T049As - The harbour whales
T049A Nan ♀(1986)
Nan is the matriarch of the T49A matriline. She has produced 7 known calves and impressively all 7 have survived. Nan is known as a “boy mom” because of her 6 calves that have had their sex identified, 5 of them are males. Nan is also known for taking her family into harbours throughout the Salish Sea including Victoria, Comox and Nanaimo. It is thought that she uses the noisy harbours to hunt prey undetected like harbour seals. Nan is named after Nanaimo and most of her children follow a naming theme where the first letter of the name is N. (Photo by Carmen Murphy)
T049A1 Noah ♂(1995)
Noah is Nan’s oldest calf. He has a large notch closer to the base of his dorsal fin and a little bit of a hunchback which makes him easily recognizable. It’s unclear why Noah’s back is shaped that way and could be genetic or from an old injury. Luckily it doesn’t seem to affect his day-to-day life. Noah is often seen traveling with his mother and younger siblings, but he is also known to venture on his own or hang out with his more independent brother Jude. (Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen)
T049A2 Jude
♂(2007)
Jude is Nan’s second oldest son and travels separate from the core family seemingly preferring the company of other adult lone males including his brother Noah and uncle Nielson. Like his mother, Jude tends to frequent harbours but Judes claim to fame comes from the time he was trapped in Barnes Lake, Alaska. At the time Jude was hanging out with another lone male T51 “Roswell” and it’s thought that the two followed a pinniped into the lake. Between the shallow, narrow passage and the dense kelp forest, when the tide went out the boys were stuck. After 6 weeks in the lake researchers and rescuers worked out a plan to lure the whales out using vocal recordings from female orca that the boys knew while simultaneously using hukilau’s and banging on pipes behind the whales to drive them forward. Luckily the plan worked and Jude and Roswell were freed. Jude was originally named Judy. (Photo by Aly Kohlman)
T049A3 Nat
♂(2011)
Nat is Nan 3rd son and the oldest of her sons that consistently travels with her. Nat is currently sprouting. This is when the dorsal fin of a teenage male orcas straightens and grows taller. When fully grown, those dorsal fins can be 6 feet tall! (Photo by Jordan Robinson)
T049A4 Neptune
♂(2014)
Neptune is Nan’s 4th son. He is named after the Roman God of water. (Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen)
T049A5 Nebula ♀(2017)
Nebula is Nan’s 5th calf and only known daughter. When she was younger, Nebula was seen been rammed out of the water by Nan. While it’s not entirely clear why Nan would do this, most believe that it was her disciplining a rambunctious Nebula. Nebula’s name come from the cloudiness of her eyepatch. (Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen)
T049A6 Charlie II
♂(2022)
Charlie is Nan’s 6th calf and a fan favourite in the Salish Sea. When Charlie was born, he had a normal rostrum structure. This would rapidly change and now his bottom jaw protrudes giving him a noticeable underbite. While we don’t know exactly what caused this, it was possibly a result from an injury. Charlie II was named after T1 “Charlie Chin” who also had a noticeable underbite. (Photo by Hayleigh Hibert)
T049A7 Nimbus
♂(2026)
At the beginning of 2026, Nan’s younger children would spotted in several different encounters without her. At 40 years old, Nan isn’t necessarily old, but she isn’t young either and some began to speculate that she had passed. Luckily she would reappear with her family and with her, she brought a brand new calf! Nimbus is Nan’s youngest calf and currently the sex is unknown. The name Nimbus is a type of cloud and is a play of Nebula’s name. (Photo by Aly Kohlman)
Photo byAly Kohlman