May 10, 2025 - A Breaching Good Time!
Today we set our sights on a Northbound route up the coast from Nanaimo Harbour! The choppy seas didn’t dampen our spirits and we even got to enjoy some festive sea songs from our guests! Although the lyrics were unbeknownst to us, the jolly demeanour brought a smile to everyone’s faces!
Just as we had gotten settled into the rhythmic rising and falling of the boat, and after only having been traveling for about 15 minutes today, we came upon our first orca sightings off the coast from Neck Point Provincial Park! Not a long ride by any means! So without any hesitation, we hoisted the Whale Flag and got the cameras out and at the ready! It didn’t take but a few minutes of following the pod East into more open waters for us to realize it was a huge T-party featuring;
T063 Chainsaw ♂ (1978)
T065 Whidbey II ♀ (<1968)
T087 Harbeson ♂ (~1962)
T100 Hutchins ♀ (~1979)
T100C Laurel ♂ (2002)
T100E ♀ Tharaya (2009)
T100F Estrella (2004)
To our amazement, the whales must have been in the midst of a great social gathering, because whales were surfacing in every direction. And not only surfacing, but fully breaching too! What a spectacle! And although they are all incredible, not all breaches are considered equal since a whale is only considered to be breaching if at least 1/3 of its body leaves the water. Luckily for us, this rambunctious orca party featured breaches in every direction! The beauty of this behaviour couldn’t be understated, especially since cetacean breaching is still a vastly misunderstood behaviour! What we do know, though, is that there are 4 different types of breaching actions: a “full” breach, a “half” breach, a “belly flop” and a “back dive”. Luck was on our side today because we saw almost all of these variations!
This trip was not only packed with breaching but also fluke slapping and another behaviour known as “spyhopping”. Spyhopping is the action where a whale propels itself vertically out of the water to see and investigate its surroundings. Though commonly seen during hunting as a technique to see onto surfaces such as iceflows in search of prey, spyhopping is also thought to be a socialization and sometimes playful means of interaction among other whales.
All these exciting behaviours, and we were only an hour into the trip!
After watching this Orca gathering, we headed South past the tip of Jack Point Provincial Park, through the famous scuba-diving hot spot known as Dodd’s Narrows, and looped up around Ruxton Islands. We even continued past Wakes Cove Provincial Park and up towards Stinky Rock. Along these passages, we saw not only California Sea Lions, with their prominent orbital crest and smaller size, but also a huge gathering of the GIANT Stellar Sea Lions. While the California’s were having a lazy day enjoying the sunshine on the log booms, the Stellar’s were in the middle of having quite a loud chat amongst themselves! Although we couldn't tell whether they were recounting tales of the previous night’s escapades or discussing the plans of adventure for today, we knew it was quite a discussion because the loud groans were unforgettable!
Travelling along, we even found some Harbour Seals taking in the sunshine. Their unique and individual spotted patterns were adorable!
Turning around and retracing our steps past Pirates Cove Marine Provincial Park and back through Dodd’s Narrow’s, we were lucky enough to get another sighting of orcas! This group featured;
T0491 Noah ♂ (2001)
T049A2 Jude ♂ (2007)
These two lovable trouble-makers were moving slowly and steadily towards the passage and helped end off our orca day on a great note!
The trip finished up with a quick stop at Gabriola Bluffs to see an adult Bald Eagle perched high above its nest. Under his watchful gaze, we headed home from a day full of laughs, cheers and good times all around!
The onboard marine naturalists, Holly Archer and Jordan Robinson, captured some great photos throughout the tour which can be viewed below!
T100C Laurel. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
T065 Chainsaw! Photo by Jordan Robinson.
Tails up! Photo by Holly Archer.
T087 Harbeson. Photo by Holly Archer.
T100C Laurel. Photo by Holly Archer.
T100C Laurel making a splash. Photo by Holly Archer.
T100C Laurel (right) and T065 Chainsaw (left). Photo by Holly Archer.
Breach! Photo by Holly Archer.
Making waves! Photo by Holly Archer.
Steller Sea Lions always have such goofy expressions! Photo by Jordan Robinson.
Look at this huge male Steller posing for the camera. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
A Steller cuddle puddle. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
Being watched back by this Steller. Photo by Holly Archer.
Adorable harbour seals. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
A sprawled out harbour seal. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
These harbour seals are enjoying the sun warmed rocks! Photo by Holly Archer.
Our semi-covered vessel Kula. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
A male California Sea Lion. Photo by Holly Archer.
See his frosted tips! Photo by Holly Archer.
Looks like this one is smiling at us! Photo by Holly Archer.
Our open vessel Keta. Photo by Holly Archer.
T049A2 Jude travelling through Dodd Narrows. Photo by Holly Archer.
T049A1 Noah following his brother through Dodd Narrows. Photo by Holly Archer.
T049A1 Noah coming up for a breath with T049A2 Jude behind him. Photo by Holly Archer.
T049A1 Noah. Photo by Holly Archer.
T049A1 Noah going down in front of T049A2 Jude. Photo by Holly Archer.
A good look at T049A1 Noahs’ eye and saddle patch. Photo by Holly Archer.
T049A1 Noah. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
What a tall dorsal belonging to T049A1 Noah. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
T049A2 Judes’ fin has a bend. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
T049A1 Noah followed by T049A2 Jude. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
T049A1 Noah. Photo by Jordan Robinson.
Can you see the scaring on T049A1 Noahs’ saddle patch? Photo by Jordan Robinson.