A Meeting of the Bigg’s (Transient) Killer Whale Matriarchs – 14/5/15

back to front T101 T124A T37 T36B
Back to Front T101, T124A, T37, T36B

This was during a large congregation of Ts, there were at least 25 whales, likely more. They were split into groups that were roughly organized by age and gender, the adult males (T102, T100C, etc) were more-or-less on the outskirts of the entire thing, doing who knows what. There were two groups of predominantly calves and juveniles that were, as to be suspected, pretty bouncy and surface active.

T86A3 popping their tail stock up while playing with someone else
T86A3 popping their tail stock up while playing with a friend

Then there was this main group which consisted almost exclusively of the older females and mothers. There was a lot of physical contact between them and they were not spending much time below the surface.

matriarchs socializing
Matriarchs Socializing

There was also lots of vocalizing happening. One can only imagine what was being exchanged between them.  I was able to get a small video clip of the incredible social behaviour.

It was definitely one of the neatest things ever!!! More whales that there are in all of Jpod! Apparently they were vocalizing off the chain as well.

For inquiring minds, we had AT LEAST T23, T23C, T23D, T36, T36Bs, T37, T86As, T100s, T101s, T124s (minus T124C), and T124As (including T124A1).

-Tasli


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.