April 7, 2024 - T065, T063, T018 and T019C travelling together in Howe Sound

We were excited to see the wind had calmed considerably from yesterday, so we eagerly piled onto our open vessel Keta and our semi-covered Kula! We had a report of Orca near the Sunshine Coast early this morning, so that is where we decided to head first. After crossing the Strait of Georgia we began heading north scanning for fins and blows along the shore. As we were searching we could hear and smell a lot of activity close by, and was there ever, we had multiple species lounging on the White Islets. The loudest and smelliest was our largest Sea Lion in the world, the Steller sea lion! They get huge, females get around 7 feet long and weigh around 700 - 800 pounds. The mature males will grow to an average of 10 feet and weigh up to 2800 pounds! When you get a group as crowded as this it’s almost guaranteed you’ll have to plug your nose! Now we can’t blame our Sea lions entirely for the unpleasant odor, we had a few more contributors as well. We also spotted their smaller cousins the Harbour Seals tucked away on the other side of the Islet as well as many different types of birds. It was a hustling and bustling place for sure! We continued north to get fresh air flowing again unplugged our noses and peeled our eyes, we were back in search mode!

With no luck north we decided to search south, and we were glad we did! We spotted a fin, not just any fin but a fin well-loved here on the West Coast. It was Chainsaw! This big beautiful male is so popular with the crew we made him our mascot! That’s right it is Chainsaw’s fin on our logo! Most of the time Chainsaw steals the show with his distinct fin, today he had some competition from Spouter - another local favourite! With the two big boys were two smaller fins as well - we had Windbey ll (Chainsaw’s mom) and Esperanza ( Spouter's grandmother).

T018 Esperanza ♀ (≤1955)
T019C Spouter ♂ (2001)

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

Esperanza is our oldest female in the Transient population turning at least 69 this year. She was first sighted in 1955. Whidbey is an older wise whale also she was first sighted in 1971. We speculate the friendship between Esperanza and Whidbey to be decades old, so seeing this socialization was a special day for us. The two big boys seemed fairly excited to see each other as well, both swimming close to one another and appearing to be roughhousing just like our kids do! After spending time with this iconic foursome we had to start heading back to port. We made a few quick last stops before returning. We visited our slightly less smelly California Sea Lions at the Harmac log booms. We got to see one of our Bald Eagles who has returned to the nest this season sitting on what we hope are eggs! We then had one last stop at the Gabriola Bluffs to see our Cormorants in their colourful breeding plumage before we turned back to home port!

Enjoy the pictures from today’s tour below! Taken by Marine Naturalists Aly Kholman and Vanessa Vereschahen.

A pair of adult Bald Eagles with a photo bomb from a Gull! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Juvenile Bald eagle soaring overhead. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Steller Sea Lions fighting over the best spot on the rocks. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

That is a lot of Sea Lions! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Afternoon nap! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Steller Sea Lions curious about the Gull. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Peaking above the waves. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Some Stellers checking out our boat. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

A Harbour Seal and an Oyster Catcher watching us back. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A very content looking Harbour Seal. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

A female Harlequin Duck on the left accompanied by two colourful males. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T063 Chainsaw with his iconic dorsal fin! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T019C Spouter with his wiggly dorsal fin! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Left to right: T018 Esperanza, T065 Whidbey ll, T019C Spouter and T063 Chainsaw. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T019C Spouter with T065 Whidbey ll surfacing beside him. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T019C Spouter with Whidbey ll just breaking the surface. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A good look at T063 Chainsaw’s eye patch. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T019 Esperanza in the lead with T065 Whidbey ll close behind and T063 Chainsaw following. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T063 Chainsaw breaking the surface. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T019C Spouter with T065 Whidbey ll at his side. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T019C Spouter. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T018 Esperanza making bubbles next to T065 Whidbey ll followed by T063 Chainsaw.

Left to right: T018 Esperanza, T019C Spouter, T065 Whidbey ll and T063 Chainsaw. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T063 Chainsaw, what a cute face! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T019C Spouter followed by T063 Chainsaw. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T063 Chainsaw followed by T019C Spouter with one of the others surfacing between the boys! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Cormorants in their nests, can you see the colourful breeding plumage? Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Oh big stretch! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Cormorants at the Bluffs. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

A handsome California Sea Lion posing for the shot. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

See the blond crest on the forehead? That’s how we know this California sea lion is a male. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

This one has an itchy back end! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A Turkey Vulture soars high overhead. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

A juvenile Bald Eagle flying through the tress. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Do you see the Bald Eagle in the nest? Fingers are crossed they have eggs, follow our blogs to watch them hatch and grow up! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.