September 4, 2024, 10:30 AM - The T002Cs and T075Bs outside Nanaimo, and a handful of humpbacks!

Another beautiful sunny day greeted us as we loaded all three of our boats this morning and headed out to start our search of the Salish Sea. We didn’t have to go far, as there was a group of Orca that were spotted only about 10 minutes outside of our harbour. We were greeted by familiar fins as we approached, and were quick to ID this group as the T002Cs and the T075Bs spending time together! These two pods consist of the following members:

T002C Tasu ♀ (1989)
T002C1 Rocky ♂ (2002)
T002C3 Lucy ♀ (2011)
T002C5 (2020)

T075B Pebbles ♀ (1995)
T075B2 Jasper ♀ (2015)
T075B3 Rubble ♂ (2017)
T075B4 (2021)

These whales were moving very quickly as we spent time with them this morning, seeming to be on a bit of a mission getting from point A to point B. We thought maybe there was an attempted hunt going on, but we didn’t see any of the usual signs of success happening, like prolonged time stationary under the surface, the smell of iron in the air, or birds swooping in to try and get their share. Although orca have very high hunting success, they don’t always succeed.

Especially when spending time in a larger group like this one, there is some thought that they would be easier to detect by their prey, and wouldn’t be having as much success as they might in smaller groups. The experience of these matriarchs may be counteracting the hunting impact though, as these two pods have been together for quite a while! Typically an orca needs to eat about 500 pounds of food every day, and if they can’t get that much they start to dip into their fat reserves for energy. This isn’t super sustainable, so when they are together for so long, we can assume that they are also eating pretty well during that time, otherwise a breakup would be the best thing to do for both pods. For now, it’s pretty great getting to watch these 8 whales spending time together!

After our time with the T002Cs and T075Bs, we went back into search mode, and ended up finding some humpback whales along the way! One of our boats came across a single humpback whale named Moresby (BCY0324 calf 2022) who seemed to be feeding in the area. While the whole reason that humpbacks are here IS to be feeding in the area, they don’t spend their entire day doing it. They also need time to rest, travel, and socialize! We think Moresby may have been trying to get the attention of some other whales towards the end of our time with him to do the latter since we saw him cartwheel through the air! Long-distance communication is one of the reasons they think humpback whales will do this, especially if there are other whales around. And there were other humpbacks in the area. We know because our other boats were with them! Eventually, all three of the boats spent time with this other pair who we IDed as Chi (BCZ0414 calf 2021) and Frankenstein (BCX1358). Both of these whales are frequent visitors to the waters surrounding Nanaimo, and we are happy to be seeing a little more of Frankenstein this year than we typically do! He is a very cool whale, named for the pattern on the underside of his tail flukes that make it look like he’s stitched together, not unlike Frankenstein’s Monster! Frankenstein usually shows up for a few days in October for us, before disappearing again, but we have had quite a few sightings of him since early summer this year. Chi is a youngster, being born to Zephyr in 2021. He has been seen every year since and is a welcome sight with his beautiful white tail. Chi is known for getting curious about boats, so we weren’t surprised when he popped up beside us while we were watching him. He blew a few bubbles before losing interest in us and continuing to spend time with Frankenstein instead.

We were also lucky enough to see seals and sea lions spending time on the rocks near Stinky, as well as some birds hanging out there as well! Soon it was time for us to return to the harbour, so that’s what we did! It was a very fun day spent with all of the different wildlife! Photos from the tour were taken by Marine Naturalists Cheyenne Brewster, Hayleigh Hilbert, and Vanessa Vereschahen.

T075B Pebbles with her unique eyepatch showing. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T002C1 Rocky and a rainbow. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T002C1 Rocky surfacing in the waves. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T002C1 Rocky with a little bit of his eyepatch showing. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T002C3 Lucy surfacing in the waves. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

One of the orca lifting their tail out of the water. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

T002C1 rocky travelling beside T075B3 Rubble. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

T075B Pebbles breaking through a wave. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

T075B4 showing it's face in the splash. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

T002C1 Rocky and T002C3 Lucy. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Moresby’s fluke. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Chi (left) and Frankenstein (right). Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Frankenstein’s fluke. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Frankensteins dorsal fin. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Frankenstein’s dorsal. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Frankenstein diving. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Chi’s dorsal. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Chi’s fluke. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

A look up Chi's nostrils. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Some cute Harbour Seals hauled out on the rocks. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

This harbour Seal is looking very relaxed. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

A Harbour Seal just above the mussels. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Now that's a lot of Steller Sea lions! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Fighting among the sea lions. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Some fluffy gulls in the wind. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Cormorants hanging out nearby. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

A cormorant watching from it's rock perch. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.