July 1, 2025, 10:30 AM - A Canada Day T Party!

There seems to be a pattern forming in our sightings: each Canada Day we tend to see a mixed group of Biggs Orca in our range, also known as a T-party, so we were eager to see if this pattern would continue as we had our boats leaving the dock on this lovely day. We headed out into the Strait of Georgia to start the search, and good thing we did, since that’s where another boat ended up spotting the whales! We headed that way, excitied to see what whales we might see there. And I would say we got more than we bargined for: there wasn’t just orca there but also humpbacks, and they seemed to be in a full on brawl! We pulled the camera out, ready to figure out which whales were here harrassing each other and weren’t all that surprised to find that it was indeed a T-party, with 5 different pods taking part in this activity. It was the T002Cs, T036Bs, T065 & T063, the T099s, and the T123s in the group of orca, and 5 different humbpack whales as well. That means the following whales were present:

Orca:

T002C Tasu ♀ (1989)
T002C1 Rocky ♂ (2002)
T002C3 Lucy ♀ (2011)
T002C5 Zippy (2020)
T002C6 (2025)

T036 Flapjack ♀ (≤1970)
T036B Tattertip ♀ (1998)
T036B1 Bhotia ♀ (2009)
T036B1A Maple ♀ (2025)
T036B2 Greenfelder ♀ (2013)
T036B4 Auk ♂ (2024)

T099 Bella ♀ (1984)
T099B Holly ♀ (2007)
T099C Barakat ♂ (2009)
T099D Puck ♀ (2015)
T099E Qwiin qwiin oo qwii la ♀ (2021)

T065 Whidbey II ♀ (~1971)
T063 Chainsaw ♂ (~1978)

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

Humpbacks:

Malachite (BCY1463)
Chinook (BCY0996)
Scrimmage (BCZ0488)
Eros (BCX2201)
Graphite (BCX2077)

Now, usually we would say that interspecies interactions like this are quite rare, but there must be something in the water this year since it keeps happening. By the time we see humpbacks in our waters, even the 2025 calves, they are too big to be at risk of predation by the orca, but it doesn’t stop them from harassing each other. Sometimes these fights seem to be initiated by the orca, but more often it seems to be the humpbacks that start these interactions. Humpbacks are able to hold their own in these interactions, mainly due to their size. In the world of whales, there are two general body types: those built for flight (speed) or those built to fight. Humpbacks are designed for the latter with their huge weight (around 35 tons when fully grown) and the power behind their surface activity. One well-timed breach or pectoral fin slap, and those orca would be very sore, or worse! That’s why these interactions are so interesting, since it doesn’t seem to be for much purpose other than entertainment, or maybe practice around larger prey for the orca. No matter the reason for the interaction, it was great to witness the showdown between these iconic giants!

But this interaction wasn’t all this tour had in store for the boats, as one boat was slightly behind the others, they came across another group of Humpback whales travelling together, this time with no orca around to bother them. Luckily, the humpbacks can keep themselves entertained since we saw some social interactions happening amongst themselves. These whales were Allusion (BCY1300), Fallen Knight (BCX0915), Ocular (BCX1705), and Yakima (BCX2182). While most of their time was spent focused on each other, there was a short moment when the attention of one of the whales, Allusion, turned their attention towards our boat. This can happen once in a while, and luckily, Allusion lost interest in us quite quickly and decided to head over to the other humpbacks to socialize instead.

The final sighting for the day was with one last group of orca: the T069s!

T069 Komox ♀ (~1974)
T069C Kye ♂ (1995)
T069E Kodiak ♂ (2004)
T069F Kin ♂ (2010)

These orca were originally spotted from shore, heading through Dodd Narrows, which is just south of Nanaimo. By the time we found them, they were moving very quickly through Northumberland Channel, heading north. When they’re moving quickly, you often see more of their bodies as they push themselves out of the water to help reduce the amount of drag that they face from the water. It led to some amazing photos of this group! But since we found them so late in the tour, we couldn’t spend very much time with them. That’s okay, though, since we had so many other amazing encounters during the trip! All the photos from this morning were captured by the onboard Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Desarae Poier, and Jordan Robinson and are available for you to enjoy below!

T123 Sidney crashing through the water! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T123D Darcy and T123C Lucky. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T036B1 Bhotia, T036B1A Maple, and T099D Puck. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T002C3 Lucy with T099B Holly (tip of dorsal) beside her. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T065 Whidbey II and T123 Sidney. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T036B Tattertip, T036B1A Maple, and T123C Lucky. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T002C6 porpoising along. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T036B Tattertip, T036B2 Greenfelder, and T036B4 Auk. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T123A Stanley beginning to dive. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Malachite rolling around. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Breach for the sky! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T069C Kye with his tiny eyepatch visible above the water. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T065 Whidbey II and T036 Flapjack. Photo by Des Poier.

Humpback vs Orca: Scrimage vs T123A Stanley. Photo by Des Poier.

T123 Sidney and T063 Chainsaw. Photo by Des Poier.

T063 Chainsaw covered in rake marks. Photo by Des Poier.

Ocular’s dorsal fin. Photo by Des Poier.

Fallen Knight’s fluke as she dives. Photo by Des Poier.

Ocular’s fluke as they dive. Photo by Des Poier.

Ocualar’s fulke with entanglement scarring visible. Photo by Des Poier.

Graphite’s dorsal fin. Photo by Des Poier.

A tiny baby beside their mother. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Taking a peek around. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Author: Val WatsonJuly 1, 2025WhalesComment