On December the 6th we had the first heavy snowfall of the season in Nanaimo. Luckily this did not stop our adventurous guests from going out on our semi-covered vessel Kula. Since Kula has a heated cabin, our guests were able to stay warm and cozy while enjoying the beautiful white snowy scenery.

After leaving the harbour, our crew decided to explore the Gulf Islands first, which turned out to be the right call since we were lucky enough to spot a pod of Orcas just south of Dodd Narrows and only 30 minutes after the beginning of the tour.

The pod/family of Orcas we found were the T46’s, which includes:

Wake, the Matriarch (T046/Female) born in 1966,
Her 3 confirmed children Strider (T046D/Male/2000), Thor (T046E/Male/2003), and Loki (T046F/Male/2012), and
Centeki (T122/Female/1982), who is suspected to be Wake’s daughter. Centeki’s number does not match the rest of the matriline because she was likely originally spotted traveling alone. She has since been spotted trekking with Wake and the others regularly, leading to the belief that she is one of Wake’s children.

Wake (T46) is a very special whale. She is a part of the ‘Budd Inlet Six’. Back in 1976, she (and 5 other Transient/Biggs Orca) was part of the last live capture in Puget Sound’s Budd Inlet. The capture occurred only a few miles from Evergreen State College where a Whale conference largely regarding the cessation of live whale captures in Washington’s waters was happening that same day. This led to a huge public outcry and thankful she (Wake) was eventually released. She has since had many offspring, and has also become a great-grandmother!

After hanging out with the T46’s for a while we stopped by to watch some lazy Steller and California Sea Lions resting on a log boom.

Please enjoy the photos taken by naturalist Rebeka Pirker and we would love to have you in one of our winter adventures in the Salish Sea.

We offer daily tours departing at 11 am and you can book your seat on our website or just give us a call (250-667-5177).