July 31, 2023, 10:30 - A Double-Species morning!
This morning we got the pleasure of seeing both orcas and humpbacks! First, we stopped off at Halibut Bank to hang out with our humpback whales that were feeding in the area today. Humpbacks that we saw this morning included:
We managed to see two different mom and calf pairs this morning, a truly rare sight indeed! So far this year, there have been 10 documented mom and calf pairs seen within the Salish Sea. it is such as treat when we get to see them. Often humpback whale calves will be very curious about all their new surroundings as young whales and will practice their acrobatic moves more often than adults do from what we have seen as a company. Today was no exception: Zigzag’s calf was breaching, and pec slapping. Splashing on the surface of the water is most likely believed to be a form of communication with other whales in the area.
Orcas seen during this morning’s T-party were:
T034 Grace ♀ (≤1969)
T034A Pachamama ♀ (2007)
T034B Sonder ♀ (2017)
T065A5 Indy ♂ (2014)
T037 Rocky III ♀ (1979)
T037B Harald ♀ (1998)
T037B1 Lance ♂ (2012)
T037B3 (2022)
A t-party occurs when multiple different transient orca family pods spend time together. Today we had the T034s and the T037s spending time together, along with a familiar drifter that we have all learned to know and love: T065A5 Indy. The T034s and T037s are closely related family pods. This t-party meeting consists of 4 generations of orca matrilines. T034 Grace is the mother of Rocky III, grandmother of T037B Harald and the great-grandmother of T037B1 Lance and T037B3. T065A5 Indy decided he wanted to be a part of this family reunion today. Indy is a 9-year-old male whale that has been spending time away from his family pod for about 2 years now. It’s not common for males to continuously travel by themselves or with others outside of their family without their family being present.
T034 Grace is estimated to be at least 54 years old, while her daughter T037 Rocky III is 44 years old. Both females are at the age of menopause. Grace and Rocky III have stopped reproducing, but they still continue to be a fountain of knowledge for their younger family members. Orca matriarchs have the job of teaching all their offspring, grandchildren and great-grandchildren hunting tactics, socializing and how to make the correct noises so that the family can understand them. Each transient orca family pod has a unique dialect of various chirps, whistles and clicks that only members of their family can understand. Scientists believe that repetitive and monotonous noises from orcas within a family is enough evidence to prove that they have names for one another.
Photos from this morning’s tour were taken by Marine Naturalists Ella Hillbrecht, Val Watson and Aly Kohlman.
Orca belly! Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
T037 Rocky III. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
T037B Harald (middle), T034 Grace (right), and two other friends. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
T037 Rocky III AKA Pizzafin cruising. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
T065A5 Indy beside a friend. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
A big chunky T065A5 Indy spy hopping and looking around above water. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
T065A5 Indy spy hopping! Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
T034 Grace. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Flukes up! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
The underside of one of the younger whale’s tails! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
What a splash fest! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T065A5 Indy - he has some new scarring on his dorsal. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Left to right: T034 Grace and T937 Rocky III. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T037B Harald. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Not everyone’s flukes are perfect - some of them get notches like this whale. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Orcas are surprisingly round, as seen here. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T034A Pachamama. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
One of the young ones’ pectoral fins! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Eyeball! It is very uncommon to see whale eyes open above water, but Zig Zag’s calf seemed really curious today! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Coming in for a landing! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Like mother, like child - Zig Zag and her 2023 calf pec slapping in sync. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Left to right: Zig Zag’s 2023 calf, Zig Zag (fluking). Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Zig Zag (BCX1193)’s gorgeous flukes. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Left to right: Mother humpback Zig Zag and her 2023 calf. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Humpback blowholes! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A bouncy calf during the tour. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
This little one was extra excited today. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Although young, this calf’s throat is already encrusted with barnacles. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Looks like someone might have got a bit of food during this surfacing! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A well-fed calf is a happy calf! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
It takes a ton of energy to breach like this. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A pod of Harbour porpoises - they usually travel very fast and are quite hard to photograph. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Sleepy seals. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Seals, just like humans, are mammals - so they lactate (produce milk) for their babies! Here we see a pup nursing. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A very young Harbour seal pup. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A Pigeon Guillemot meandering across the water. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
Juvenile cormorants resting on one of our trees with a mature Cormorant above them. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
It looks a little crowded, but this is how the Cormorants nest! Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
A Juvenile Bald Eagle observing the waterways. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
A Juvenile Bald Eagle in flight. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.
While not super exciting to look at, this is an Eagle nest! These nests can get very large. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.