August 20th - Bachelor Trio makes another appearance and the 46's continue their journey north

With the boats fuelled and full of eager guests we set out on another morning adventure across the Salish Sea, searching for wildlife.
We crossed the Strait of Georgia, searching for whales, when we got word that there were Orcas in Howe Sound. Howe Sound is a beautiful Fjord that starts at the West end of Vancouver, with Horseshoe Bay Ferry terminal nestled just inside the Sound. This stunning area has many large island throughout and steep mountains on all sides of the valley, creating incredible views year round. It’s one of our favourite places to whale watch as the waters are always a lovely shade of green and there is so much to see.

On this trip we found the Bachelor Trio, Jude (T49A2), Neftali (T77C) and Alcyon (T77D), traveling North through the beautiful Fjord. This group of teenagers has been hanging around Howe Sound for several weeks now, occasionally they will travel out but they seem to be drawn to this area. It’s no surprise why, as there are plenty of small islands throughout the Sound that are home to Harbour Seals, the favourite foods of Bigg’s Killer Whales.

We’ve dubbed this little make-shift pod “the bachelor trio” because they’ve been traveling without their families for several weeks. It’s not uncommon for young male orcas to venture out after they’ve reached puberty to explore the ocean and meet other whales.

This Bachelor trip actually started way back on June 23rd, when we found Jude and his older brother Noah hanging out near Gabriola Island. These boys travel around Gabriola for quite a while, hunting and playing in the Gulf Islands.

On July 3rd the T77 siblings were spotted away from their pod for the first time. Their pod is a 5 whale pod, with their mom Asja, older brother “the Church” and younger sibling Misneach. It wasn’t weird to see Jude or Noah separated from their family pod, because they have both gone through puberty and are confirmed males. However, Neftali is 15 years old, and should have gone through puberty and begun to sprout, but they are still fairly small. Alcyon has also just entered puberty, turning 12 this year, so if they are male we should see that dorsal sprout fairly soon. But as of right now, we aren’t sure whether these are 2 females or 2 males. If they are males, it’s not odd for them to be off on their own, but if they are females it raises a lot of questions.

The duos met up for the first time in our records on July 10th, and traveled together for a few days before Noah decided he wanted to head home to mom. Since then Jude, Neftali and Alcyon have been cruising the Salish sea, getting into trouble and navigating life on their own. It might be some time before we learn whether or not Neftali or Alcyon are male or female, but it’s left us all pondering the potential that they are sisters, and not brothers, and what that could mean in terms of social behaviours, as females don’t really leave moms side until they’ve had calves of their own.
We are also patiently waiting to see when these teenagers will split up and return to their own families again.

After leaving our trio of Orcas in the Sound we began our journey home, only to be stopped by a pair of Humpbacks in the Strait. These 2 were doing deep dives and being camera shy, hiding their tails, so we’ve yet to match them to whales in our catalogs, but it’s only a matter of time before we figure them out!.

In the afternoon our boats headed out with hopes of requiring the Trio from the morning. Instead they found a new pod of whales, the T46’s. We had found the T46’s the night before as they traveled through Dodd’s Narrows before heading past Snake island and out into the Strait of Georgia. This group was continuing their journey North along the Sunshine Coast. This pod is one we encounter often, and even if we don’t see them, we often see their other family members, as Wake (T46) has been a very successful matriarch. At approx. 55 years old, wake has gone through menopause and won’t be having more of her own calves, however, she has plenty of daughters to continue her legacy.

Below is a list of all the surviving Orcas Wake as brought into the world!

T123 - Sidney ( approx. 36 y/o)
- T123A - Stanley (21 y/o)
- T123B (deceased)
- T123C - Lucky (9 y/o)
- T123D - Darcy (3 y/o)

T46B - Raksha (33 y/o)
- T46B1 - Tread (18 y/o)
- T46B1A - Tsakani (6 y/o)
- T46B1B - Tl’uk (3 y/o)
- T46B2 - Akela (13 y/o)
- T46B3 - Sedna (10 y/o)
- T46B4 - Quiver (8 y/o)
- T46B5 (deceased)
- T46B6 - Sol (2 y/o)

T46C - Carmanah (27 y/o)
- T46C1 - Tsunami (15 y/o)
- T46C2 - Sam (12 y/o)
- T46C3 - Razor (8 y/o)
- T46C3 - Hobi (3 y/o)

T122 - Centeki (Approx. 39 y/o)
T46D - Strider (21 y/o)
T46E - Thor (18 y/o)
T46F - Loki (9 y/o)

The Column on the far right is who Wake travels with now, Centeki and her 3 sons.
Most orcas share a number with their mother, T46B, Raksha, for instance is Wakes first confirmed daughter. This means biologists or naturalists were around when Raksha first appeared as a calf and can confirm that Wake is her mom. However, T122 and T123 do not share a number with Wake. Centeki was first cataloged alone, away from Wake, hence the stand alone number, but since then has been seen by Wakes side.
T123, Sidney, was also cataloged alone. However, she is also presumed to be one of Wake’s daughters. Centeki traveling with Wake would be a good reason to assume they are related, but Sidney has her own pod, and doesn’t travel with Wake’s pod any more than any other pod does. So how they came to the assumption that they might be related is unclear.
A new interesting theory has risen regarding Centeki specifically. Some are starting to think Centeki might be older than Wake, and actually Wakes mom. It’s not uncommon for Older female Orcas to rejoin a daughters pod if they no longer have a pod of their own.
Because we don’t genetically test our Orcas we will never know for sure if Centeki is Wake’s daughter or mother, or even if they are related. Because Orcas are not territorial, it is also possible that Centeki was a lone female, with no pod of her own, that Wake’s pod just adopted.

After leaving the T46’s traveling along the Sunshine Coast our boats came across 4 humpbacks in 3 different groups. 2 single humpbacks, one unknown and one known as “Fader” were traveling near the Sunshine Coast, diving and feeding. Fader was feeling extra energetic, pec slapping and trumpeting while rolling around the boat.
They also came across a mom and calf pair near the Flat Top islands, near the south of Gabriola Island.

Jilann LechnerAugust 26, 2021Comment