Sometimes we start a trip, unsure of where we will be heading, as we have no early morning sightings to go off of. Today, though, we were lucky, as we caught wind of a couple of orca being spotted off the Sunshine Coast! We excitedly began crossing the Strait of Georgia, our boats Kula and Keta crossing in slightly different areas, scanning in case we found anything along the way.

Our open vessel Keta did just that, spotting two humpbacks travelling together north of Gabriola Island! These two were being incredibly surface active, breaching, pectoral slapping, and chin slapping away. After the excitement calmed down a bit, the pair dove, and we were able to get a nice, clear fluke shot of both individuals. These two were identified as Spock (BCY1134) and Calypso (BCY1226)!

Spock is an intriguing individual, as we can ID her from both her top and bottom fluke. She has a large lump on one side of her ventral fluke that is unique to just her! Calypso has a large semi-circle notch out of their fluke, meaning we can also use their ventral fluke to ID them if needed.

After having an amazing time with Spock and Calypso, Keta continued on their way to join up with Kula, who had gotten on scene with the orca from the earlier report. This trio of beautifully pointed and tall dorsal fins is a common pod for our area, and we were quickly able to identify them as the T101s:

T101 Reef ♀ (≤1969)
T101A Rush ♂ (1993)
T101B Lagoon ♂ (1997)

This pod is always very impressive to see, being made up of two huge, towering males and their much smaller (but still impressive) mother. The boys, Rush and Lagoon, have massive 6 ft. (1.8 m.) tall dorsal fins. Usually, our large male Bigg’s orca end up with notches or chunks missing from their dorsal fins, but not these two! These two are still ‘perfect’, or completely notchless, just like their mother Reef. Our Bigg’s orca are marine mammal predators, meaning they will feed on seals, sea lions, and porpoises. Their prey rarely goes down without a fight, though, and those large teeth and claws are usually why our orca end up with notches out of their fins.

After saying goodbye to the T101s, our semi-covered vessel Kula started exploring to try and find their own humpback whales. Turning into Howe Sound, they began scanning the horizon. There had been a pair of young humpbacks travelling around the sound frequently for the last week and a half, so they were confident they could try and relocate them… and that’s just what they did!

These two youngsters were lunge feeding, or launching their bodies from the depths up and breaking the water’s surface, snapping their jaws shut, locking in a huge mouthful of small fish. After a couple of mouthfuls, the duo dove, leading to the perfect opportunity to get those perfect ID shots. These two were confirmed as Malachite (BCY1463) and Wisp (BCY1464), two well-known young whales. Malachite is the 2021 calf of Slate, and Wisp is the 2021 calf of Ghost, meaning these two are the same age. Ghost is still frequently seen in our area as well - sadly, Slate has gone without any further sightings for several years now. We are hoping that one day she will appear in our waters again, but the unfortunate reality is that may not be the case.

Soon our time with the whales was up, and we had to continue on our way. Our next stop was at a favourite pinniped haul-out spot - Stinky Rocks! Here, our Steller sea lions lounge and eructate and our Harbour seals peacefully doze and murmur away. Stinky Rocks is a preferable place for these fin-footed mammals to rest as there is almost always a small chunk of island above the water, even during high tide. On top of that, Stinky Rocks is located just outside Gabriola Pass, a small passageway that connects the inner Gulf Islands’ waterways to the Strait. These narrow passages are areas where fish congregate as they cross out into the ocean - in other words, these are also a perfect ‘fast food’ stop for our pinnipeds! With lots of ‘beachside property’ to rest on, and an ample supply of food nearby, who wouldn’t want to call this area home?

Once we left our pinnipeds, it was time to wrap the trip up. We cruised our way back to the Nanaimo harbour with big smiles on our faces, ending another incredible time on the water with equally incredible animals. Please enjoy these beautiful shots taken by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman and Hayleigh Hillbert!

June 6, 2025 - T101s travelling and a breachapalooza with the Humpbacks!