What a day, what a trip!” — Captain Tony
Our November 19, 2025 tour out of Edmonds was one for the ages. We already felt lucky with sunshine, calm seas, and the Seattle skyline sparkling in the distance. Then a group of 11 Bigg’s killer whales—the T36 family, the T137 family, and tag-along T99B—posed beneath the Space Needle with the Cascades towering behind them. We were in heaven. And then it got even better!
Off to the west, Holly (T99B), Greenfelder (T36B2), and Wright (T137D) suddenly launched out of the water as they chased a sea lion. Our “this is amazing” moment turned into full-on awe when the other eight orcas raced over to help with the hunt (except T137A Jack—he took his sweet time). What followed became a once-in-a-lifetime highlight for everyone onboard.
Sea lion hunts are incredibly rare to witness; some crew members had never seen one before this very trip. With taking around ~2,000 photos, it was a challenge to narrow everything down to the top moments for this post.
~Naturalist Kyla B.
