#bigg's

Vintage price tag from Bigg's, which was a hypermarket chain in Cincinnati, Ohio. The most famous location was the one at Forest Fair Mall (Cincinnati Mills), which is where this tag comes from. It was on a package of my mother's cross stitch fabric.

But his family takes care of him. His mother Tasu, T2C, leads her band of four (grand)children through the Salish Sea. Often only four whales are to be seen, with Tumbo lagging behind by as much as a mile. But they always stay in vocal contact, and when the gap becomes too great his family circles back to keep him company again. When they hunt, Tumbo patiently waits by the side and is fed a part of the meal. Tumbo comes from an extended family of genetically curious whales. They have been known since the 1970s, when the whole T pod was captured, including Tumbo’s grandmother T2 Pointednose Cow. The famous white whale Chimo (T4) was a calf in that pod, as well as Charlie Chin (T1) who had a deformed jaw. A second, much lesser known white whale (Alice, T6), also used to travel with them but was never captured. It seems some strange lines run in this family, although all of Tumbo’s siblings so far are normal, healthy whales.

For a few minutes, Galiano (T19B) and his family disappeared behind a small island—no doubt searching for seals—and this is how they reappeared. Galiano breached twice with a loud “thwack” as his enormous body hit the water! Shorelines Photography

Biggs killer whales everywhere! Close to 50 different animals! This was right after the sun went down as we were getting ready to leave. T060C spy hopping. Hello September!

A member of the T049A's Bigg’s killer whales. Photo by Ocean EcoVentures Whale Watching - Cowichan Bay.

Find the killer whale! Our 7:00am private charter saw 5 transient (Bigg's) killer whales including this extremely playful juvenile poking her head through a kelp paddy.

Bigg’s killer whales hunting sea lions in Monterey, California. Photos by Alisa Schulman-Janiger.