August 4th - Orion and the T090's

On Thursday we cruised out through the Strait of Georgia to find Orion circling off Valdez. Orion has returned from where ever they over winter to spend their summer feeding off the gulf Islands. They have frequently been seen doing large circles on the east side of Galiano and Valdez islands, presumably snacking on schooling fish and krill that congregate along the steep shelf that runs along our gulf islands’ east coasts. Orion is a staff favourite whale, with his large and distinct fluke most staff can ID him without our cameras or guides from a fair distance. The tips of his fluke have large white patches with some distinct black circles along with all the other scars. Orion is not a confirmed male, but after being sighted as an adult in our waters for several years without a calf it’s highly likely. Orion also frequently returns with new scars, likely a result of sparing with other males at the breeding grounds.

In the afternoon we encountered the same orcas as the day before, the T090s. Eagle, Piglet, Tigger, and Kanga were travelling through Howe sound. They stopped to have a little dinner near the mill, an unlucky harbour seal, before continuing on their way. Each adult orca needs about 300 lbs of food to maintain their weight, which equates to about 1.5 seals each. For a family of 4 that’s 1200 lbs or about 6 seals a day. This means the family must be constantly on the move and looking for their next meal. With the population of harbour seals in the Salish Sea being around 105,000 there’s no shortage of food for our orca. Onto of the seals they also snack on sea lions, porpoises or even other species of whales, like Humpbacks, minke, or grey whales.

As usual, we checked in on some of our other wildlife throughout the day. Our harbour seal pups are getting big and the cormorant chicks will be fledging soon, as they are already practicing their dives.
Here are some of the photos from the day taken by marine naturalists Vanessa Vereschahen and Carmen Murphy.

A little Pigeon guillemot fishing off of the Gabriola bluffs. These little birds have been raising chicks along the bluffs for a few years now. We can never see the babies, but we often see the adults foraging along the cliffs for small fish. This little Guillemot was successful in their hunt today, flying off to their nest with their fresh catch!

All the birds of prey were out at the log booms in Howe sound looking for a bite to eat. Plenty of marine life makes use of these logs as shelter and haul-out sights, making them an excellent place to grab a bite to eat if you’re a bird of prey!

Our orca were using the logs themselves today, startling seals that were hiding in the booms. Can you spot the orca in the photo below?

Jilann LechnerAugust 9, 2022Comment