May 4, 2024 - A T-party, a hunt, and a surprise lone male!

After receiving word of orca passing by Entrance Island earlier in the day, we were eager to push off the dock and start searching for them. We dashed out into the Strait of Georgia and it wasn’t long before we found what we were looking for - a small group of orca was quickly travelling together near Gabriola!

These whales were a bit trickier to ID than normal as there were a few faces (er, fins) that we didn’t recognize. After comparing to our catalogues we discovered we were travelling with the T146As and half of the T086As!

T086A Eider ♀ (1988)
T086A4 Akia ♀ (2016)
T086A5 (2024)

T146A Oma ♀ (1999)
T146A1 ♂ (2018)
T146A2 (2023)

While uncommon, the T086As are a pod we are familiar with. Their matriarch, T086A Eider, has an old injury to her jaw which has caused some of her teeth to fall out. This doesn’t seem to stop her though, as her pod continues to grow in size.

The T146As, on the other hand, are a new pod for us this year! They are rarely seen on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island. Most of their sightings are around Tofino, Port Hardy, and Haida Gwaii. While we are unsure why they are in our neighbourhood right now, we always love seeing new whales visiting our area.

Apparently, it was lunchtime for these whales as they were busily hunting for a good portion of our time with them. Today’s prey was a harbour seal. While we did not see the final blow, we deemed the hunt successful when we saw T146A Oma surface with remains draped across her dorsal fin. The whales also were seen celebrating, with lots of tail slaps and excited spy hops after the meal.

Shortly after leaving our T-party we located one large, lone male travelling by himself. This whale was identified as:

T049A1 Noah ♂ (2001)

Noah has been travelling by himself a lot lately. He seems to occasionally stop by to say hello to his mother and siblings, but he tends to venture off on his own again within a day or so. Why? We don’t know!
Noah’s younger brother, T049A2 Jude, has also taken on the wandering lifestyle. Unlike Noah who in general is well-behaved, Jude has gotten himself into trouble - last year he and another wandering male ended up stuck in a lake!

Noah wasn’t up to a lot today so we headed on out after grabbing some ID shots. He had been travelling very close to a favourite haulout location of ours so we turned and cruised on over there for our next wildlife stop.

When we approached “Stinky Rocks”, a haulout alongside Valdez Island lovingly named after its aroma, there were several different species to see. The most common species to see here are our Steller and California sea lions, and as per usual there were a number of them growling, belching, barking, and snoozing away on the shores. Besides the sea lions, there was also a flock of Harlequin ducks napping away and a young Bald Eagle right at the edge of the water. We hit the jackpot in terms of the number of species over at Stinky today!

After departing Stinky Rocks we made one last stop at the Gabriola Bluffs. The Bluffs are a great place to spot Bald Eagles, Cormorants, and Turkey Vultures.

Photos by Marine Naturalists Vanessa Vereschahen and Lucy Willis.

T086A Eider with her new and tiny baby T086A5. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T146A Oma. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

T146A Oma, T146A1, Photo by Lucy Willis.

A big tail slap from T086A Eider. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Left to right: T086A4 Akia, T146A1, T146 Oma, and T086A Eider. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Little T086A5’s nose coming out of the water Photo by Lucy Willis.

The seal they were chasing. Photo by Lucy Willis.

T086A Eider and her youngest calf T086A5. Photo by Lucy Willis.

T146A Oma with seal intestines on her dorsal! Photo by Lucy Willis.

Some snoozing Cormorants. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Talk about comfortable! A large Steller sea lion resting at a haulout. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

Fighting at the haul out. Photo by Lucy Willis.

A young Bald Eagle with its feathers fluffed - it almost resembles an ear! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

There we go all fixed! Young bald eagle on a rocky haulout Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

A young bald eagle in flight. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

A flock of Harlequin ducks. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

A Pacific Loon coming in for a landing. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.

We think there might be a chick or two in the nest now! Photo by Lucy Willis.

A Turkey Vulture in flight. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Jilann LechnerMay 4, 2024WhalesComment