July 15, 2025, 10:30 AM - T-Partying in the waves

The sun was shining overhead as we had our three vessels leaving Nanaimo to start their adventure today, and what an adventure it was! The sun was shining overhead, but the wind was also blowing, causing some waves for us out in the strait as we searched for a shore-based report of some whales in the area earlier in the day. It seems that our persistence paid off, thanks to our adventurous guests and crew onboard one of the zodiac boats who braved the waves for long enough to spot some orca! Fortune seems to favour the bold, since this sighting turned out to be a full T-party happening on the water! Soon after finding them, the other boats joined in, and we got to watch three different groups of orca spending time together, playfully moving through the waves. It was T037A1 Inyo, the T065Bs, and the T123s that we spotted today, meaning the following 9 whales were present:

T037A1 Inyo ♀ (2007)

T065B Chunk ♀ (1993)
T065B1 Birdsall ♂ (2011)
T065B2 Nettle ♂ (2019)
T065B3 Rook ♂ (2023)

T123 Sidney ♀ (~1985)
T123A Stanley ♂ (2000)
T123C Lucky ♀ (2012)
T123D Darcy ♀ (2018)

When we see whales playing in the waves like this, it’s usually quite entertaining. Not just for us watching, but it really seems like they are enjoying themselves as well! During our time with them, we saw a lot of their faces breaking through the waves, lots of tail slapping, swimming upside down, and other playful behaviour from the animals. While some of the great looks that we get on wavier days are likely due to the waves themselves, the troughs of which reveal looks at the part of the whales that we wouldn’t be seeing on a flat calm day, but also the energy from the waves would be enticing for the playful orca, tempting them to surf along with them a bit. The whales may also need to generally come higher out of the water to avoid inhaling some of the spray from the breaking waves (as our open boat guests from today would attest to the difficulty of!) In this hot weather, getting wet is worth it to see the whales having so much fun!

All good things must come to an end, though, so we left the whales to their partying and headed towards the protected waters of the Southern Gulf Islands to continue our search. After spending some time weaving through the islands, riding currents through the narrow passageways like Dodd Narrows and Gabriola Pass, we ended up at another wildlife stop for the day: Stinky Rock! This area is usually teeming with activity, from the adorable little Harbour Seals to the large, noisy Steller Sea Lions nearby. The Harbour Seals are a particularly great sight to see this time of year, as it’s pupping season for them. The pups are born on the rocks, but can swim within hours of being born. The Harbour Seal Pups are also nearly identical to the adults, other than their size. Seeing the young pups is one of our favourite things this time of year! In addition to the seals and sea lions, a well-posed Cormorant also caught the attention of our boats, drying off in the sun before starting their flight back to their nesting site!

We headed back inside the islands on our travels back to Nanaimo, avoiding the waves while continuing our search. Although we didn’t end up finding more wildlife, what we did see was nothing short of marvellous! I hope you enjoy all the photos that the onboard marine naturalists, Val Watson, Aly Kohlman, and Jordan Robinson, captured throughout the tour!

T123A Stanley. Photo by Val Watson.

T065B Birdsall surfacing in the waves. Photo by Val Watson.

T123A Stanley with his ey patch peeking above the waves. Photo by Val Watson.

T123A Stanley in the back with T065B2 Nettle and T123D Darcy in the lead. Photo by Val Watson.

T065B Birdsall dorsal fin tip just behind T123A Stanley breaking through a wave. Photo by Val Watson.

T065B1 Birdsall surfacing with his brother T065B2 Nettle just in front of him. Photo by Val Watson.

T123A Stanley surfacing with someone tail slapping beside him. Photo by Val Watson.

T065B1 Birdsall surfacing behind his brother T065B2 Nettle. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T065B3 Rook with someones tail just in front. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T037A1 Inyo breaking through the waves. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T037A1 Inyo surfacing in the waves. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T123A Stanley. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T123C surfacing with T123 Sidney and another one breaking the surface. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T123 Sidney breaking through the waves. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T123A Stanley showing off his eye patch. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

A Bald Eagle perched on a marker near Gabriola Pass. Photo by Val Watson.

A watchful Bald Eagle. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Harbour Seals spending time on the rocks. Photo by Val Watson.

A very happy looking Harbour Seal. Photo by Val Watson.

A mother Harbour Seal and her Pup at Stinky Rock. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Another mom and pup Harbour Seal. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A young gull looking comfortable in the seaweed. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

A cormorant posing on Stinky Rock. Photo by Val Watson.

A cormorant striking a pose. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

Steller Sea Lions posing on the rocks. Photo by Val Watson.

A great look at one of the Steller Sea Lions. Photo by Val Watson.

One decides to take the plunge! Photo by Val Watson.

Fighting amongst the Steller Sea Lions. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A great look at the entire haul-out. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Going in for a swim. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

One of the young Bald Eagles spending time off the nest. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

A Pigeon Guillimot with it’s catch. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

A very funny angle of the bird. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

A nesting site for the Pigeon Guillimot along the Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Jordan Robinson.