 1st.