We had perfect conditions as our three vessels left the Nanaimo harbour at noon and headed northeast towards reports of killer whales! Another company had located a pod of transient killer whales, the ecotype that hunt marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, and porpoises. These whales were found in one of our favourite places to watch whales, the beautiful Howe Sound.

This pod was made up of 5 individuals and was identified as the T037As. The T037As is a family group led by the oldest member of the family, T037A, aka, Volker. She was born in 1994 and has 5 surviving offspring! Her eldest, T037A1, doesn’t always travel with her, but we did get to see her with the other four - T037A2, T037A3, T037A4, and T037A5 who is the newest to the pod being born in 2019.

Killer whales can be identified by the shape of their dorsal fins as well as the scarring and patterns in the grey area behind the dorsal fin called the saddle patch. It can be tricky to tell a bunch of females a part or young ones who’s saddle patches aren’t too distinct, but Volker has a huge nick about half way down her fin which helps give her away. Her offspring T037A4 “Crinkle” has a very unique fin that is wide and somewhat flat on the top, giving us another easy one to ID from this pod.

We saw the family hunting together which is always fascinating to watch. They work as a team to target, pursue, and usually drown their prey. After their lunchtime feast we saw lots of socializing, or “celebrating”, wit behaviours like porpoising and spy hopping!

Overall we had a fabulous day on the water! Enjoy the best photos taken by Marine Naturalists Rebeka Pirker, Cheyenne Brewster, and Rebecca Stirling.