May 16, 2025 - Orca close to home, and a first glimpse at our new Bald Eagle baby!

On this rainy, grey day, our spirits were high as Kula left the harbour. We had whales right in our backyard! After a short drive south, we found our first orca pod of the day in Northumberland channel, a busy little area not to far from home. Here we ran into a familiar set of fins. Here’s who was part of this little group:

T071B Hood ♀ (2000)
T071B1 Zengo ♀ (2013)
T071B2 Tasli/Nemo ♂ (2018)

T086A Eider ♀ (1988)
T086A4 Akia ♀ (2016)
T086A5 Siku (2024)

These two small pods are often seen travelling alongside each other. It’s common for pods to travel together for periods of time, spending time socializing, hunting and playing. This is especially important when there are youngsters in the pod, as they pick up valuble hunting and socializing skills from these interactions. T086A Eider has a year-old calf with her, so this little one will spend a lot of time learning! We often see females caring for other calves while in these multipod meetups, so it’s possible Eider was looking for some extra help from fellow momma T071B Hood. This is a bit bittersweet because Hood also gave birth to a calf last year. Unfortunately, her baby did not survive, so it is likely she is mourning a child who is the exact same age as Eider’s baby. Siblings Zengo and Tasli dispersed from their mom for a short period of time last summer, which is a bit unusual for such a small pod. Maybe with a new little baby in tow, both older siblings decided it would be easier to hunt alone. With only one documented sighting of Hood’s 2024 calf, it’s possible this young whale didn’t survive very long, leading to the matrilines’ eventual reintegration. Either way, we’re happy to see the family back together!

After spending some time with these two pods, we continued south to check in on another report nearby. This time, instead of tiny fins, we soon saw the large characteristic dorsals of the two brothers we’ve been seeing everywhere lately! These two include:

T049A1 Noah ♂ (2001)
T049A2 Jude ♂ (2007)

The T049A brothers have been glued at the hip for the past couple of weeks. Being mature males, it’s very common that they would be travelling on their own, and in the past, this is something they have both done frequently! But ever since they met up a few weeks ago, these two brothers have decided to stick together. Maybe they are more efficient hunting together rather than alone, and enjoy working together to hunt the various marine mammals of the Salish Sea. Or maybe they just enjoy terrorizing the neighbourhood together! Whatever the reason, they are sticking together, it’s amazing to watch two large, graceful males make their way through the calm waters of the Gulf Islands. These two are very different in appearance, making IDing them a breeze. When identifying individual orca, we often look at the dorsal fin for clues. Size, shape and scarring are all great indications of who an animal may be. In Noah’s case, he sports a small notch on the lower part of his large dorsal fin. Jude, on the other hand, has a very curved tip to his dorsal. This hooked tip is easy to spot (and ID!) from far away, which is great for expert naturalists and amateur spotters alike!

After leaving the orca for the day, we decided to check out some other wildlife nearby. One of our favourite spots for wildlife, Stinky Rocks, never disappoints with noisy Sea Lions, serene Harbour Seals, and plenty of birds! After heading slowly towards home, we soon came across another orca sighting. Our same crew from earlier, the T071Bs and T086As, had continued south through Dodd Narrows and had met up with us again around Yellowpoint. We only did a quick stop to make sure we knew the IDs and then continued on our way. Before returning to the harbour, we stopped at our very active Bald eagle nest. The resident eagle pair, whom we’ve nicknamed Bonnie and Clyde, have been sitting low on the nest for weeks. We suspected their eggs had hatched last week after Bonnie was seen sitting up much further than she had previously. Today, we got our first peek at the fuzzy little eaglet who popped up alongside mom. We look forward to watching this little guy grow and see if they have a sibling in here as well!

After finishing up the bluffs, we returned to the harbour with some great pictures from the day. All photos taken by onboard naturalist Hayleigh Hilbert.

T071B1 Zengo leads the charge, with T071B2 Tasli behind.

T071B Hood with oldest kiddo Zengo right behind.

T086A Eider travels in front of T071B2 Tasli and T071B1 Zengo.

Look at how similar Zengo (front) and Eider (rear) look in this photo!

T086A Eider with bouncy T086A5 Siku popping up to say hi!

T086A5 Siku riding the waves behind mom T086A Eider!

T086A Eider with T086A4 Akia and the newest baby T086A5 Siku.

T049A1 Noah and T049A2 Jude surfacing just behind.

Look at the size difference between the large male in front and the surrounding females and juveniles.

A grown Cormorant begging for food. Pathetic.

Author: Desarae PoierMay 16, 2025WhalesComment