Apr 18, 2019 – Time for a family reunion! Today Captain Ian, our crew members and guests got to witness one of the most wonderful characteristics of Orcas on display. Killer whales are extremely social animals – even more so than humans! Here we had two related families meeting up for some family time! T65, the eldest of these whales is mother to two offspring, T65A, also known as Artemis, and T63, also known as Chainsaw, due to the unique notches in his dorsal fin. Female killer whales split from their mother, usually sometime after having their first calf, to start their own family. Male killer whales however, will stay with their mother their entire life.
T65A (Artemis) split from her family unit a number of years ago, and has since given birth to six calves, one of whom unfortunately passed away. She now spends her time travelling with her five offspring, the youngest of whom is only 1 year old! This family were spotted a few days ago – you may remember reading about them in our Captain’s Log!
On this amazing trip the family were visited by the offspring’s uncle, T63 (Chainsaw), and their grandmother, T65. What a beautiful sight to watch at Race Rocks!
Check out pictures from the trip in our Facebook album!