July 22, 2025, 10:30 AM - Riding the wind: Exploring the Salish Sea with the T046Bs and Humpbacks

The sun was shining overhead as we had three of our boats heading out into the Salish Sea for the morning. The wind was blowing, but we didn’t let that dampen our spirits, only the suits! The waves added a sense of adventure, getting to feel the energy of the ocean as we started searching by heading south. We aimed for Northumberland Channel first, heading through the current in Dodd Narrows caused by the tides before searching through the Southern Gulf Islands. When nothing showed up in the Islands, we headed out through Gabriola Pass and started exploring the Strait of Georgia instead!

Before heading into the Strait, we stopped at Stinky Rock, a common haul-out site for the Harbour Seals and the Steller Sea Lions. The seals are year-round residents of this haul-out, having their entire life cycle carried out right here. They don’t stray far from their preferred rock, only travelling about 5 miles from this location to catch their food, which is fish. The Steller Sea Lions, on the other hand, are migratory, so most of them should be gone during the summer, but there are still some spending their time here! It makes sense, since the ones we are still hearing here are juveniles, so there’s no real reason for them to head to those breeding grounds yet, since they likely wouldn’t be having breeding success at this point in their lives. We love seeing them here still, even if it is just the young ones!

From Stinky, we headed out into the Strait of Georgia. Luckily, our search south gave us a great angle on the waves, being able to ride them north like a roller coaster! After a while of surfing with the waves, two of our boats spotted whales in the distance, one had the tall, bushy blows of a humpback whale, while the other had the towering black dorsal fins of orca! Since they were so close together, both boats decided to spend their time with the orca, and left those humpbacks behind as a mystery.

The T046s were travelling close together while we watched them, having no issues swimming through the swell.

T037A1 Inyo ♀ (2007)

T122 Centeki ♀ (~1982)
T046D Strider ♂ (2000)
T046E Thor ♂ (2003)
T046F Loki ♂ (2012)

This family is part of an iconic lineage; their past matriarch, T046 Wake, who passed away in 2023, was one of the Budd Inlet 6. This was a group of whales that were captured in Budd Inlet in 1976, destined for the aquarium trade. Lucky for them, there was a ton of public outcry during this time, and they ended up being released. Wake carried on from that moment to have eight kids (7 living), 14 grandchildren (12 living), and two great-grandkids.

It’s wild to think that all of these whales wouldn’t have existed if not for the release of Wake. Getting to see these whales, her legacy, travelling through the waves today was nothing short of extraordinary.

After leaving these orcas, we continued our search, continuing to surf with the waves. It didn’t take long until we spotted the next whales: A pair of Humpback Whales that were feeding together near Halibut Bank. Actually, two sets of whales were found here: Yakima (BCX2182), travelling with Grizzly (BCY1330) and Graphite (BCX2077), with Barge Boy (KEX0078). All of these whales seemed to be feeding, which makes sense given the location where we found them. They were at Halibut Bank, an underwater mountain that causes a unique mixing of the water column in the area, creating an area of high productivity. These extra productive waters draw in a considerable amount of Biodiversity, including these humpbacks. Humpbacks come to the waters off Vancouver Island and Coastal BC to feed, as our waters support a huge biomass load. With all the Humbbacks feeding here, this increases the productivity even more, since the whales not only help to mix the water column as they dive down through it and surface, but they are also moving nutrients as they go. They feed deep in the water and then defecate at the surface, moving the nutrients around and making them available at the surface for the primary producers. It’s an excellent system for the whales, since they are constantly changing the environment around them to suit themselves better!

We enjoyed our time with these humpbacks, but eventually had to leave them to their feeding, and we continued back to Nanaimo. Throughout the tour, the onboard marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Desarae Poier, and Jordan Robinson captured some fantastic photos, which you can enjoy below!

Stinky Rock

Harbour Seal spending time on the rocks. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Look at those whiskers on these Harbour Seals! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A Bald Eagle coming in for a landing. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

This Bald Eagle choose the solar panel to spend their time on. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

The T046s + T037A1

T046E Thor travelling along with T122 Centeki. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A great look at T046E Thor as he moves through the waves. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T046D Strider with his distinct notches. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T046F Loki surfacing in the waves. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T046E Thor showing his eye patch. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T037A1 Inyo surfacing. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T046E Thor surfacing with T122 Centeki in the background. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T046D Strider. Photo by Desarae Poier.

You can see the bend to T046D Strider’s dorsal fin in this photo! Photo by Desarae Poier.

An interesting perspective of our open boat Keta watching T046D Strider. Photo by Desarae Poier.

Whale watchers on Cascadia watching T046D Strider. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T046E Thor. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T046E Thor surfacing beside T122 Centeki. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T046E Thor with his eye patch peeking out of the water. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

Yakima and Grizzly

The underside of Grizzly’s tail. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Grizzly lifting their tail for a dive. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

The underside of Yakima’s tail. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Yakima going for a dive. Photo by Desarae Poier.

The underside of Yakima’s tail. Photo by Desarae Poier.

Grizzly going for a dive. Photo by Desarae Poier.

Grizzly’s dorsal fin as they dive. Photo by Desarae Poier.

Barge Boy and Graphite

Graphite going for a dive. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

Barge Boy going for a dive. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

ODAS Buoy

Some cozy looking Steller Sea Lions. Photo by Desarae Poier.

Cuddle Puddle on the ODAS buoy. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

Steller Sea Lions on the Buoy.Photo by Jordan Robinson.