Aug 18 - T100's off Sechelt and Zig Zag near Parksville!

We headed North towards Parksville after one of our Naturalists spotted a Humpback off of Parksville shore while they were enjoying their day off! Our open boat, Keta, spotted humpback Zig Zag fluking and feeding. After leaving Zig Zag, both of our boats turned East towards the mainland to visit a pod of orca. They spotted the T100’s, a pod consisting of 4 members, travelling along the coast. A couple of the pod members began to porpoise - this is a form of locomotion where they quickly break the surface before diving back down again, a very typical manoeuvre seen in harbour porpoises and smaller dolphins.

Orca can achieve swimming speeds of up to 30 knots, or roughly 56 km/hr. They can be quite speedy!

T100C, Laurel, born in 2002 was a bit of a camera hog. He was traveling on one side of our boats, while his mom and younger sisters traveled on the other side. This is a common hunting technique so they can cover more ground while they travel! We also managed to get a nice photo of T100F, Estrella, born in 2014.

Check out the best photos from the day below by our Naturalist Rebeka Pirker.

T100C, Laurel born in 2002.

T100F, Estrella, born in 2004.

Harbour seals enjoying the sun on Snake Island. The yellow tag is a satellite tag that allows researches to gather information on the seals movements. They cause no harm to the animal.