We had a whale of a day on the 21st of July. Summer weather is finally here and we’re soaking it up on the water.

Our morning tour was quick to find whales close to home, just off the Flat Top islands near Gabriola Pass. The whales were none other than our T124 Sisters. Elkugu, Agafia, Litton, Sabio and her daughter were splashing through waves. Once again this group was hunting, spy-hopping and tail slapping. A group of this size needs a bit of food to keep them going for a day. The average adult orca needs about 300 lbs of food a day, and while Sabio’s daughter isn’t going to be consuming that much, Sabio will be taking her leftovers in order to produce milk for the baby. In all this group likely needs about ~1200 lbs of food per day, or about 6 harbour seals. That means nearly constant swimming and searching to keep the family happy and healthy.

In the afternoon we pushed off the docks hoping to find our exciting Sister duo from the morning but came across a different pod in nearly the same place. This time it was the T037As. Volker, the matriarch, travels with children, sons Inky, Spinnaker and T037A5, as well as her daughter Crinkle. Volker has another daughter, T037A1 Inyo, who rarely travels with her mom. Inyo dispersed from her mom some time ago, which isn’t common for female orca without calves. Most female orca produce their first calf between 12 and 18 years old and remain with their mom while they raise their first, and sometimes their second, calf. Inyo travels solo with no calves, often being seen with other pods. Recently we saw Inyo with a few other whales, including the infamous Young, during a T-party. We only see Inyo a couple times a year, but she always looks good when we do see her.
Today Volker was with the rest of her kids splashing around the Flat Top Islands hunting for seals. 3 of Volkers 4 remaining offspring are male, with Crinkle being the only daughter that travels with her. Male orca very rarely leave their mom’s side permanently, so one day Volker may be cruising the Salish Sea with 3 very large males by her side. Volker is also still very young, at only 28 years old she has another 15-20 years to produce calves. At an average of 1 calf every 3 years, Volker could, in theory, produce another 5-7 calves before she goes through menopause, That would be quite the feat!

On our way home in the afternoon we came across a single humpback, Glacier. Glacier is a confirmed female who used to summer up in Alaska, but has since migrated to the Salish Sea. She’s been sighted along our coast every year since 2011 and has returned with 2 calves, one in 2019 and one last year.
Unfortunately, Glacier does not appear to be in good health. During our time with her we noticed some odd colouration on her back. The spots look like an accumulation of diatoms (algae) and possible sea lice or humpback ticks. We aren’t sure what has caused the decline in health but after seeing her in this state we decided it was best to give her space and leave her be. We documented her health condition and her location and have made the decision to avoid watching her until her condition improves. We hope that being back in the feeding grounds she will be able to fill her belly and fight whatever is causing her to appear unwell. We will keep our eyes open for her and remain as updated as possible on her condition and hopefully we will get the opportunity to watch her again, maybe even later this season, if she makes a full recovery.

Enjoy the photos taken by marine naturalists Vanessa Verschahen, Janine Van Der Linden, and Carmen Murphy.

July 21st - T124 Sisters and then T037A's + Glacier

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