Encounters 2021

Our first killer whale encounter of 2021 occurred with one of our favorite orcas, CA171B Fatfin! He is a very special whale that we frequently encounter in Monterey. We soon spotted CA21 and CA169 nearby. Fatfin started tail slapping next to the boat. Then the three whales quickly transitioned into travel mode and headed off together.

Rare offshore (ecotype) killer whale sighting in Big Sur today! 
Tim Huntington (Webnectar photography) spotted over 20 of these rarely encountered orcas about a half mile off Big Sur.

We had an amazing encounter today with CA171B "Fatfin," CA21, and CA169! We spent time with these whales earlier this month on January 2nd. CA21 and CA169, the two females, have been associated for several years, and CA171B has been seen with them for the past two years.

Yesterday we got a report of orcas in the bay! We identified them as the CA202s, nicknamed the Smileys. They hunted several California sea lions and at one point brought a sea lion carcass to the boat! They ate all of the carcass except the intestines and lungs. 

We have exciting news from our encounter on Sunday. We spent time with the CA140s and CA163 - Emma's group. 

Research Biologist Colleen encountered the CA200s and the CA202s on board with Monterey Bay Whale Watch! 

Absolutely amazing day today observing orcas for 9 hours! We saw 11 whales all together - first the CA140Bs, CA23A2, and the CA113s! We then received a report of a second group and IDed them as CA10 and some of the CA23s! The first group was traveling slowly for a lot of the day, but the best part was when they started resting and “cuddling” with each other in a “cuddle puddle!” The young ones were rolling around, lifting their heads out of the water, and rubbing against the adults - an amazing and intimate moment. 

Amazing day yesterday! We had the CA140Bs, CA113s, and CA23A2 again, but this time socializing! They were breaching, spy hopping, tail throwing, rolling around, and coming up to the boat!

There were at least 12 whales in the area last Tuesday! We first encountered the CA140Bs with CA23A2, and CA20, CA54, CA177, as well as  CA49C and CA49C1.  We then found CA137 and CA40 swimming together in an area near the first group, both of which seemed to be foraging! 

We encountered the CA58s - a rather elusive group that we sometimes go years without seeing. However, last spring we saw them several times and now we have our first sighting of 2021!

On Thursday, April 15th, we headed north and spent time with what appeared to be two groups of whales that stayed fairly close to each other, while intermittently dispersing and mixing: the CA39s, (including CA39, CA39C, CA39C1, a young calf who is most likely CA39C2, and CA39D), as well as CA26, CA36, CA35, and CA35A. 

Though conditions weren’t ideal and the whales were being quite elusive, we spent the majority of the day on April 16th with the CA140Bs and CA23A2.

We had an incredible day on April 17th with 19 identified killer whales! We spent time with the CA27s, CA10, the CA140Bs, and the CA23s. They were traveling slowly, so we got some great looks at these whales!

April 18th was an incredible day, with several groups of killer whales in one general area. Meet the new CA51 calves! We are thrilled to confirm that both CA51 Star (head matriarch of "The Friendly Pod") and her eldest daughter, CA51A Aurora, both had calves since last season; they are just a few to several months old!

On April 19th we had another exciting day filled with several different orca groups, many of them hunting Pacific white-sided dolphin! There was no visible evidence of a successful kill, but that might not have been the primary goal. The pursuit of these dolphins seemed to be a teaching opportunity for the matriarchs to practice hunting techniques with their young. We observed leaping, ramming, tail slapping, and other remarkable behaviors.

We were successfully able to ID CA26, CA36, CA35, CA35A, CA58A, and CA58A1! These whales were just traveling in a tight group together for a couple of hours.

On April 23, 2021 we had our first gray whale calf predation event of the season. We witnessed our only documented gray whale calf attack/kill for this season!

The day after our first gray whale predation. 
The CA51s, CA51As, and CA140Bs were feeding on this carcass throughout the day.

On Sunday, the orcas were still feeding on the same gray whale carcass from the predation event on the 23rd.

