April 18th - Orca Soup off of Entrance Island

On the 18th of April we headed out in beautiful sunny weather towards entrance island where there was a previous report of Orca in the area. Heading out into the Strait of Georgia we saw the pod off in the distance! This pod turned out to be the T049As and the T049Bs who have been travelling together during our last few encounters with them. As their names suggest the pods are related! T049A “Nan” and T049B “Van” are sisters! When we first saw this pod they were moving quickly through the water heading west back towards Gabriola Island.

We followed these whales until they slowed down and started playing! There was plenty of tail slapping, swimming upside-down, and other surface behaviours that was very exciting to watch!

But our time with this pod was up so we left to find some other wildlife, only to run into another group of orca! This group was smaller with only two members, but one of them was a local celebrity! CHAINSAW! Chainsaw, or T063, is a 43 year old male who has some very distinct notches out of his dorsal fin! he travels with T065 “Whidbey” who is suspected to be his mother.

After spending some time with chainsaw we left to find other wildlife in the area, coming across a huge group of surf scoters, harbour seals, and some sea lions. It was a great day on the water getting to enjoy the sunshine while seeing a ton of whales and other wildlife! Please enjoy the photos taken during the trip by Marine Naturalist Val!

These are two members of the T049B’s. T049B “Van” (left) and T049B3 “Charchar” (right).

Can you spot the dorsals from the T049As and T049Bs in the background of this photo? Hint: look towards the tugboat!