February 17th - There's always a chance to find whales
We usually tell our guests that until we get back to the docks, there’s always a chance to find whales. And the tour on February 17th proved that to be true.
We started the trip with a stop by Snake Island to watch a bunch of seals resting on the rocks and also some bald eagles including a couple of juveniles. After that we travelled on the Strait of Georgia searching for whales for more than 2 hours with no luck, until we decided to stop again to watch a group of Stellar and California sea lions resting on a log boom.
While watching these guys we were ready to call it a day and head back home with no sightings. Since we offer a whale sightings guarantee, no whales days are usually not that bad, since our guests are able to come back and try again while enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Salish Sea. Nevertheless, that was not the case, because our captain got a radio call from our office about a sighting not too far from where we were.
We promptly decide to check it and we were lucky enough to find two pods of transient killer whales! These two pods were the T36s and T137s.
The T36s are a family consisted by the matriarch T36 (aka Flapjack) born in 1970, who usually travels with one of her daughters T36B (Tattertip) born 1998 and Tattertip’s three offspring: T36B1 (Brotia) from 2009, T36B2 (Greenfelder) from 2013 and the T36B3 (Chip) from 2018.
The second pod was the T137s which includes T137 (Loon) born in 1984 and her three offspring T137A (Jack) from 2002, T137B (Tempest) from 2006, and T137D (Wright) from 2012.
It is interesting to see these two pods travelling together as T137 is a suspected daughter of T036. This means we were viewing 3 generations of orca in a single encounter!
All photos taken by Marine Naturalist Cheyenne Brewster.
Our semi-covered heated boat departs daily from the heart of Nanaimo. Our Open boats will also once again be open for tours come March 1st. Book now to experience your own whale adventure!
The T036’s entering Dodd’s Narrows.
T137 Loon.
T036B1 Bhotia.
Family bonding! T036B3 Chip (back) with his cousin T137D Wright (front).
T036B Chip.
Naturalist Cheyenne tries to get landscape shots whenever she is out… and somehow whales always photobomb them! Can you spot the whale in this image?
Mom and baby time! T036B Tattertip
Prepare for take off!
Teaching the young ones - bald eagles do not get their signature bald head look until they are around 5 years old.
Most people prefer Bald Eagles in their full adult plumage, but we think their early year plumage looks stunning as well!
A Red-necked Grebe in Non-Breeding plumage.
I ‘moustache’ you a question - have you ever seen a Rhinoceros Auklet in Breeding plumage before? They have very distinct white ‘eyebrows’ and ‘facial’ feathers that make them easy to spot while on the go.
Playing Peek-a-boo with a Harbour Seal.