06/02/2026
Depoe Bay Orca Encounter Details for May 31, 2026 from Carrie Newell (WREE Owner, Captain, and Marine Biologist).
"The circle of life can be difficult to watch. Early afternoon on May 31, I got a report that orcas were heading north from Cape Foulweather. I headed slowly south on an extremely bumpy ocean until my time for the trip ran out. I informed the Captains of the big boats to watch out for the orcas. I had just called inbound at the harbor entrance when Captain Kaleb from the Kadaho called and said he found the orcas.
I turned the boat and met the orcas near the bridge. There were 4-5 of them, females and juveniles. They were doing all kinds of behaviors right next to shore including breaching, tail lobbing, and head stands. These behaviors many times indicate a kill. My manager, Katt, got great shots from shore and I also got some from the water. After analyzing them, we saw one of the female harbor seals who had a pup was being harassed by the orcas. From our observations, it appeared that the 150 lb, 5-foot long harbor seal mom was standing her ground in protection of her pup. The female harbor seal faced the 6000 lb, 20-foot orca many times during the ordeal.
The orcas were the T75Bs with the 31-year old female, Pebbles, teaching her daughters and her son how to attack a harbor seal. It appears that the seal escaped because we saw the mom harbor seal imprinting with her pup later.
I always love teaching and learning. I worked with orcas with expert Ken Balcomb (unfortunately, now deceased) in the 90's and taught about orcas in my college classes. I always yearn to learn more so after this encounter, I called Alisa Schulman-Janiger of the California Killer Whale Project to get additional information of the specific orcas we had seen since she is extremely knowledgeable about them. She compared the photos to Jared Towers Photo Identification Catalogue for the Transient Population of Bigg's Killer Whales. This is what I learned about the individual orcas from them.
The mother, T75B, Pebbles, was born in 1995. She has had five calves. Her first one, T75B1, Scars, was born in 2007 but died in 2013. Her second calf was a daughter, Jasper, T75B2, was born in 2015 (11 years old). Jasper was 8 years old in Aug. 2023 when she had a calf but unfortunately, it didn’t survive. I know from first hand observation that the first calf of a female seldom survives, and many times it is called a sacrificial calf. The reason why is that all the toxins that the female has ingested in her lifetime up to that point are released into the milk and the first calf gets the full toxin load. (From Whale, Dolphins and Porpoises along the Pacific Coast by Carrie Newell). Pebbles next calf, a son Rubble, T75B3, was born in 2017 (9 years old). He has not started sprouting yet. Male orcas start sprouting (elongating their dorsal fin) from 11 to 16 years of age. (C. Newell). Her next calf was a daughter, Petra, T75B4, and was born in 2021 (5 years old). These last two calves are still in the juvenile stage which extends from 3 to 9 years of age. Pebbles most recent calf was a daughter, T75B5, born in 2025.
Orcas can be identified as individuals not only from their dorsal fins and saddle patches but also from their eye patches. Pebbles has a jagged eye patch and this genetic trait was passed down to 3 of her calves.
There has only been one other sighting of this pod in Oregon in 2019. This family group is normally seen in the San Juan Islands and around Victoria, Vancouver Island, Canada.
A very special day with orcas, plus a juvenile breaching first on the left side of the boat and then on the right side. Thank goodness it had a happy ending with no dead harbor seals!
Love Ya,
Carrie"
Photos:
1 - Mother, T75B, Pebbles, was born in 1995. Right dorsal. Photo by Carrie Newell.
2 - Mother, T75B, Pebbles, was born in 1995. Left dorsal. Photo by Carrie Newell.
3 - Daughter, T75B2, Jasper, was born in 2015. Right dorsal. Photo by Katt Wamsley.
4 - Daughter, T75B2, Jasper. Notice the smooth eye patch, unlike the other offspring, which have jagged eye patches like Pebbles (T75B). Photo by Katt Wamsley.
5 - Son, T75B3, Rubble born in 2017. This juvenile male is still too young to start sprouting its 6ft dorsal fin. Right dorsal. Photo by Carrie Newell.
6 - Rubble (T75B3) and daughter, T75B4, Petra who was born in 2021. Photo by Katt Wamsley.
7 - Two of the pod harassing a harbor seal. Photo by Katt Wamsley.
8 - 150 lbs Harbor seal vs a 6000 lbs orca. Photo by Katt Wamsley.
9 - After their hunting lessons, the pod put on a show of breaches and other behaviors. Photo by Katt Wamsley.
10 - After their hunting lessons, the pod put on a show of tail lobbing, head stands, and other behaviors. Photo by Carrie Newell.
11 - After their hunting lessons, the pod put on a show of breaches and other behaviors as they made their way out of the bay. Photo by Carrie Newell.
12 - Harbor seal mom and pup imprinting after the pod had begun to head to the north side of the bay. Photo by Katt Wamsley.
13 - Harbor seal mom and pup reunited. Pup is approximately 3 weeks old. Photo by Katt Wamsley.
All photos were taken with telephoto lenses and heavily cropped.
