April 6th - The T018s right outside the harbour!
Our trip on the 6th of April took us on a longer journey than expected! Our search through the Southern Gulf Islands didn’t find us any whales, only some seals, sea lions, and bald eagles. It wasn’t until we had made it almost all the way back to the harbour when we found the T018s! This last minute sighting of the pod of 4 transient orca was only 5 minutes away from where our boats dock in Nanaimo Harbour!
T019B Galiano (left) travelling with grandma T018 Esperanza (right) in front of the amazing geology of Snake Island.
The T018’s are a group of four transient orca consisting of three generations. We have T018 “Esperanza”, her daughter T019 “Nootka/Mooyah”, and two grandsons T019B “Galiano” and T019C “Spouter”! The two boys are very impressive to behold with their large dorsal fins and their size in general. All four of the members of this pod are now fully grown, with Esperanza being approximately 66 years old and Spouter being the youngest at 20. This means that the two females are close to 7 meters long and the boys are even bigger at about 8 meters! The females dorsal fins are about 2-3 feet in height and the big dorsal fins on the males are about 6 feet tall! It’s an amazing sight to see on the water.
Spouter (Left) diving below the surface with his mom Nootka (right) beside him.
This pod, with its members being older, brings to light an interesting fact about Orca. This is that they have a long post-reproductive period of their lives. With these ladies being 66 and 56 they both are no longer in the reproductive part of their lives but they are still an important part of the pod. They have many years of experience in the area and are thought to remember good hunting spots and places to travel to. They are also helping the younger members of the pod hunt and stay strong. This increases the fitness of their offspring, in this case T019B and T019C, making it beneficial to them since their likelihood of reproduction increases. Having this trait of a long post-reproductive lifespan is very rare in the animal kingdom and is found primarily in other whales and dolphins, and humans of course.
T019C Spouter.
Please enjoy the rest of the photos from the day taken by marine naturalist Ryan Uslu! If you would like to come out and join a trip of your own please give us a call at 250-667-5177 or book online through our website!
A couple of lazy California sea lions.
Amazing look at a Bald eagle in flight!
The impressive six foot dorsal of T019C Spouter.
Spouter and mom surfacing together.
A pigeon guillemot floating by the whales, seemingly unbothered.
A couple of Oyster Catchers exploring the low tide. Easy to ID with their bright orange beaks!