September 3rd - A very active pod of orcas and a feeding humpback!

We had beautiful conditions as we set off the dock at 1pm on both our covered vessel Kula and our open vessel Cascadia. Cascadia headed east towards reports of two transient killer whales and we were not disappointed when we arrived on scene only 45 minutes later.

The T10s, a pod of two whales, were traveling north separately. T10, the matriarch, is nicknamed “Langara” and is estimated to be born in 1963! She has a very unique dorsal fin that has a deep nick at the base. Her surviving offspring, T10C who is nicknamed “Bones” was born in 1999 and has a very big dorsal fin! The size contrast between these two became much more noticeable when they later joined up and started traveling and hunting side by side.

This mother and son duo eventually slowed down and started changing direction - a great indication that they had some prey with them! Transient killer whales feed almost exclusively on marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, and sometimes even other whales! It’s suspected that these two had a porpoise and they spent the rest of the encounter working on their lunch. We were very lucky and got to see some tail throws and many spyhops, which is where the whale sticks its head straight out of the water to take a peek at its surroundings.

Kula also headed east towards those reports of killer whales, but on the way they found a humpback whale! This whale was later identified as “Flier” by comparing the unique markings on its fluke to various catalogues that have been compiled of whales in the area. This whale was feeding alone and we managed to get some lovely photographs of it showing off that huge tail.

Here are some of the best photos taken that day by marine naturalists Natalie and Ryan:

Jilann LechnerSeptember 9, 2020Comment