July 30, 2026, 3:30 PM - Bouncing baby orcas and Five Humpbacks throughout the Salish Sea

When we left the Nanaimo waterfront, two of our boats, Cascadia and Kula, were met with beautiful conditions. Since there had been sightings reported from all over the Salish Sea, there was a lot of potential ahead of us and we were looking forward to getting onto the water and beginning our exploration.

Our journey started with a crossing of the Strait of Georgia, during which we kept our eyes fixed on the horizon in the hope of spotting any wildlife. At the White Islets, the ship made its first stop of the day to see some of the local pinnipeds and birds. The White Islets have been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because of the large number of seabirds that use this small group of islands and the adjacent waters.

A bird species that is especially interesting in this region is the Marbled Murrelet, a small marine bird that spends much of its life at sea but journeys inland to nest in old-growth forests. A study conducted in 1993 found that about 1% of the entire Canadian population of Marbled Murrelets was observed in or near the White Islets, clearly showing how significant this area is for marine birds.

While Cascadia was visiting the White Islets, Kula traversed along the mainland side of British Columbia, and the search soon produced results.

Soon, small dorsal fins started appearing ahead of us, shooting back and forth along the surface. We had spotted our first whales of the day!

Naturaist Evan started taking photographs of the whales as they moved about. When it comes to Transient Orca, identification depends on various details, including the shape and size of their dorsal fins, the markings on their saddle patches, and other distinctive characteristics like their eyepatches, all of which can help us determine exactly which group we are looking at. After Evan's photographs had been matched against our identification catalogue, it was evident that this was not merely one family but two families travelling together - we were accompanying the T035As and the T038As!

T035A Lester ♀ (1998)
T035A1 Opal ♀ (2010)
T035A1A (2026)
T035A2 Topaz ♂ (2013)
T035A3 Garnet (2018)
T035A4 Agate ♂ (2022)

T038A Dana ♀ (2000)
T038A2 Archer (2020)
T038A3 Quill (2024)

Three young faces appeared among the older whales within the pod. The T035As are currently travelling with one newborn calf and one four-year-old calf, and the T038As have one two-year-old calf.

Matriarch T035A Lester’s eldest daughter, T035A1 Opal, has also been recorded as travelling with her first calf, designated T035A1A. T035A Lester’s youngest calf, T035A4 Agate, was also being very surface active as we watched. T038A3 Quill was also interacting excitedly with them.

Raising a calf involves a great deal of time and energy on the part of a mother orca. The young calves have to learn all sorts of things from the rest of their family, such as how to travel, how to socialize, where to find food, and how to navigate the complicated waters that are their home. When a family has multiple calves, it means two youngsters are learning and growing at the same time, which makes the family particularly exciting to observe.

The young ones were very energetic, porpoising out of the water as they swam back and forth among the other members of the pods. Some of the other whales were taking part in the fun as well, with a number of them slapping the surface with their tails. Although we cannot be certain of the meaning of each behaviour, tail slaps and other lively actions such as porpoising often occur during social interactions, as pod members chatter to each other during their travels.

We spent some quality time with the two families, enjoying the chance to watch the adults and the calves travelling together, and eventually it was time to say our goodbyes and to continue our search.

Once again, Kula and Cascadia slowly moved out, looking along the horizon for the other kind of whale that we can often spot - humpback whales! We went back into search mode, and not long after, it proved fruitful!

Kula quickly located a single humpback whale north of Gabriola Island. This whale was exhibiting typical behaviour for a feeding humpback, moving steadily through the water and, at times, raising its flukes above the surface before diving into the depths. This diving made it possible for us to identify the whale as Raptor’s 2024 calf (KEX0092) as their beautiful flukes appeared above the surface.

This young humpback is still only in its first few years of life, busy travelling and remembering the details their mother taught them while they were by her side. Humpback calves stay with their mother for only about a year, and in that time they learn all sorts of valuable lessons, such as migration routes, the best feeding spots, and any dangers they need to avoid.

