December 2024 T-Party

After lots of going through photos and conversing with colleagues we think we've dialed in who all was present for that T Party in Haro Strait a few days ago:

T34s/T37s, T37As, T38As, T49As, T75Bs, T75Cs, T77s, T124As

Our current count is 37 whales! It's by far the largest group of Bigg's we've encountered in 2024.

The family groups were all mixed up and with a number of juvenile whales present it seemed that identifying the calves might prove difficult. But there was one little one in particular who had me stumped, and after a few days of comparing notes with other researchers at Center for Whale Research and Bay Cetology the conclusion is it is likely a new calf for T38A!

It will take a few more encounters to confirm, but I'm amazed we were able to help document a "new" whale at all amidst that chaos. It speaks to the value of collaboration across various research groups and community scientists (with a nod too to Maya's Legacy Whale Watching for hosting us that day!) to more accurately document what's going on with these whales.

Here's Jason's video highlight compilation from our memorable encounter.