A very exciting day - with multiple groups of killer whales seen in our area! All used to be encountered more frequently; they are fairly seldom seen now.

RISSO'S DOLPHIN PREDATION - very rare documentation! 
Today we had an absolutely incredible encounter with 7-8 Bigg's transient killer whales that included an adult male, a large juvenile, and a calf. We have only documented a fatal Risso's dolphin attack in Monterey Bay once before! We also once observed Risso's dolphin CHASING off killer whales. Interactions between these two species are rare.

Sightings from 29-31 and 9/3 Fatfin (CA171B) was sighted in Monterey Bay with a female, CA169, for 4 days on August 29, 30, 31 and September 3rd.  We have had several posts about him, so we are sure many of you know him well.  He is named after his wide dorsal fin, and he has been the locals’ favorite for many years. He is fully capable of hunting on his own and is often seen by himself.

We are excited to announce that during our encounter with the CA51As on 9/7/21, we were able to determine that the newest member of the CA51As - CA51A4 "Eclipse" - is a boy! The son of CA51A "Aurora", his nickname aligns with his family's stellar theme, and was inspired by the smudged shadowy birthmark on his right eyepatch.

On September 19th we saw the CA27s, a matriline we historically can go years without seeing! The whales were traveling quickly in foggy conditions, but we were able to confirm 6 of the 10 whales normally seen in this family: CA27, CA27C, CA27D, CA27D1, CA27D2, and CA27F.
CA27 is a known traveler—she famously journeyed to Glacier Bay in 1989 with CA18, CA20, and CA54 (the only time any transients have been confirmed in Alaska), and she was sighted off Washington in 1995.

Tightly bonded pair: we have been encountering Bigg's transient orcas CA171B Fatfin and CA169 multiple times during August and September! So far, no one has observed feeding behavior; they have mostly been patrolling the canyon edge, likely foraging. During many encounters, they have been elusive and exceptionally difficult to track. During others, they have come right up to the boats! We still have not seen CA21 - who has been CA169's constant companion for two decades. Fatfin was orphaned at a very young age and has traveled solo or with a variety of other whales - including CA169 and her companions. CA169 is most likely post-reproduction; she was first photographed in 1992, and has never been confirmed with a calf. Fatfin was first photographed in 1999 as a very young calf; he may well regard CA169 as a mother surrogate. Fatfin is often encountered in Monterey Bay. He was often paired with another male in 2012 and especially in October 2013: usually his ""partner in crime"" and hunting buddy CA217 Stumpy aka Chopfin (not seen for many years and most likely deceased). We gave them the nickname ""The Boys of October."" We do not know why Fatfin has a habit of returning here back especially in the fall - but we do so enjoy seeing him! Check out our recent photos of CA171B Fatfin and CA169, plus photos of Fatfin and Stumpy from earlier years - plus a pumpkin carving naturalist Katie Dunbar of Monterey Bay Whale Watch made to showcase their relationship in Oct 2013, kept on display in the MBWW shop!
Photos 1 & 2 - Daniel Bianchetta, photos 3 & 4 - Alisa Schulman-Janiger, Photo 5 - Katie Dunbar

Killer whale encounter summary (viewed from sister company Monterey Bay Whale Watch). At 1038, we received a radio report that Sanctuary Cruises had spotted 5-6 unidentified killer whales. CKWP lead research biologist Alisa Schulman-Janiger identified these six whales as adult male CA50B (25+ years old), matriarch CA49C (~16 years old), her calf CA49C1 (2 years old), matriarch CA122B (23+ years old), her juvenile CA122B2 (6 years old), and her calf CA122B3 (2 years old). At 1107, we spotted a group of California sea lions and then a group of about 15 Risso's dolphin (with a few California sea lions) porpoising past us at high speed, away from the killer whales. We reached them at 1112. They were traveling south, then abruptly started changing direction, frequently zig-zagging in foraging-like behavior. Sometimes they stopped and milled tightly together in one area as if they were prey sharing, but we never confirmed a kill. (**NOTE: They may have captured a sea lion underwater and consumed it. Other observers photographed them surfacing with an intact dead male sea lion five minutes after we left them**). CA50B often surfaced 20-50 yards behind the others, and occasionally just ahead of them; a few times he surfaced with CA49C and traveled with her. It was heartwarming to see them together; they were close associates who had traveled for years with the CA51As. (CA49C was orphaned as a juvenile, and CA50B was orphaned as an adult). One playful behavior seen: CA49C1 turned on its side next to mom CA49C, briefly waving its flukes in the air. At 1218, they picked up speed and headed west, with CA50B slightly trailing. Our very interesting encounter ended at 1237.

