September 3, 2025, 3:30 PM - T-party Party in Howe Sound, and Humpback Whale Graphite in the Strait

It was another lovely day spent exploring the Salish Sea this afternoon, starting the adventure by heading into the Strait of Georgia. The waters were calm as our semi-covered vessel Kula set off for the afternoon. Today’s journey took us across the Strait as we began our quest to find whales. Eyes ever searching the horizon, we scanned and scanned as we ventured along. The seas seemed quite quiet today, with no blows, dorsals or flukes spotted as we made our way across. This didn’t dampen our spirits, though, as we got word of an orca in Howe Sound, a beautiful sound connecting to several fjords. Once we arrived on scene, we were delighted to see a large group of orca travelling along, socializing together. Our onboard Naturalist began the exciting job of identifying who was present, which can be quite tricky when you have this many whales popping up together! After comparing their photos to our catalogue, we confirmed the following whales were present:

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

T065A5 Indy ♂ (2014)

T075B Pebbles ♀ (1995)
T075B2 Jasper ♂ (2015)
T075B3 Rubble ♂ (2017)
T075B4 Petra ♀ (2021)
T075B5 ♀ (2025)

T100 Hutchins ♀ (~1979)
T100C Laurel ♂ (2002)
T100F Estrella (2004)

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

T124D Field ♀ (1996)
T124D1 Salish II (2014)
T124D3 Lupine ♀ (2022)
T124D4 Dune (2024)

Now THAT’s a lot of whales! Seeing two matrilines together is impressive, let alone seeing members of six different ones all together! Gatherings like this are lovingly referred to as “T-parties” and are an important part of orca social practices. Not only do they provide a great opportunity for whales to socialize and make friendships, but they also provide the perfect opportunity for breeding-age whales to mate. It is likely this was occurring while we observed them, as at least one of the males was spotted travelling upside down at the surface, “sea snake” out, following around T075B2 Jasper.

Back in 2023, Jasper gave birth to her first calf. This was exciting, seeing her become a new mother, but a sad reality soon crept in - firstborn calves have a fairly high mortality rate in orca, likely due to high levels of toxin bioaccumulation in their mothers. Jasper’s young calf is sadly believed to be deceased, as they were no longer seen travelling by her side in mid-September 2023. Hopefully, if Jasper did successfully mate today, she will give birth to a healthy calf that we will be able to watch grow and mature for years to come!

After witnessing some incredible behaviours from the party, including spyhops, tailslaps, and breaches, we departed the scene and went back into search mode once more. Our next stop took us to the Halibut Bank ODAS buoy, a little yellow marker that frequently has sea lions nestled up high out of the water. Here, several of our Steller Sea Lions were sprawled out, enjoying the late evening sunshine, and getting cozy and ready for an evening nap.

We left the sea lions behind for their nap and pointed towards McCall Bank, an area frequently used by our humpbacks. Once more, we scanned and scanned until we saw a beautiful backlit blow from a whale gliding by! This time, we used a combination of factors to identify our little whale, including comparing their dorsal fin as well as their fluke pattern. With this, we learnt that the whale we were with was 6-year-old Graphite (BCX2077)! Graphite was taking it easy as we observed them travelling along and occasionally fluking, conserving as much energy as possible. This time of the year is critical for our humpbacks, as we are quickly approaching the end of their feeding season. Soon, our gentle giants will depart our cool waters to venture southbound, to the warmer waters of Hawaii or Mexico to breed and give birth. Once they depart, we will not see them again until the spring or early summer. Save travels, Graphite!

Once we left Graphite behind to continue his evening, we began the trip back across the Strait. The setting sun cast a beautiful golden hue over the city as we pulled back into Nanaimo, wrapping up an excellent double species day adventuring around the Salish Sea!

Photos taken by Marine Naturalist Aly Kohlman - please enjoy.

T100C Laurel with his mother T100 Hutchins beside him.

T100C Laurel with his eyepatch above the surface.

T101A Rush, T036 Chainsaw, T065 Whidbey II, and T101B Lagoon.

A little nose poking above the surface of the water.

Someone was very ‘excitedly’ chasing T075B Jasper around.

The males T063 Chainaw and T101A Rush side by side with a young one behind them.

T063 Chainaw and T101A Rush with a young whale headstanding behind them.

T063 Chainaw with the brothers T101A Rush (left) and T101B Lagoon (right).

T063 Chainsaw with T101A Rush tailslapping ahead of him.

T063 Chainsaw zooming by with others behind him.

A sleepy Steller Sea Lion curiously watches us.

Author: Cheyenne BrewsterSeptember 3, 2025WhalesComment