May 21, 2025 - Oh, Bother!

It was a lovely day as we made our way out of the harbour in search of whales. We were extra lucky today because we had a report of orcas close to home, so we headed off to find them. It didn’t take us long to find the reported orcas who happened to be the T090 family hanging out with T037A3.

T037A3 Spinnaker ♂ (2013)

T090 Eagle ♀ (1980)
T090B Piglet ♂ (2006)
T090C Tigger ♀ (2010)
T090D Kanga ♀ (2017)

The largest orcas in the group today was Piglet, and you might be wondering, with a name like Piglet, who’s naming the whales!? With this population of orcas, generally, the older whales will have received their names from researchers. In recent years, however, the naturalists, captains and researchers who work with the transient population can submit names and vote on them. The name with the most votes wins! On top of the voting system, a lot of our families have naming themes.

Looking at the names for the T090’s, you might have already clued in to the fact that Eagle’s calves all have Winnie the Pooh-themed names! While some of our families have naming themes, that’s not the case for all. Spinnaker’s family is a prime example of this, where they don’t have a specific theme and exhibit a wide range of names from his mother Volker (meaning warrior or defender of people), to his little sister Crinkle, whose name comes from her unusual dorsal fin!

With transient (or Bigg’s) killer whales, typically we see small family groups that consist of a matriarch and her calves. So it’s been interesting lately to watch Spinnaker set off on his own away from Mom (you can read about Spinnaker’s journey here). Today, he was having a blast hanging out with Eagle’s kids. While we can’t see what’s going on under the water, based on the activity at the surface, we could clearly see that they were playing around and socializing! Transient Killer whales are extremely social, and when they happen across other families of whales, we call it a T-party! This is because when transients socialize with each other, it really feels like a party, and we often see quite a bit of surface activity from the whales.

It was wonderful to hang out with our orcas, but we weren’t done just yet! Only a little further out into the Georgia Strait, we met up with Scuba (BCY1225) and Spock (BCY1134). It’s always wonderful to see Scuba doing well. Back in October of 2022, Scuba had an unfortunate incident when he became entangled in fishing gear. Fortunately, DFO was able to cut Scuba free, and he seems to be doing well since the ordeal (you can read more about his disentanglement and see video here). Scuba was hanging out with Spock, and it seemed as though the two were enjoying lunch below the surface of the water!

After a wonderful time with all the whales, we enjoyed a variety of other wildlife including bald eagles, sea lions, harbour seals and cormorants. You can see the pictures from our fantastic tour below!

Photos taken by naturalists Aly Kohlman and Hayleigh Hilbert

T090B Piglet pushing on T037A3 Spinnaker’s tail. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T037A3 Spinnaker playing around. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Did you know we can identify orca by their eyepatches? This one belongs to T037A3 Spinnaker. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Matriarch T090 Eagle slicing through the water. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T090B Piglet is Eagle’s eldest surviving calf. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T090C Tigger peeking up above the water. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T090D Kanga coming up for a breath. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T090B Piglet next to mom T090 Eagle. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Each saddle patch (the white behind the dorsal fin) has unique scarring that we can use to ID individuals. This is T090C Tigger! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Did you know an orcas eye is actually below the front of the eyepatch? (T090B Piglet). Photo by Aly Kohlman

T090C Tigger with the BC ferry in the background. Photo by Aly Kohlman

People on the BC ferries watching T090B Piglet! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

T090D Kanga trying to keep up with big brother T090B Piglet! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

T090B Piglet is getting big! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

T090C Tigger swimming. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

T090B Piglet, T037A3 Spinnaker and T090C Tigger all surfacing together. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

Spock going for a deep dive. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Scuba arching his back for a dive. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Scuba was entangled at one point, you can see the deep gash in his tail from where the ropes were wrapped around him. Luckily he survived the ordeal! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Each humpback has a unique dorsal fin, this is Spock! Photo by Aly Kohlman

We can ID individuals by the ventral side of their flukes. This fluke belongs to Scuba. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Spock's flukes. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

Scuba’s flukes. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

Scuba in incredibly calm water. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

Water streaming off Spock’s flukes. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

A male Steller sea lion enjoying the sun. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Can you see the nails on the back flippers of this sea lion? Photo by Aly Kohlman

This male Steller sea lion looks nice and fat for the upcoming breeding season! Photo by Aly Kohlman

California sea lion yawning. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

A male California sea lion looking dapper! Photo by Aly Kohlman

A harbour seal relaxing. Photo by Aly Kohlman

A very happy harbour seal. Photo by Aly Kohlman

A bald eagle sitting on a sign. Photo by Aly Kohlman

A bald eagle watching us watching her. Photo by Aly Kohlman

A surprise osprey! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Look closely at the left side of the nest and you will see the head of an eaglet! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

Cormorants at the Gabriola bluffs. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert

Guests watching whales from Cascadia. Photo by Aly Kohlman