Here is our next exciting sighting report!
What an INCREDIBLE day on October 20th! We observed two orcas on board with Monterey Bay Whale Watch! It was reported on the radio that the two orcas, who we identified as CA136 (female) and CA179 (male), popped up in the middle of a feeding group of humpback whales and sea lions. For several minutes, the orcas and humpback whales interacted with one another (report). The orcas did reportedly hunt and successfully kill a sea lion. Once we got to the sighting, we watched the orcas harassing the humpback whales, who were trumpet blowing and tail throwing. Two humpbacks then started to seemingly chase the killer whales south, pursuing them for over a mile! They eventually gave up and the orcas continued to travel south, picking up speed. This was an incredibly interesting encounter with reportedly a lot of interspecies interactions. What an experience!
Some background info on CA136 and CA179 :
We don't often see CA136 and CA179, but we did last have them in Monterey Bay in June. It is possible that CA179 was adopted by CA136 at some point, as they have been traveling together for several years now. We first sighted CA136 in 1996 and CA179 (as a sprouter male) in 1997. It is always exciting when we see rarely encountered orcas! Photos by Daniel Bianchetta and Research Biologist Colleen Talty

Gone Whale Watching San Diego's Captain Domenic Biagini (with Alison Moors) followed a tip from a fisherman and found these killer whales 7 miles west of North Coronados Island at 9:30. We identified them as adult female CA126 and the CA216s: matriarch CA216, daughter CA216A, daughter CA216C and her white leucitic two-year-old calf CA216C1 ""Frosty"", large juvenile CA216D, and calf CA216E. They were milling and socializing, and were incredibly boat friendly. The whales did a few spyhops, chin slaps, and tail throws while they continued traveling slowly NE at 4 knots. Later, they sped up and headed NW at about 10 knots, but would still swim over to the boat after most surfacings. At the end of the encounter, they had stopped and were taking 12-14 minute dives, coming up repeatedly in the same spot. They left the whales at 15:30, 20 miles west of Mission Bay.
ENCOUNTER #2, 18:00-18:30; 7 Bigg's killer whales: CA216s and CA126. Pacific Offshore Expeditions'Captain Ryan Lawler (with Delaney Trowbridge) heard about the earlier encounter, and headed 50 miles south toward the killer whales, arriving at 18:00 (four minutes before sunset), 15 miles north of their last reported position. The whales were were socializing, and were very boat friendly. One whale was ""kelping"" (swimming slowly through kelp draped over the it). One whale spyhopped as it was getting dark.
NOTE: CA216C1 ""Frosty"" is the only known white leucistic killer whale off CA. (A similar-looking calf in the Pacific NW, 3-year-old T046B1B ""Tl'uk"", went missing earlier this year).
Summary: by Lead Research Biologist Alisa Schulman-Janiger.
Photos: #1 and #2 - Domenic Biagini (GWWSD); #3 - Delaney Trowbridge (POE, @seatacean); #4 - Alison Moors (GWWSD, @_justalison_)