While Kula was with the single humpback whale, Cascadia kept searching farther and eventually found a different group of humpbacks. This time they had located four whales, all travelling in the same general area, but not always associating with one another. Once Kula had been informed of the situation, the boat and their crew continued on, and shortly afterwards both boats were watching the quartet as they continued their journey. The whales travelled steadily, sometimes disappearing below the surface for a dive before reappearing and then continuing on their way.

All four whales eventually showed us beautiful views of their flukes, enabling us to identify the group as Barge Boy (BCX2514), Vanta (BCX1730), Anvil (BCZ0410), and X-Ray (BCX1851).

This season, all of these whales have been turning up frequently in our area, although X-Ray is a more recent addition to our summer sightings, as they had never been spotted by our company prior to 2026. Each humpback has a distinct black-and-white pattern on the underside of its tail, somewhat similar to a fingerprint, which enables researchers and naturalists to identify individual whales over time.

The Salish Sea is an important area for humpback whales. Having come from their winter breeding grounds, they spend the summer making the most of the plentiful food found in the coastal waters of British Columbia. Like this, they have to build up substantial energy stores before starting their long journey south to their breeding areas later in the year.

It was finally time for us to begin our journey back to Nanaimo; before heading back to the harbour, we made one more stop at the Bluffs, where we spent some time watching the cormorants nesting along the rocky shoreline.

The day was full of reminders of the great variety of life found throughout the Salish Sea, whether it was tiny orca calves playing among their families or young, well-known humpbacks travelling through the Strait, making it a lovely day out exploring our local waters.

Photos taken by Marine Naturalists Jordan Robinson and Evan Hessels.

T035A1 Opal with tiny T035A1A behind her, and T035A Lester with T035A4 Agate to her right. Photo by Evan Hessels.

T038A Dana with her distinct white patch on her dorsal fin. Photo by Evan Hessels.

T038A3 Quill coming up for a big breath. Photo by Evan Hessels.

T035A1 Opal with her tiny new calf T035A1A ahead of her. Photo by Evan Hessels.

T035A2 Topaz with T035A4 Agate behind him. Photo by Evan Hessels.

The whole T038A family: T038A Dana, T038A2 Archer, and T038A3 Quill (eyepatch visible). Photo by Evan Hessels.

T038A Dana in the lead, with T038A3 Quill bringing their rostrum out of the water. Photo by Evan Hessels.

T035A Lester and T035A4 Agate. Photo by Evan Hessels.

T035A1A and T038A2 Archer. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

What a cute little smile! Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T038A3 Quill sporting some new scarring. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T035A1A bellyflopping. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

T035A Lester with T035A4 Agate behind her, and T038 Dana beside them. Photo by Evan Hessels.

Teeny tiny T035A1A. Photo by Evan Hessels.

Naturalist Jordan waving the Whale Warning flag to alert an incoming boat. Photo by Evan Hessels.

Raptor’s 2024 calf going for a dive. Photo by Evan Hessels.

X-Ray’s beautifully unique fluke. Photo by Evan Hessels.

Vanta travelling along. Photo by Evan Hessels.

Vanta, with their unique dorsal fin and scars visible. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

A clearer angle of Vanta’s dotted dorsal fin. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

Vanta’s fluke, with their distinctive tiny white dot marking in the middle. Photo by Evan Hessels.

A shallow fluke from Barge Boy. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

A massive exhale as another humpback begins to dive. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

Sleepy Harbour Seals up on the rocks. Photo by Evan Hessels.

Steller Sea Lions and sea gulls up on White Islets. Photo by Evan Hessels.

Bickering amongst the sea lions. Photo by Evan Hessels.

A biiiiig yawn from a sleepy Steller Sea Lion. Photo by Evan Hessels.

A seagull flying by. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

Adult Gulls with a chick resting on the top of White Islets. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

A flock of Gulls wandering the shoreline. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

So many sleepy birds on the shoreline! Photo by Evan Hessels.

A parcel of Black Oystercatchers with many of them preening. Photo by Evan Hessels.

Cormorants gathered up along the Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Jordan Robinson.

Author: Cheyenne BrewsterJuly 30, 2026WhalesComment