A group of Bigg's traversed 110 miles in 18 hours!
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On the afternoon of May 30th, a group of Bigg's killer whales were picked up outside of Friday Harbor. Of course, tracking killer whale sightings the way we do, I was curious to find out who they were. When a friend messaged me and said "T19B is here" I said: "Impossible!" But, there he was!
Why was I so surprised to see him? Because he, along with mom T19, the T49As, and T137s had been reported the morning before near Campbell River, BC. Usually, it takes killer whales at least 2 days to traverse the 150 miles between Campbell River and the San Juan Islands. But this group showed up here the very next day!
This map shows their approximate travel route over the 33 hours from the morning of May 29th to the evening of May 30th. They traversed 170 miles during that time, with the most impressive stretch coming between being seen off Hornby Island at 9:30 PM and Friday Harbor at 3:30 PM the next day - a distance of 110 miles in just 18 hours. That's an average of over 6 miles per hour for that whole time.
Proof, in case you needed it, that orcas can travel well over 100 miles in a day! Special shout out to the contributors to Campbell River Whale Spotters and Nanoose Whale Watch for the reports that made the documentation of this incredible feat possible.