This was a very special encounter of killer whales and humpback whales’ interaction.
Per Monterey Bay Whale Watch, at 11:44AM, we received reports from another vessel that five killer whales had killed an elephant seal and were being chased east by two humpback whales.
We arrived at 12:10 and saw the beginning of another hunt on a large, male California sea lion. In between hunting, they rolled around, tail slapped, and made close passes to the boat. They took turns carrying the carcass of the sea lion on their backs and shared it between the group. After the kill, we saw several breaches, spy hopping, and more rolling around as the group celebrated their successful hunt.
At approximately 12:45, humpbacks started approaching the area again. Initially there were two, but we ended up with FIVE humpbacks in the area antagonizing the killer whales as they attempted to hunt a second, smaller sea lion. The humpbacks would surface in between the group of killer whales and exhibit annoyance with them by trumpet blowing, charging and tail swishing. Once the second hunt ceased, the killer whales began antagonizing the humpback whales, making close passes to them, tail slapping and circling them. We left the scene at approximately 1:50, with the killer whales and the humpback whales still in the area together.
This group was previously sighted by Santa Barbara Channel on 10/30. They traveled approximately 234 miles in 117.5 hours. They covered an average of ~48 miles/day for five days, including predations, resting, and meandering. Their normal speed is 4-5 miles an hour when we are with them, and they can travel much faster.
Photos © 2021 Bob Western (All Rights Reserved). Caption on each image is copied from his original post.

Yesterday Louise’s family (CA140Bs) were in Monterey Bay again! They were just west of Monterey along the canyon where they finished a meal and then became quite active and social before traveling north across the Bay. We were surprised to see that they were joined by CA113 and her son CA113A, whales we don’t see very often but not uncommon to see different families temporarily associate.
Video by Jason Berring Jr. We reached a group of 7 Bigg's transient killer whales at 11:14, about an hour after they had finished feeding on a successful predation. We identified them as the CA140Bs (CA140B Louise, CA140B1 Stinger, CA140B2 Bee, CA140B3 Buzz) with young female CA23A2, plus rarely-seen female CA113 and her adult son CA113A (about 20 years old). After feeding, they became quite active and social, with lots of breaching, porpoising, and a few spyhops; this is typical post-predation celebration behavior for Bigg's transients. The youngest calf, CA140B3 Buzz, sped very fast under the water as it chased a Cassin's auklet. (This is a very commonly seen predation practice play activity that can involve flukes hitting the seabird, and sometimes results in whales eating it). The big male CA113A tended to stay on the outskirts of the group. Most dives were quite short. They sped up for a while as they headed north, then slowed down and regrouped, briefly resting close together. One whale did a slow spyhop, then they picked up speed and dispersed. We left at 12:18. A very interesting day, with lots of behaviors and interactions within and between these families!
Killer whale IDs by the California Killer Whale Project
Photos by MBWW intern Morgan Quimby

On 12 November 2021, we arrived at 3646.45 N, 12154.55W at 10:59. Approximately 80-100 killer whales were spread over 2-3 miles, in at least 12 subgroups averaging 5-6 whales. We observed lots of tail slapping (aka lob-tailing, a favorite behavior seen during most of our offshore killer whale encounters) and milling. The whales were moving west, following each other. Some dispersed, some picked up speed with rooster-tailing and bow-riding, and others were very curious and dove close to the boat. Over the next two and half hours, new sub-groups appeared and others left (some headed SW and others NW). It was reported that some were carrying a shark carcass!
Among hundreds of photos that we are still going through, we identified multiple whales including O87 (the first identified offshore killer whale in CA) and her daughter O231.Others present included O77 and O79: this is very likely their first confirmed sighting in California! These ""O"" (for offshore) ID numbers were originally established by Graeme Ellis (DFO: Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and colleagues. We are currently working with Graeme to ID more individuals, and will do a follow-up post.
*O87: The first known offshore killer whale sighting in California: in Monterey Bay during the ACS (American Cetacean Society) Biennial Conference whale watching trip on 6 November 1992, 29 years ago! Our CEO & Director of Research Nancy Black and Lead Research Biologist Alisa Schulman-Janiger were on board. They saw 20+ whales - including O87! Capturing IDs was very difficult, as they were racing at high speed during this encounter!
*O87: Long-distance match! Alisa has matched O87 and her daughter O231 from Dana Point, California to the Bering Sea!
*Fun Facts! **24 years ago, on 12 Nov 1997 - 50 offshore killer whales visited Monterey Bay!!
**One of the last times they were documented in Monterey Bay was on 13 December 2016, when Monterey Bay Whale Watch drone footage captured them carrying and feeding on a sevengill shark: the first time that this prey species was ever confirmed!
**There was a shore-based sighting in January 2021, where we identified the female O111! Thanks to Kate Cummings and Tim Huntington for submitting those photos.
A fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone!
Photo credit: Monterey Bay Whale Watch intern Ella Mckhann.
Here is a link to our 2008 publication, ""Eastern temperate North Pacific offshore killer whales (Orcinus orca):
Occurrence, movements, and insights into feeding ecology""
https://www.orcanetwork.org/nathist/offshoresdalheim.pdf On Friday November 12th we had an incredible, once in a lifetime sighting! We were with 80-100 offshore orcas for close to two hours on our 10am trip. Offshores orcas tend to be a bit smaller than the normal Biggs transient orcas we usually see. They also are in much larger groupings like this, have rounder and straighter dorsal fins, and eat sharks and fish! We have recognized a few individuals from this trip but are still analyzing hundreds of photos.
Video taken by Jason Berring Jr

