There were so many sightings when we left the dock on the 23rd it was hard to decide which one to go to. Our captain made the choice to go south to were there were orca spotted travelling through the Saanich Inlet, and boy, was that the right choice! Once we got there it was clear we had a T-party on our hands! A T-party is a bunch of different pods of Transient orca spending time together, hence the T.

A lovely tail lob by one member of our group!

The orca were being very exciting when we first arrived on scene with breaches, tail lobs, spy hopping, and other generally exciting behavior. We also were quick to notice that there were two very young whales in this group! Young enough that they still had the pinkish/tan colour to their skin instead of the pure white we usually think of with orca. Since this colour usually turns to white after a year or so we could use this to narrow down our search for IDs to pods with new calves. We figured while on scene that it was T087 Harbeson, a lone male, along with the T124As and one more group.

One of the calves (left) and T090 Eagle (right).

There was another male present who we didn’t know on scene but upon closer inspection of his saddle patch in the office we IDed him as T090B Piglet! Piglet has undergone a growth spurt in the last couple years, starting his sprouting stage, so he looks very different from his photo in the catalogue! We also were able to ID T090 Eagle the matriarch of the pod, and Harbeson’s sister! If all members of the pod were present this means that there was a total of 11 orca, two of which were just born last year! The pod composition is as follows:

T087 Harbeson (~60 years old)

T090s:

T090 Eagle (42 years old)
- T090B Piglet (16 years old)
- T090C Tigger (12 years old)
- T090D Kanga (5 years old)

T124As:

T124A Kittiwake (38 years old)
- T124A3 Wasini (Deceased)
  - T124A3A Spindrift (3 years old)
- T124A4 Sabio (11 years old)
  - T124A4A (1 year old)
- T124A6 Kasuun (6 years old)
- T124A7 (1 year old)

Seeing the young orca is great! Not only are they super cute and tiny, they are a great sign of a healthy population of whales!

We ended up leaving the orca and making the journey home , stopping for seals and sea lions along the way!

It was a very exciting tour! Check out the amazing photos by Rebecca Stirling from the day.