April 20th - A lovely day with Bigg's orca near Qualicum Bay

Our crew and guests headed out of Nanaimo at 12pm and followed a report up north along the eastern shore of Vancouver Island. Around Qualicum Bay we encountered approximately 8 orca, from a couple a different pods; The T18’s/T19’s and others.

The water was really calm and it was beautiful and sunny out. We watched in awe as these incredible apex predators were milling and socializing. This specific ecotype of killer whale that we watch are called Bigg’s/transients and they have a specialized diet of marine mammals. Their primary prey are harbour seals, but they also eat sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, other whales, and occasionally even land mammals such as deer or moose that risk swimming between islands!

These intelligent prey items can hear a vocalizing orca from miles away, so when Bigg’s orca are hunting they are silent and stealth. If you were a seal you might not even know these whales were nearby until it was too late! This sneak approach is made easier if the pods are relatively small. To maximize foraging efficiency this ecotype will usually travel with just its natal pod, or its matriline, and sometimes even those will split. It’s always fun to see multiple pods join together, not just because there are more fins in the water, but because it’s a good hint that everyone is well fed and has extra energy for socializing!

Afterwards we headed to Entrance Island, just near Gabriola Island, to watch some sea lions laze around and growl at each other. It was a great day on the water and here are the best photographs taken by marine naturalist Rebeka.

If you are local and looking to join us for an adventure, we are running daily whale watching tours at 12pm wth reduced capacity and other COVID protocols in place. Come explore your backyard!