We have been lucky enough to see CA171B Fatfin and his companion CA169 Tofina five times over the last month! They have been patrolling the canyon edge and even caught a couple of sea lions. On November 24th, Fatfin showed some incredible behaviors that included breaching, pec slapping, and tail slapping! Check out our highlight to learn more about these two whales! Enjoy these photos by Wyatt Walsh and Daniel Bianchetta taken aboard @monterey_bay_whale_watch

11/28 was an incredible day! The CA51s attacked a large male California sea lion, which ended up next to our boat (while our boat was in neutral and drifted). CA51 Star was very involved in the hunt, and her daughter CA51E Comet was second most involved. After the hunting was complete, the whole family celebrated with lots of breaching, tail slaps, and rolling around. CA51B Orion even did a few breaches! It is spectacular seeing a full-grown male orca breach. We watched them feeding, celebrating, and swimming off into the sunset. A truly amazing day!
(California Sea Lion being rammed into by Killer Whales @ 1:16)
Video by Jason Berring Jr. We were so lucky to spend sunset with this family of killer whales after they had feasted. Photos by Research Biologist Colleen Talty

We are still catching up with some sightings we had over the past few weeks! On 11/30/21 we saw CA136 and CA179 again, who we just saw a few weeks prior! These two are rarer whales that are most like mother and adoptive son. During this sighting, they were harassing a sea lion and making close passes to the boat.
Photos by Daniel Bianchetta taken on @monterey_bay_whale_watch

