Encounter 30 - November 8, 2021

Yesterday Louise’s family (CA140Bs) were in Monterey Bay again! They were just west of Monterey along the canyon where they finished a meal and then became quite active and social before traveling north across the Bay. We were surprised to see that they were joined by CA113 and her son CA113A, whales we don’t see very often but not uncommon to see different families temporarily associate.
Video by Jason Berring Jr. We reached a group of 7 Bigg's transient killer whales at 11:14, about an hour after they had finished feeding on a successful predation. We identified them as the CA140Bs (CA140B Louise, CA140B1 Stinger, CA140B2 Bee, CA140B3 Buzz) with young female CA23A2, plus rarely-seen female CA113 and her adult son CA113A (about 20 years old). After feeding, they became quite active and social, with lots of breaching, porpoising, and a few spyhops; this is typical post-predation celebration behavior for Bigg's transients. The youngest calf, CA140B3 Buzz, sped very fast under the water as it chased a Cassin's auklet. (This is a very commonly seen predation practice play activity that can involve flukes hitting the seabird, and sometimes results in whales eating it). The big male CA113A tended to stay on the outskirts of the group. Most dives were quite short. They sped up for a while as they headed north, then slowed down and regrouped, briefly resting close together. One whale did a slow spyhop, then they picked up speed and dispersed. We left at 12:18. A very interesting day, with lots of behaviors and interactions within and between these families!
Killer whale IDs by the California Killer Whale Project
Photos by MBWW intern Morgan Quimby