T68A passing by some Stellar sea lions on the eastern tip of Spieden Island
Photo by Dave Ellifrit


T68A
Photo by Dave Ellifrit


T68 ramming a Stellar sea lion off Spieden Island
Photo by Dave Ellifrit


T68 Lunging
Photo by Dave Ellifrit

T68A with seagulls picking up sea lion scraps
Photo by Dave Ellifrit

Encounter # 1 • January 8 • J,K,L

Departed Snug Harbor: 2:40 p.m.
Begin Encounter: 3:17 p.m.
Start Lat: 48° 37.5564 N
Start Long: 123° 06.9377 W
End Encounter: 4:05 p.m.
End Lat: 48° 37.735 N
End Long: 123° 08.1305 W
Returned to Snug Harbor: 5:00 p.m.

Observers on Peregrine: Dave Ellifrit on Peregrine

After receiving a phone call from Jeanne Hyde relaying a report of whales in Spieden Channel, we headed out just before 3:00 p.m. with Jim Maya on Peregrine to find them. We arrived on scene about 3:15 p.m. and found four transients in the process of attacking a large Stellar sea lion near the eastern end of Spieden Channel. The four whales present were T68, T68A, T75B, and T75B1 and all took turns ramming the sea lion and smacking it with their flukes. We had had a report from shore based observers that the attack had be going on since before we left the dock. At 3:20 p.m. the sea lion disappeared and the whales went down on a long dive. When the whales resurfaced, they began milling around slowly with some logging by the females and some playful splashing by the juvenile T75B1. We took a photo that helps confirm T75B1 is a female. We first noticed gulls swooping down to pick up scraps around 3:38 p.m. and soon after we could smell the oil from the sea lion blubber as the whales fed upon the carcass. The whales milled closer to Green Pt. on Spieden Island and we left them, still milling, just inside the point at approximately 4:10 p.m.