August 13th 10:30 AM - Divot & Merlin near the Tsawwassen ferry terminal and a surprise visit from the T099s
It was a lovely day for a boat trip down to Tsawwassen during our morning tour! Divot was frequently showing off her lovely tail to guests, while Merlin was a little more tail shy.
There is very little we know about Merlin, but Divot was first spotted in 2008 and is believed to be at least 20 years old! Divot spends her winters breeding in Hawaii and has had 4 calves throughout her life, one in 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2021. Zephyr, Divot’s 2011 calf has been spotted by our tours and has had two calves of her own now! Divot is a grandma :)
Divot is a prime example of a large, fully grown female humpback. Humpback females can be up to 15 meters long, weigh up to 40 tonnes and their flukes can be up to 5 meters wide. The estimated lifespan of humpback whales is about 45-50 years and they reach their full length and size when they’re about 20 years old. Humpback calves manage to double their weight in their first year, weighing 1 ton at birth to 2 tonnes by the time their 1st birthday comes around.
Also spotted by our semi-covered vessel Kula this morning were the T099s (transients). This family consists of 5 orca, T099 Bella, T099B Holly, T099C Barakat, T099D and brand new baby T099E born in 2021. This pod was being very elusive, only giving a few sporadic surfaces before disappearing from view of our vessel. Other boats during the day tried to find them again but were unable to. It’s a great example of how the whales are very capable of giving whale-watching vessels the slip if they aren’t wanting to be watched!
Our Naturalists during this morning’s trip were Vanessa Vereschahen, Rebeka Pirker and Carmen Murphy, please enjoy the great photos taken by them during our trip!
Divot! Can you see the missing piece of her fluke that she’s named for? Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Divot surfacing in front of the coal docks. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
BCY1033 Merlin has very distinct scarring on his dorsal. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Merlin’s Fluke. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Divot’s fluke. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Synchronized surfaces! Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Divot. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Divot going for a dive. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Divot doing a big dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Divot. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A large Steller Sea Lion. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Steller sea lion on the edge of the buoy. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
The large males can get aggressive during the summer when they’re usually at their breeding grounds. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
A young pelagic cormorant. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
It can be hard work jumping on the buoys! Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
T099s coming right at you. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
T099C Barakat. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
T099D Puck. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Barakat. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Bella and her calf. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Barakat. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Holly. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
A not-so-graceful harbour seal: part 1. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
A not-so-graceful harbour seal: part 2. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
A not-so-graceful harbour seal: part 3. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
A Harbour Seal pup with a leather star. did you know these sea stars smell like garlic? Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
More harbour seals! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Sleepy steller sea lions. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.