At this time of year, we welcome our Humpback soup that seems to gather outside Nanaimo harbour, but after days and days of the same whales, it’s nice to switch it up a bit. Orcas hadn’t been reported in the area for quite some time so we were very excited by an early morning report from one of our staff during their morning walk. She had seen a pod of Orca off Neck point heading towards Nanaimo, so we gathered our guests and did what we could to push off a little early, eager to see some killer whales for a change of pace!

By the time we got onto the water, the pod had found their way into Northumberland channel near the Duke Point Ferry terminal. As the whales approached Dodd Narrows we saw that there were a lot of vessels around, and instead of trying to follow them through we decided to go look for other wildlife before catching up with the whales in Trincomali channel where things would be a little less busy. While with them initially, we were able to confirm that these were indeed Orca, and they were Bigg’s Orca, which meant we could stay and enjoy some time with our whales.

In the Salish Sea, there are actually 2 types of Orca and 3 different populations. The Transient, or Bigg’s Orca, are the ones we watch. These whales are at a healthy population of around 350 individuals and travel mostly between BC and Washington. Bigg’s Orca are also found in Alaska and California, though they have their own populations and aren’t found in our waters often. These orca eat marine mammals, with their primary diet being the Harbour seals, but they also eat porpoises, sea lions and even other whales - like the humpbacks.

IDing our whales as Bigg’s Orca when we arrive on scene it is very important because the other type of Orca in the Salish Sea are the residents, and southern residents are an endangered population. Resident orca are split into 2 populations, the north population can be found at the northern end of Vancouver Island typically in the Johnstone Strait. Last year we did encounter members from the Northern Resident population during a few tours, but it’s extremely rare to see those whales this far south. This population is estimated to be in the low 200s and is considered healthy. The Southern Resident population, however, is critically endangered, with only 73 whales currently in the population. Their population has been struggling to hang on since the 70’s when many of these whales were rounded up for aquariums. Thankfully that practice was outlawed in the early 70s, however, that was not the only thing that affected their population numbers. Orca produce a single calf every 3-5 years on average and it takes about 12 years for those whales to become mature, so population growth is slow in even a healthy population. Resident orca do not eat seals like the Bigg’s orca, instead, over 85% of their diet is Chinook Salmon specifically. The other 15% consists of other types of salmon and a few other fish. Due to global warming and the commercial fishing industry - specifically fish farms - the native salmon populations are plummeting along our coastline. Salmon farms introduce viruses and diseases common in Atlantic salmon, as most of our farmed salmon is Atlantic, and this has major impacts on our wild populations. Due to the lack of food in our inland waters, the southern resident orcas spend less and less time here, though there is still the chance we could encounter them during our trips. That is why verifying their identity on the water is extremely important.

Since we opened our doors in 2018 we made the decision to only watch healthy populations of whales. In 2018 it was still legal to view the Southern resident whales, but knowing they were struggling we felt it best to leave them alone and hope their population would recover. In the following year, viewing the southern residents became illegal in Canadian waters for whale-watching vessels, something we were happy to see.

Thankfully today we had some Bigg’s orca, so we were able to relax and enjoy the day with them. We ID’d this pod as the T065A’s, a pod we are well familiar with.

T065A - Artemis (1986, female)
T065A3 - Amir (2007, male)
T065A4 - Ellifrit (2011, Ellifrit)
T065A6 - Callisto (2018, female)

Artemis is the matriarch of this pod, which usually consists of 6 whales, however, her eldest son Ooxjaa (T065A2) has been travelling away from his mom for some time, as has Indy (T065A5). Earlier this year even Amir went for a bit of a trip away from mom with another young male orca.
Male orca typically stay with their mom for their entire lives, however in larger pods like Artemis’, it’s not uncommon to see some of them disperse for longer. Sometimes they return to their mom’s side, and sometimes they decide they prefer the solo life. Ooxjaa and Indy may return to Artemis one day, but for now, she travels with her daughters and Amir.

At 36 years old Artemis still has about 10 years left of reproductive life before she enters menopause, which means there’s still a chance we could see more little ones join the family. After Artemis goes through menopause she will take on the role of Grandma within her pod, still acting as matriarch to any of her sons who stay with her, and checking in on her daughters to help raise her grandchildren. Female orca can live well into their 80s if they have reliable food and no other health problems. We hope to have many more years of travelling with Artemis and her family on the Salish Sea.

Below are the photos of our trip taken by marine naturalist Vanessa Vereschahen.

October 6th - Orcas in the neighbourhood!

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