With three boats off the dock, we wasted no time searching south to see who was going to pop up. Luckily, we didn’t have to travel too long before coming across three very familiar fins off the northern tip of Thetis island, it was the T019s! This pod consists of the following whales:

T019 Nootka ♀ (~1965)
T019B Galiano ♂ (1995)
T019C Spouter ♂ (2001)

This small family is home to some of the most recognizable dorsal fins in the Salish Sea. Nootka, with her noticeably smaller dorsal compared to her sons, is often mistaken for a calf, an understandable but incorrect assumption. As a female, her dorsal fin reaches about 3–4 feet in height, while her two “boys,” Galiano and Spouter, tower above her with impressive 6-foot dorsals. Each has his own distinctive look: Galiano’s tall fin leans to the left with a broad, rounded shape, while Spouter’s is pointier and slightly wavy, making them both easy to identify in photos.

Not too long ago, this pod also included another small dorsal fin, that of matriarch T018 Esperanza. Believed to have been born around 1955 (possibly earlier), “Grandma” Esperanza was the oldest whale in the Bigg’s population at the time of disappearance. As a matriarch, she embodied a lifetime of survival skills, ecological knowledge, and cultural memory. These were lessons she passed down to her descendants, shaping the success of the generations that followed. Esperanza’s long life spanned a remarkable and turbulent era for killer whales. She was born at a time when orcas were widely feared and misunderstood. The prevailing public image was that of a ruthless “killer,” and they were often treated as pests. In British Columbia and Washington State, fishermen sometimes shot or harassed orcas, wrongly believing they competed for salmon. Very little scientific research had been conducted on orcas in the 1950s, so Esperanza’s early years were spent in a world where her species’ intelligence, family bonds, and ecological importance went unrecognized.

In her lifetime, Esperanza would have witnessed the devastating live-capture era of the 1960s and 70s. During this period, dozens of orcas were rounded up and forcibly taken from their families to supply aquariums and marine parks around the world. She would have seen (and perhaps heard) the chaos of events like the infamous Budd Inlet capture in 1976, when six transient orcas were netted and removed from Puget Sound. While these capture events mainly targeted the Southern Residents, they left lasting scars across orca communities in the region, forever altering social structures and generational knowledge.

She also lived through the final years of industrial whaling in the Salish Sea. Until its ban in 1967, humpbacks and gray whales were still being hunted in local waters, further diminishing the marine ecosystem that orcas depend on. And throughout her decades at sea, Esperanza would have watched human presence increase—commercial shipping, fishing vessels, and recreational boating—forcing her to navigate an ocean that was steadily becoming noisier and more crowded. Despite these challenges, Esperanza thrived into her late 60s, a testament to her resilience. As a grandmother and great-grandmother, she likely played a vital role in guiding her family through hunts, teaching them which prey to target, and helping calves survive in a predator’s world. Her name, meaning “hope,” feels particularly fitting: she represented both endurance and continuity for her lineage. Esperanza has not been seen since August 2024. While her passing has not been confirmed, her absence marks the likely end of an extraordinary life. Today, her legacy continues in the pod we encountered: her daughter Nootka, and grandsons Galiano, and Spouter, who continue to carry her story through their presence in the Salish Sea.

After watching this small family on a hunt, we left them to continue on and received reports of another familiar youngster nearby. We headed toward Maple Bay and found T065A5 Indy ♂ (2014) bouncing and breaching in the tranquil waters of Samsun Narrows. As always, Indy was full of energy, treating guests to a spectacular display of tail slaps, breaching, and even cartwheels.

Indy is a bit of an unusual whale. He dispersed from his family at a young age and is often seen alone or trailing alongside pods he doesn’t belong to. He’s known for getting into mischief: playing with crab pots, hanging out with other long males, and hunting independently. His adventurous lifestyle is evident in his body condition: photos show numerous scars along his body and saddle patch, likely from interactions with other whales, prey, and possibly human artifacts like prawn traps. Whatever trouble he’s gotten into recently, Indy’s energy and playful spirit are impossible to miss.

We finished off the day with a trip to Stinky Rocks, a great place to see a variety of wildlife. Steller Sea Lions, California Sea Lions, Harbour Seals and Turkey Vulture were just a few of the many species we saw today on our trip. Check out photos from the day from Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Hayleigh Hilbert, and Vanessa Vereschahen below.

September 10, 2025, 10:30 PM - Spending Time with Familiar Fins