While the skies were on the darker side, that didn’t dampen our spirits as we began adventuring around the Strait of Georgia! Our semi-covered vessel, Kula, as well as our open vessel, Keta, began adventuring around, always scanning and always eager to see what the day would entail. After exploring a bit, we got word of a sighting near Vancouver, and we began to cross the Strait. We approached the University of British Columbia (UBC) on Point Grey when we began to see dorsal fins travelling along. Our Naturalists donned their cameras and began snapping away, using these photos to cross-reference in our ID catalogues to figure out who’s who. With these photos, we identified T065A5 Indy and the T100s:

In recent years, Hutchins’ middle child, T100E Tharaya ♀ (2009), has been travelling away from her natal matriline. At only 16 years old, Tharaya is a bit young to be exploring the seas solo. Generally, the eldest female calf in a matriline will break away from the pod and start their own matriline after they have a calf or two of their own. That is exactly what Hutchins’ eldest surviving daughter, T100B Freya ♀ (1997), has done, as she now travels along with her two living calves in tow. Interestingly, Tharaya has also been joining her sister’s travels lately - potentially learning from her instead of learning from her mother. While we may never know why Tharaya chose this interesting dynamic, we are happy she is doing well and hopeful that maybe we will see her back with the rest of her family one day.

Indy, very similarly, has been travelling solo for many years now. At only 11 years old, he is a bit of an outlier in the orca world as well. Indy has been observed playing with and pulling on crab traps, and in general, messing around with things he shouldn’t be touching. Lately, he has been spotted meeting up with random pods and travelling with them for a few days before heading out on his own again. This little oddball has won our hearts with his eccentric behaviours and appearances, and we are hopeful that he will continue to thrive for many years to come.

Indy and the T100s were living a textbook example of an average orca day-to-day, simply travelling along with no clear direction in mind. Travel takes up a massive portion of an orca’s day, with some individuals crossing an impressive 160 kilometres in a single day - that’s further than Nanaimo to Victoria! Today, Indy appeared to be mainly travelling with Estrella, with the two young whales occasionally surfacing together with Laurel. Hutchins tended to stay a bit more off to the side, while occasionally popping back in closer to the others.

Near the end of our encounter, we had another group of four orca join up with our original quartet. These four were identified as the T124Ds:

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

Amongst these pod members, little Dune could be seen zipping close to their mother. At about a year old, Dune remains highly energetic and is always learning, regardless of where their mother takes them. Dune’s blubber is likely still a bit thin, meaning they rely on constantly moving to keep their body temperature up in our frigid waters. It’s a very busy life for an orca mother with a young calf, and similarly to humans, the mothers are likely to sleep very little at the start of the calf’s life!

Once our time with the orca was up, we said our goodbyes and began the journey across the Strait once more. The fun wasn’t over for the day, though, and we headed out to start searching for more wildlife. The boats headed over to Stinky Rocks, a rocky island group located on the edge of the Strait. Here, several pinnipeds like to haul out, stretch, and sunbathe. Our Steller Sea Lions could be seen dogpiled together at the tip of the islands, slumbering away and enjoying the sunshine. Nearby, the Harbour Seals were also busy napping, nestled up out of the surf on a bed of kelp. Now, into September, these animals are taking full advantage of any nice weather we have, as soon we will have nothing but cold and cloudy skies!

Keta and Kula departed and started making their way back towards Nanaimo, with one final stop in mind before their arrival. Tucked against the edge of Northumberland Channel, a rhythmic bark could be heard bouncing off the cliffsides. Our California Sea Lions, just recently beginning to return to our area, were sprawling over the log booms located outside the Harmac pulp mill. Similar to their cousins, the Stellers, the Californians were also busy napping and occasionally scratching away as the day went by. After having a quick peek at the sea lions, we continued venturing back to Nanaimo, wrapping up the trip as we cruised back to shore!

Please enjoy these photos by Marine Naturalists Hayleigh Hilbert and Desarae Poier.

September 7, 2025, 10:30 AM - Surprise party time with the Orca!