Our lone boat headed out of the harbour, eager to see if our T-party was still hanging out in Stuart Channel. As we traveled down through Stuart Channel we scanned the shores and watched for blows. We had to travel a bit further than we thought but we eventually saw the whales breath rising from the water. The party had moved all the way down to Maple Bay in the Sansum Narrows. Esperanza and Axle were still leading their families on a slow journey through the gulf islands, 8 whales in total. Esperanza, T18, being the oldest at over 67 years old is definitely the grandma of the group, filled with decades of knowledge on the Salish Sea. She knows all the best places to grab lunch, the good bays to hide in, the best travel routes and all the best hunting techniques.
She travels with her daughter Nootka (T019) and her grandsons Galiano (T019B) and Spouter (T019C). Galiano is 26 years old and Spouter is now 21 years old and fully grown, both boys looking impressive next to their mom and grandmother.
The T023D’s are a younger pod, lead by their matriarch Axle who, at 28 years old, travels with her 3 offspring. Her oldest is Robin (T023D3) born in 2012, Ross (T023D4) born in 2015 and little T023D5 born in 2019.
These 2 pods spent 4 consecutive days together, traveling through Stuart Channel, hunting and splashing about. In past years we saw t-parties that would last a few hours or maybe a day, but it wasn’t so common to see T-partys that lasted much longer. Last year we had a T-party that lasted several weeks, with different pods joining and leaving the main party. This year we’ve had multiple smaller T-parties lasting anywhere from 2 days to over a week.
T-parties themselves are not uncommon, they are opportunities for whales to hang out with their friends, exchange information and breed. As male orca tend to travel with their mom and siblings, and there’s no evidence of inbreeding in the Bigg’s population, these parties are the prime opportunity for males to show off for unrelated females in the hopes of fathering the next generation.

After we hung out with our T-party for the fourth day in a row, we went out to find seals and sealions before heading back to harbour. On our way home we managed to find one more lone whale, T049A2 Jude was traveling north towards Dodd Narrows. Jude has been traveling away from his family on and off for the last year. Last summer him and his brother Noah spent almost a whole month away from mom and the family, touring the Salish Sea as the Bachelor Duo, before being joined by the T077 siblings for a bit. Eventually Noah returned to mom, and later so did Jude. Jude’s mom Nan recently had a new baby, so the pod is up to a total of 7 whales, which is a very large pod to sustain in the Bigg’s community. Noah took a short break from the family after the baby was born before returning to the family, and now it seems that both Noah and Jude have left their moms side again, likely until the baby excitement dies down. Jude has been going solo, which some male orca prefer and so he might decide to remain a lone male, but he is young and is probably just enjoying some freedom. Noah has been off traveling with his Aunt and cousins since they broke off from the T049 T-party that lasted nearly a week during March.

Our Marine Naturalist Rebecca got some great photos of our whales and wildlife, take a look at them below.

Orca killerwhale whale Nanaimo Vancouver Island orca pod T018 T019 T019c — T018 Nootka with her son T018C Spouter and mother T019 Esperanza. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

Orca killerwhale whale Nanaimo Vancouver Island T019C T018 Salish sea — T019C Spouter surfacing alone. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

Orca killerwhale whale Nanaimo Vancouver Island T018 Salish sea — T018 Esperanza. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

Orca killerwhale whale Nanaimo Vancouver Island T019B Galiano Salish sea — T019B Galiano. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

Orca killerwhale whale Nanaimo Vancouver Island T019 Nootka T018 Esperanza Salish sea — T018 Esperanza and daughter T019 Nootka. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

Harbourseals seals pinnipeds Nanaimo Vancouver Island T019C T018 Salish sea — Fuzzy harbour seals resting on rocks and swimming in the shallows. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

Orca Killerwhale whale Blackfish Nanaimo Vancouver Island T049A2 Jude Salish sea — T49A2 Jude, a young male exploring the Salish Sea solo. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

Sealion California Harmac Pulp mill seals pinnipeds Nanaimo Vancouver Island Salish sea — California sea lions hauled out on logs near the Harmac pulp mill. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

Baldeagle eagle bald raptor bird of prey Nanaimo Vancouver Island Salish sea pnw — Juvenile bald eagle sorting high above, watching for snacks below. Photo by Rebecca Stirling

We are currently offering our daily tours at noon
Starting May 15th we will be departing at 10:30am and 3:30 pm from Nanaimo downtown harbour
We have 2 styles of boat to choose from, an open zodiac or a semi-covered vessel - yes, both have bathrooms!
You can book your Salish Sea adventure by calling us, coming to our harbour front office, or booking online through our website.

April 17th - The Never Ending T-party

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