September 4th - Orcas at the Apex

The adventure with the T36/T36B pod continued today. After we left them heading north through Howe Sound last night, they’d done some impressive traveling. Earlier this morning there was a report of Orcas heading South past Richmond, and we had a pretty good idea of who it was. Sure enough we showed up on scene to find our pod from last night cruising through the Strait of Georgia, heading South towards Active Pass.
This pod consists of the matriarch T36 (Flapjack) and her daughter T36B (Tattertip), as well as Tattertip’s three offspring: T36B1 (Bhotia), T36B2 (Greenfelder), and T36B3 (Unnamed- born 2018). We estimate that Flapjack was born around 1970, making her 49 years old! Orca are one of the only species that go through menopause besides humans, and due to her age Flapjack has likely gone through the whole process herself. Luckily though, it looks like the duo does an excellent job raising calves, as all three of Tattertip’s offspring are still fairly young but very healthy (2009, 2013, and 2018 respectively).

From left to right: T36B3, T36B (Tattertip), and T36B1 (Bhotia). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster (10:30).

Left to Right: T36B1 (Bhotia) and her mother, T36B (Tattertip). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster (10:30).

Left to right: T36B2 (Greenfelder), T36B3, and their mother T36B (Tattertip). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster (10:30).

T36B1 (Bhotia) and sibling cruising along. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster (10:30).

Young T36B3 (background) travelling with his sibling T36B2 (Greenfelder; foreground, left) and their mother T36B (Tattertip; foreground, right). Photo by Rebeka Pirker (10:30).

A classic British Columbian landscape - an orca (T36B1/Bhotia) in the foreground, with one of our BC Ferries passing by in the back. Photo by Rebeka Pirker (10:30).

Harbour seals relaxing on the rocks. Photo by Rebeka Pirker (10:30).

If you’d like an opportunity to see Transient Orcas or Humpback whales in the wild, join us on our next tour!

We have daily tours at 10:30 and 3:30 right now on our open vessel. You can book online through our website, or by calling our office at 1-250-667-5177 and our office staff would be more than happy to help you book a tour or answer any questions you may have.

*all photos are taken with a telescopic lens and cropped for detail. We maintain the required viewing distance of 200m with our orcas and 100m with our humpbacks.