August 2nd - A day with 20 orcas and 2 humpbacks!

August 2nd was a great day for whale watching. Our boats Kula and Keta first found a huge T-party of 16 orcas! We found these orcas near North Pender. The T37A’s, the T65A’s and the T137A’s were the pods that were identified to be in this huge group of orcas. The orca members of each of these pods were:

T37A - Volker (1994)
T37A1 - Inyo (2007)
T37A2 - Inky (2009)
T37A3 - Spinnaker (2013)
T37A4 - Crinkle (2015)
T37A5 (2019)

T656A - Artemis (1986)
T65A2 - Ooxjaa (2004)
T65A3 - Amira (2007)
T65A4 - Ellifrit (2011)
T65A5 - Elsie (2014)
T65A6 - Callisto (2018)

T137 - Loon (1984)
137A - Jack (2002)
137B - Tempest (2006)
137D - Wright (2012)

Transient orca pods like to make these huge “t-parties” occasionally to socialize and hunt together. Orcas are very social animals and often engage in physical contact. Friendships among orca pods are thought to exist as they spend more time interacting with certain individuals, and they tend to favour those of the same sex and similar age.

After this we found Split Fin and Stripe. These two humpbacks were hanging out near Active Pass. When humpbacks are together, they communicate with each other and travel together. Sometimes they even help each other hunt.

For our afternoon tour, our boat Kula found the T60’s. The T60’s consist of Panthera (T60), Yelnats (T60C), Onca (T60D), Lynx (T60E), Tigris (T60F) and T60G. Panthera is 41 years old and her children Yelnats, Orca, Lynx and Tigris are 20, 17, 13, 9 and 2 years old respectively. While male orcas have a lifespan of about 40-60 years, female orcas have a lifespan of 60-80 years. We found these orcas travelling just west of Village Bay.

Check out the pictures our naturalists Cheyenne and Rebeka got below!

10:30 Wright (T137D) on the left. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

10:30 Jack (T137A) on the right. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

10:30 Split Fin going down for a dive! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

10:30 Split Fin (BCZ0298). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

10:30 Stripe (BCZ0004). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

10:30 Left to right: Split Fin and Stripe. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

10:30 Stripe going down for a dive. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

10:30 Stripe! Do you see how they earned their name? Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

A Biggs orca buffet! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster, 10:30am

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish. Photo by Rebeka Pirker, 10:30am

Yelnats (T60C). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster, 3:30pm

Panthera (T60). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster, 3:30pm

Left to right: Yelnats (T60C) and Panthera (T60).Photo by Cheyenne Brewster, 3:30pm

What a stink eye! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster, 3:30pm

Jilann LechnerAugust 9, 2021Comment