July 13th - Whale soup!
On July 13th we left the harbour in search of some whales and our efforts did not go to waste. We found a pod of orca, the T077s right outside of Nanaimo at Entrance island! Entrance island is home to many seals and sea lions so its not surprising that we would find a pod of our transient, mammal eating orca here.
Some lazy Steller Sea Lions hanging out on Entrance island. Photo by Val Watson.
The T077s consist of 5 whales: The matriarch T077 “Asja”, T077B “The Church”, T077C “Neftali”, T077D “ Alcyon”, and T077E. These five travelled all the way from Entrance island across the strait of Georgia to Howe Sound during the day, which gave different viewing experience for the morning trip vs the afternoon trip.
4 of the 5 members of the T077s with “The Church” front and center. Photo by Val Watson.
The humpbacks between trips were different as well. In the morning we found two humpback whales just outside of the Gabriola Reefs. Out of these two whales only one was identified and it was BCX1057 “Divot” along with one unknown. After that we found KEX0026 “Slice” close to Gabriola Pass. This whale can easily be identified by the large slice taken out by a propeller just behind its dorsal fin. This happened last year, and we were one of the first companies to see it after the initial incident. Here are some photos showing how the damage has healed over the last year.
“Slice” on September 23rd of 2018. Photo by Val Watson
“Slice” on July 13th 2019. Photo by Val Watson.
In the afternoon trip we were crossing the Strait of Georgia to go see the T077s in Howe Sound when another couple of humpbacks surfaced near our boats! After watching for a few surfaces we continued on our way to the T077s.
Unknown humpback in the Strait of Georgia. Photo by Val Watson.
T077C going down for a deep dive. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
It was an amazing day out on the water getting to see so many whales and a ton of other wildlife. Here are some more pictures from the day taken by our Naturalists on board the trips.
Photo by Val Watson.
Photo by Val Watson.
Photo by Val Watson.
“Divot” showing off her fluke as she goes for a feeding dive! Photo by Val Watson.
The underside of “Divot”s fluke. Can you see the chunk missing on the right side that she’s named for? Photo by Val Watson.
Another Steller Sea Lion hanging out on the Gabriola Reef marker. Photo by Val Watson.
“The Church” travelling through the water. Get a load of that 6 foot tall dorsal fin! Photo by Val Watson.
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See a whale or your next tour is free!