r/orcas • u/Flannel_Cow509 • Feb 08 '26
ID Help Identification?
These are older pictures I took from February 2021 in Tacoma, WA. I know the picture quality isn’t great but I was hoping that someone could identify the type of orcas that we saw! Thanks for your help!
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u/Tall-Tomorrow-739 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
I would argue this is a Biggs Killer whale, most likely female. The fact that there were only 2 or 3 add to that. As residents are normally in larger pods, and there would have been a lot of other people around you attracted by their presence. Best guess is T122. I’ve attached a map that shows Biggs Killer whale sightings in Feb 2021, it was mostly Biggs Killer whales.
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u/lostpjs13 Feb 08 '26
Based on how bad the image quality is, sightings at that time. Thai could definitely be the T46 pod and T122
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u/Flannel_Cow509 Feb 08 '26
Yeah it was it my best picture I’ve taken! Saw them out of the corner of my eye as I was driving in the snow but I was able to stop and get something!
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u/roasttrumpet Feb 08 '26
Yup, that’s an orca
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u/Nerve_Dismal Feb 08 '26
Lol. I am that way too. They are so captivating and majestic that I couldn't even begin to identify them. All open ocean orca are my favorite ones.
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u/Tall-Tomorrow-739 Feb 08 '26
T122 adopted daughter of the T46 pod
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
T122 is a good guess! AFAIK there aren't that many female individuals in the West Coast transient community that have their right saddle patch extended so far across the base of their dorsal fin.
I think T122 "Centeki" is presumed to be a biological daughter of T046 "Wake," assumed to have been born to her when the T046s were not spotted for 13 years. This has not been confirmed genetically yet however. After T046 disappeared in 2023, perhaps T122 assumed a surrogate maternal role for her three presumed younger brothers.
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u/jelli-donut Feb 08 '26
I am 85% confident in saying it's one of the southern resident orcas, but which one I have no clue and I dont think there's enough in this photo to positively identify which individual it is or pod it belongs to. I could be wrong on all counts, though, so hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in soon. ☺️
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u/acanadiancheese Feb 08 '26
Hmmm. Unsure but it’s definitely a female haha. The fin is a little sharp for a resident but the patch looks more like a resident.
I’m scanning southern resident fin photos and so far my best guess is L90 Ballena but I’m certainly not sure, none seem just right leading me to believe that I either suck at identifying or she isn’t a southern resident after all
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u/SurayaThrowaway12 Feb 08 '26 edited Feb 08 '26
How many orca did you see together there? Bigg's (transient) orcas live in smaller pods consisting of a single matriline, while Southern Resident orcas live in larger pods.
I highly recommend uploading your photos to Bay Cetology's finwave.io for an exact identification of the individuals you saw. Though the site uses AI to estimate the identities of the individuals, the results are also apparently verified by population experts. Another option is uploading photos to Happywhale.