Last Friday, December 10th, we had a very exciting encounter with the CA140Bs! We spent the day with them, so we will break up this sighting into several posts.
We arrived that morning to discover that the orcas had recently hunted a juvenile elephant seal. We heard reports from another vessel that they had skinned the seal, which is a less commonly observed behavior; we’ve primarily seen this exhibited with a few other pinniped species (California sea lions and harbor seals). The killer whales were extremely active and repeatedly surfaced and swam right next to the boat, often with pieces of blubber in their mouths! They were also trying to drape the carcass over their bodies; this SAME group did this during a predation event in November with a California sea lion—so fascinating! Thanks to our research (supported by ⭐️you⭐️) we can trace the distinct behaviors of the various families that make up this population of orcas!
We will post more in the next few days, but check out this video by Isaak Haberman of @monterey_bay_whale_watch —you can see one of the younger orcas surfacing right next to the boat with a piece of blubber in it’s mouth! Here are some photos of CA140B2, “Bee,” exercising hunting techinques with a northern fulmar from our 12/10/21 encounter. You can see her upside down with her teeth exposed and the fulmar in her mouth. We commonly see younger whales practicing like this with birds, but rarely with northern fulmars. The younger whales use smaller prey to prepare and perfect their technique for predations on larger animals, like sea lions and gray whales. CA140B1 “Stinger” and CA140B2 “Bee” were the main whales who were pulling and tail slapping this northern fulmar. They exhibited this behavior for about thirty minutes, giving observers a great insight into this behavior. It was also reported that one of the whales even charged at a black-footed albatross! Very interesting behavior. We will post a video tomorrow showing a long clip of this behavior!
Photos by Scottie Schmidt @okilikewhalesandcookies Here is an incredible video showcasing some of that hunting/practicing behavior on a northern fulmar (seabird) from 12/10/21! Mostly the younger orcas were involved in this behavior. See our previous posts for more details. Video by Captain Scott of @monterey_bay_whale_watch Here is the last part of our encounter with the CA140Bs from 12/10/21! After they hunted an elephant seal and practiced with birds, they got very friendly and social! They spyhopped, rolled around, swam back and forth underneath the boat, and also did some breaching! It was amazing to see behaviors like this. Check out these photos by Daniel Bianchetta and Scottie Schmidt! Stay tuned over the next few days for more encounters we have gotten reports of in Southern California! It’s been a great month for orca sightings off California!

A seldom encountered group of 5 Bigg's transient killer whales, including adult female CA122, her eldest daughter CA122A (with juvenile CA122A2 and calf CA122A3), and her adult son CA122C. Shortly after 11am, fisherman Richard Hooper encountered 5 killer whales that were actively hunting common dolphin between Scorpion Anchorage and oil platform Gail, a few miles east of Scorpion Bay, Santa Cruz Island. The dolphins were fleeing; then the killer whales popped up, briefly chased them, and killed one dolphin. Hooper said that the dolphin hunt, kill, and feeding took only about a minute. Then the killer whales headed east toward Anacapa Island. Condor Express Whale Watching (with photographer Adam Ernster and Juan Morales) arrived on scene within 30 minutes. The killer whales chased the large group (~1000) of common dolphin), and soon killed another dolphin close to the boat. The whales were socializing and spyhopping after the kill. The dive boat Raptor (with Evan Brodsky and Capt. Alex Legaspi) arrived 10 minutes after the Condor Express, and stayed with the killer whales until 1344; the whales were mostly surface traveling, and some came close to the boat.
Encounter summary by CKWP Lead Research Biologist, Alisa Schulman-Janiger.
*Thanks so much to those who sent their photos and videos to us!
**Photos: female CA122A spyhops and chases common dolphin, Family photo (CA122C, CA122, CA122A3, and CA122A), CA122 and son CA122C (by Adam Ernster, on Condor Express); CA122A and calf CA122A3 (by Juan Morales, on Condor Express).

