It was another beautiful day as we set off in search of some whales. Some days, the whales come to us! As luck would have it, we did not have to travel far. Two orca brothers had been hanging around the harbour in the morning and hadn’t gone far after that! We set off southbound, and ran into these two big beautiful boys just south of Nanaimo. Today’s whales include:

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

It’s always interesting to see where our Bigg’s killer whales will hang out. Guests often ask where they should be looking to help us find whales, but the reality is, they can be anywhere! Sometimes you’ll find them in the middle of the Georgia Strait, and other times you’ll find them close to the shoreline. But just because their whereabouts aren’t specific, doesn’t mean they don’t have preferences! For example, Noah and Jude’s family, the T049As, love to hang out in busy harbours. T049A Nan is even named after Nanaimo, because of her affinity for the area.
(Funnily enough, I had to take a short break writing this blog because they happened to come into the harbour as I was writing it!)

You might be asking yourself, “Why would any orca want to come into a noisy harbour?”. The T049As have mastered the art of using their surroundings to their advantage. By hunting in areas with lots of boat noise, they are essentially able to ‘hide’ from the prey they are hunting. Marine mammals such as seals and sea lions have incredible hearing, and this family has learned to use this advantage in their hunting strategies. Nan has clearly taught her boys well, as they are stealth hunters who employ the same strategies they learned from their mom.

Sometimes an orca’s desire to go where it pleases can be problematic. This was the case for T049A2 Jude in 2023 when he and another male named T051 Roswell became trapped in Barnes Lake, Alaska. They entered the lake during high tide, potentially while chasing prey. For 6 weeks, the 2 males were trapped in the lake. It was clear that the boys weren’t going to leave on their own, and rescue efforts were launched. So, how do you rescue male orcas? One strategy rescuers and researchers employed was using recordings of females that orcas knew well to coax them out during high tide! On September 29th, the males would swim out of the lake towards freedom. You can read more about the rescue efforts here!

Now that Jude is free again, he’s back to his old ways, where he spends most of his time by himself or in the company of other males. With Bigg’s killer whales, we tend to see males stay with their mothers their entire lives. In Noah and Jude’s case, we see them travel separately from their mother (Nan) more than with her. Noah is more likely to be seen with Nan, but Jude is rarely seen with her. We don’t know why some males seem to prefer the nomadic lifestyle away from their mom. What we do know is that Nan is the ultimate boy mom. She has 6 children, and 5 of them are male! With females investing so much of their energy into their sons, in Noah and Jude’s case, there just isn’t enough of mom’s attention to go around.

On top of seeing these two magnificent brothers, we also got to hang out with a variety of wildlife. We headed to Stinky Rocks, one of our favourite places to watch pinnipeds. The Steller Sea lions are always a fan favourite. The large males are always incredible to watch, and these guys are highly territorial, so usually pretty noisy as well! We stopped to watch some sweet Harbour seals lounging in the sun, keeping our eyes peeled for early-season pups. Nothing yet! Another place we’re keeping our eyes peeled for babies is our resident Bald Eagle nest. Our lovely mated pair, whom we’ve named ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, have been sitting low on their nest for weeks, so we are anxious to see what pops out soon. The Cormorants are also fully underway in their nest building as well, so I’m sure we will soon have babies galore! You can check out the photos from today’s tour below.

Please enjoy these photos taken by Marien Naturalists Aly Kohlman and Hayleigh Hilbert.

May 7, 2025 - T049A Brothers Bonding Time