You couldn’t ask for a more iconic West Coast day than the one we had today. Rain had a low mist settling over the mountains and islands that we travelled through, setting the scene for a beautiful adventure. We had three of our vessels leaving Nanaimo today, starting their search through the Southern Gulf Islands, since it has been a hotspot for orca activity for the last couple of days.

The captains expertly weaved their way through the islands, with all eyes onboard eagerly scanning the waves, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the tell-tale signs of there being whales in the area. Most of the time, this means spotting a blow as the whales surface, or a look at the tall black dorsal fin of one of the orca.

When we found the whales today, it was a little more than the blows and dorsals that caught our attention. It seemed that these whales had something to celebrate as we saw them throwing their bodies out of the water in a behaviour known as breaching! We learned that this pod had just finished hunting, thanks to all the gulls that were also enjoying this meal in the area. Once they settled a bit and we got some ID photos, we were able to tell that these whales were the T109As! That means the following whales were present:

T109A Frio/Runaway ♀ (1990)
T109A4 Garrett ♂ (2012)
T109A5 Argyle ♂ (2014)
T109A6 Riley (2018)
T109A7 Wieland (2021)
T109A8 Weiss (2024)

Even though the sky opened up and the rain started pouring down on us, the orca were enough to keep our spirits high. After a hunt, there is usually a celebration, especially when many younger members are present in a pod. They tend to have a bit of extra energy, just like younger humans! These whales kept celebrating for a fair amount of the time we spent with them, breaching out of the water on multiple occasions and even slapping their tails against the surface. These bits of playfulness after a hunt can be important times of socialization for the members of this pod, working to strengthen the crucial bonds that orca families share. Life as an apex predator can be tricky, as there isn’t much room for error in their lives. When hunting, there is a huge amount of energy spent to capture their prey, and if they aren’t successful and don't get to replenish that energy with a meal, it can mean bad things for you. Especially for the populations studied around BC, the persistence of fat-soluble chemicals can cause issues when they have to start burning those fat reserves for energy. When the fat gets burned, it releases those chemicals from their safely stored states into the animal's bloodstream, where they can cause sickness. Luckily, these animals do have a high success rate, allowing them to not have to face these issues very often.

To put in perspective how much food this pod will have to be eating every day, with six members, each needing around 300-500 pounds of food a day, that means they might be hunting up to 9 harbour seals each day! That’s a lot of work! That, along with avoiding detection by their prey, is why Transient Orca tend to travel in smaller pod sizes. At 6 members strong, this pod is on the larger side compared to the average.

After spending our time with them, it was time to move on, but not before they seemed to stop for one last snack! We left them as they initiated another hunt, with another seal likely becoming their lunch.

Since it was a bit of a wet day, we decided to start towards Nanaimo once again to get warmed back up, but not before stopping at one of the pinniped haul-outs along the way! We ended up spotting a group of Harbour Seals along Miami Island. Although they were still wet, the warm rain seemed to be preferable to the cold ocean water that was their other option. That is part of why we see the pinnipeds spending time outside the water: it helps them to maintain their body temperature much more easily! It also gives them some protection from their main predator, those transient orca, who, as we saw, are ruthless hunters. It was great to watch these adorable little marine mammals spending time relaxing after our more fast-paced time spent with the T109As!

All of these sightings, along with the amazing scenery, made for an unforgettable trip. Please enjoy all of the photos taken throughout the day by the Marine Naturalists onboard the vessels Aly Kohlman, Hayleigh Hilbert, and Jordan Robinson!

August 15, 2025, 10:30 AM - Hunting Orca in Sansum Narrows

The T109As

Harbour Seal Haul Out

Bald Eagle with Salmon Lunch

The Gabriola Bluffs