Amazing encounter with the CA51s, "The Friendly Pod", Santa Barbara Channel! At 1030, Island Packers (Capt. Joel Barrett) encountered four orcas off Santa Cruz Island, outside Prisoner's Cove. The females killed a California sea lion and harassed a rhinoceros auklet. Condor Express Whale Watching arrived at 1158. Photographer Adam Ernster identified this Bigg's transient matriline as the CA51s; photos confirmed adult female CA51 Star, adult male CA51C Bumper, female CA51E Comet and calf CA51F. At 1210, they began hunting a female sea lion; CA51 and CA51E breached on it multiple times, then it swam under the Condor Express and hid for about an hour as whales circled the boat. They became boat friendly - especially CA51E, who did four spyhops. CA51 and calf CA51F nuzzled a lot. CA51C did multiple tail slaps.The whales repeatedly did a very unusual behavior: lined up side by side facing the boat, lifted heads above the water, and stared at passengers for minutes! At 1251, CA51B Orion arrived with sister CA51A Aurora, her offspring (CA51A2 Andi, CA51A3, and calf CA51A4 Eclipse), and adult male CA50B, and all 10 whales became very active. CA51A2 emitted a raspberry-like vocalization; another whale did a higher pitched call. Several spit water from their mouths at the surface, making "fart sounds". They sat in the jet wash bubbles. Then CA51A2 did a spectacular back flip! Multiple whales were breaching, tail slapping, and sculling with pectoral flippers while swimming on their backs! They found another smaller sea lion, which hid under the Condor Express. As the boat left at 1157, the calves began wake riding - and so did the smaller sea lion, and a few whales breached at least 10 feet out of the water! At 1440, Evan Brodsky relocated them closer to Santa Cruz Island. They were calm and made eye contact; one calf chased and killed at least one seabird. At 1650, the whales started chasing a large pod of common dolphin, but it was too dark to see if they caught any. The encounter ended at 1700.
*Encounter summary by CWR Lead Research Biologist Alisa Schulman-Janiger. CA216s and CA140Bs! A fisherman reported to whale watching captains that 8-10 killer whales were between the Moss Landing Harbor entrance and the open water buoy, to the SW. Captain Danny Frank (Discovery Whale Watch) got on the radio and spread the word. It took Don Baccus (Fast Raft) about 30 minutes to reach them in heavy seas. He encountered 5 Bigg's transient killer whales at 1130, about 2 miles off Moss Landing: pale gray leucistic calf CA216C1 "Frosty" with mom CA216C, and "Frosty's" aunt, CA216B "Jagged" with her offspring CA216B1 and CA216B2. Birds were circling over an unidentified kill. After about 15 minutes, the whales took off in rough seas. At 1345, Kate Cummings of Blue Ocean Whale Watch relocated these five killer whales about 5 miles off Moss Landing, traveling with five other whales: CA140B "Louise", CA140B1 "Stinger", CA140B2 "Bee", CA140B3 "Buzz", and CA23A2. They were cruising east, staying down about 4-5 minutes. The whales headed to a "stinky slick" (unknown prey kill), started making longer dives (7-10 minutes), and became more elusive, They passed close to the boat once, then took off and headed west shortly after 3pm.
NOTE: The CA216s were last seen between oil Platform Gail and East Anacapa Island on 12 December (Santa Barbara Channel).
Encounter summary by CKWP Lead Research Biologist Alisa Schulman-Janiger.
Photos by Kate Cummings (Blue Ocean Whale Watch):
1, 2 (L to R): CA216B Jagged, CA216C1 Frosty, CA216C, CA140B3 Buzz, CA140B Louise
3. CA140B3 Buzz, CA216C1 Frosty
4. CA216C, CA216C1 Frosty Santa Barbara Channel: more than 9 Bigg's transient killer whales! The Islander (Island Packers) was returning from Santa Cruz Island when they spotted killer whales at 1600, just west of oil Platform Gail heading slowly northeast, ignoring nearby hauled-out sea lions. These included 3-year-old pale gray leucistic calf CA216C1 "Frosty" with mom CA216C, and CA216C's sister CA216B "Jagged" with her offspring CA216B1 and CA216B2. Wavy-finned adult male CA45B and eleven-year-old female CA138B were with them, but soon moved a few hundred yards away and started displaying mating behavior. "Frosty" and mom moved ahead, while the others flanked the boat. They converged and split again; CA45B and CA138B moved off and resuming mating behavior. Adult male CA138A and adult female CA45 stayed several hundred yards away with a few others. When the boat left at 1635, CA45B and CA138B stayed behind (mating behavior), while the others slowly spread out eastward toward Arch Rock (East Anacapa Island).
NOTE: this CA216 subgroup, including "Frosty", was resighted in Monterey Bay on 22 December: watch for our next post!
Encounter summary by CKWP Lead Research Biologist Alisa Schulman-Janiger. Thanks to all who sent us images!
Photos by Mark O'Brien (1, 3, 4); Dustin Harris, Island Packers (2):
1. CA216C1 "Frosty" with mom CA216C; 2: CA216B "Jagged" with calf CA216B2; 3, 4: male CA45B and young female CA138B, mating!