September 20th - T99's at Sandheads
Today we were extra lucky, as there was a reported orca sighting just five minutes from our harbour. We left the dock and spotted a lone male orca travelling between the islands. We briefly watched him before we turned our attention southbound.
The T99’s were putting on a big show as they hunted their lunch today. The youngest member of the pod, T99D (no nickname yet), was tail slapping and jumping out of the water excitedly. We also witnessed two big spyhops from the older members of the pod, as well as some breaching and tail slapping activity! Just like cats, orca will prolong the hunt for their meal before they make the final strike. We witnessed this today as they hunted their meal for 45 minutes. One of our boats, Keta, caught wind of the successful kill just as they were leaving scene.
After leaving the T99’s, our boats started to cross back towards the Gulf Islands. One of our boats caught sight of a very elusive humpback. This humpback ended up diving underwater and holding it’s breath for 11 minutes before surfacing again!
Check out our best photos from the day by Naturalists Val and Cheyenne below!
Flying orca! Photo by Val Watson.
Sploosh! Sequence by Val Watson.
The hunt is on! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Lots of spyhop action! Photo by Val Watson.
Spyhopping action! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
A Common Tern… which are not actually common in our area! Photo by Val Watson.
Lunch for our orca - can you spot the seal? Photo by Val Watson.
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Photo by Val Watson
Photo by Val Watson
Photo by Val Watson
Photo by Val Watson
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster
Humpback whale “Poptart”! Big Momma’s 2016 calf. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster