November 17th - A T-Party and humpback "Lego" in the northern Strait of Georgia!

On the 17th of November we headed out of Nanaimo towards a shore based report of a pod of orca near the Sunshine Coast. The Sunshine Coast is on the mainland of British Columbia, just north of Vancouver separated by the emerald green waters of Howe Sound. We crossed the open water of the Strait of Georgia and found ourselves just offshore of the town of Sechelt. Here we found 8-10 orca gathered in what we call a “T-Party”! These orca consisted of at least two different pods; the T002Cs and the T037Bs. Our Orca, or Killer whales, are iconic animals with their large dorsal fins and their striking black and white colouration. This group has a variety of adult females, mature males, and juveniles. The T002C pod consists of 4 members: the matriarch T002C Tasu (born 1989), T002C1 Rocky (2002), T002C3 Lucy (2011), and T002C5 who was born in 2020! The T037Bs are a group of 2 consisting of T037B Harold (1998) and T037B1 Lance (2012).

When we arrived on scene there was lots of surface activity; pec slaps, tail lobbing, spy hops, breaching, and more. It’s likely that we found them hunting since that’s usually when there’s the most visible activity with orca although they could’ve been socializing. No matter the reason for it, getting to see these 6 ton animals exhibiting their strength is breathtaking.

After getting our fill of orca acrobatics we started the journey through the Salish sea towards Nanaimo. It didn’t take long before we saw the wisp of another blow in the distance. Upon closer approach we discovered that it was humpback whale KEY0008 Lego. We usually find these 30 ton animals diving for their meals consisting of krill and small bait fish here in the Salish Sea.

After spending time with Lego we travelled to the white islets which a colony of sea lions call home during the winter months. There was huge male Steller’s sea lions letting out loud roars when other approached too close and smaller females enjoying the sunshine on their rocks. Sea birds such as the surf scooters and loons were also spotted throughout our journey through the Salish sea.

All the best photos from our adventure are below, taken by marine naturalist Rebecca Stirling.