April 24th - The T-Party is finally over, and we find our first Humpback of the season!

Today was an exciting day for our guests. We started out with a bang; as our boat made its way south along Vancouver Island we spotted the tell tale signs of orcas, the distinctive dorsal fin and a blow. It didn’t take long to ID this pod as the T018’s. This pod consists of matriarch T018 Esperanza who travels with her daughter, T019 Nootka and Nootka’s sons, T019B Galiano and T019C Spouter. For the past two weeks the T018’s have been traveling with the T023D’s in what is a called a t-party, which is when two or more pods come together, but it seems that the t-party has ended. We followed along side them as they traveled from Sansum Narrows, a passage running between Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island, watching them travel close to shore, hunt, and circle the area.

All photos were taken by marine naturalist Rebecca Stirling

T019 Nootka with sons T019B Galiano and T019C Spouter

T019B Galiano

T019C Spouter

Orca’s can be found in all oceans, ranging from the tropics to the cold waters of both polar regions. Even though they are so widely distibuted there are different ecotypes, which are a group of distinct individuals living in a particular area. In this region we have three ecotypes: the Resident Killer Whales, Transient (Biggs) Killer Whales, and the Offshore Killer Whales, all of which are very unique in their feeding strategies, their language, family dynamics, and are all genetically distinct. These clear distinctions and the fact that these ecotypes do not interbreed has led many scientist to speculate whether they should be classified as either different species or subspecies.

T019B Galiano (above) and his younger brother T019C Spouter (below) are such camera hogs, but it’s hard to ignore those impressive fins!

After some time with the orcas we traveled to see more of the wonders that the Strait of Georgia has to offer. We came across the two species of sea lions found in these waters, the Steller Sea Lion and the California Sea Lion. It is not unusual for these two species to be seen hauled out together on rocks. Both species look very similar and can be hard to distinguish from each other, especially for new observers. In these waters we generally only encounter the male California sea lions, as females do not travel this far north. Steller sea lion’s fur are lighter and the head and muzzle are larger and more stubby than that of the California sea lion. Another very distinct difference are their call; Steller’s has more of a growl while the California sea lion has more of a bark. But these comparisons between the two are far more distinguishable if both are present.

A female steller sea lion posing for the camera

Lounging harbour seals

We were lucky to not only see the sea lions on a haulout, but also rafting in the water. When they need to rest and there are no rocks or logs to haul out on, they will form a tight floating pack known as a raft. While rafting in the cold waters they need to conserve heat and regulate their body temperature. To do so they raise their flipper out of the water so that the blood can warm and circulate within their body.

A raft of steller sea lions

As we continued to explore the waters we spotted some movement on the rocks, we slowly approached and saw a herd of Harbour seals enjoying the sun. Though seals are seen in large groups on haulouts, once they go hunting for prey they are solitary. Harbour seals feed on various different prey with Pacific Herring and Pacific Hake being preferred, however they will also feed octopus, shrimp, and squid.

During our travels there are numerous birds to see on the water, in the sky, on the rocks, and in the trees. A common sight in this area are Bald Eagles, these powerful birds can be seen soaring and gliding high above the water searching for prey both in the water and on land. Though they mostly catch their own food these birds of prey are known to scavenge and steal food from other bird as well as mammals such as otters. As we moved through the water we came upon a colony of one of the smallest gulls, the Bonaparte’s Gull. The breeding adults have a black head with white eye arcs, black beak, and bright red legs. Non-breeding adults, immatures and juveniles look completely different than breeding adults with non breeding adults and juveniles having a white head and a black ear spot and less bright legs. As with most gulls, juveniles are brown and mottled.

Bald eagles don’t get their adult plumage, the white tail and head, until they are about 5 years old.

A mature bald eagle out looking for a meal

After a beautiful day on the water we slowly made our way back to the harbour when our captain spotted a fluke in the distance. Our excitement was hard to contain, we’d been hoping to see a humpback on our tour any day now. Last year our first humpback was seen very early in April. We were hesitant to get our hopes up as we watched and waited. Holding our breath, eyes scanning, when it resurfaced. Yes, yes it is, our first Humpback Whale of the season! Though there has been reports of Humpback Whales in the area, today was the first for us.

A raked fluke rising from the water. This youngster has survived at least one encounter with orca!

We still haven’t been able to ID this young humpback whale. We can tell from their size that this is a young humpback, likely only a year or 2 old. Which means this could be their first migration and feeding season without mom. Last year we had several young mystery whales in our water, and by accident a few weeks ago we matched one of our mystery whales. Turns out their mom is an Alaskan feeding humpback and they spent their first year, 2020, up in Alaska. There’s a chance this young one could have spent last year in Alaska, or maybe even south of us in Washington or California. All we know for sure is this is one tough young whale! They are covered in scars and scratched. All the white line marks on their fluke (tail) are orca teeth marks. There is also some heavy scaring on this whales dorsal fin and near their blow hole. These marks could also be the result of orca attacks, but could also be from entanglement in netting or even boat strikes. We’ll be keeping an eye open for this little one for the rest of the season to see how they do this year.

Juvenile humpback whale surfacing near Gabriola Island

Humpbacks are migratory and are slowly making their way north from their winter breeding grounds of Mexico, Hawaii and Central America, to the cold rich waters of our coast for the summer. During these migrations the whales don’t feed, but live off their fat reserves till they reach their feeding grounds. Humpback whales are “gulp” feeders that feed mostly on krill, a small crustacean, but will also feed on copepods and various schooling fishes including Pacific Sardines and herring. During “gulp” feeding these whales open their mouth wide, lunge and take big gulps of water containing their prey. They close their mouths and strain out the water through their baleen, which acts as a big sieve to collect all the prey, they then use their tongues to scrape the prey of off their baleen.

We are currently running daily tours starting at noon and switching to two tours daily starting May 15, 2022. The morning tour will depart at 10:30 am and the afternoon tour will depart at 3:30 pm. There are two boats to choose from, an open boat or a semi-covered boat. Both boats are guaranteed to see whales, if no whales are spotted that day, a voucher is given and guests can come back another time to find some whales on us.

To book your Salish Sea adventure you can give us a call at 250-667-5177, visit us in the office at #5 90 Front street, or book directly online through our website.

Beautiful mountains surround us on the waters