It was a very west-coast day when our vessels left the harbour on the morning of the 4th, heading out into the Strait of Georgia to try and find a couple of humpbacks that had been seen in the area earlier in the day. We searched through the waves for a little while before finding two humpbacks in the area, BCY0893 Windy and BCX1730 Vanta. These two didn’t seem to be travelling together but rather feeding in the same area. With the waves, we didn't manage to get any photos of these humpbacks but as we were watching them we heard word that there was a pod of orca coming north through Dodd Narrows. We headed over that way and soon found a pod of transient orca that were hunting in Northumberland Channel, just north of the Harmac Pulp mill.

They soon finished off their snack and continued travelling towards Nanaimo. We soon identified T069C Kye as the large fin, and soon after the rest of the pod was also there! The T069s consist of 4 members: T069 Komox (1974), T069C Kye (1995), T069E Kodiak (2004), and T069F Kin (2010). Komox is easy to ID from the very distinct notch at the bottom of her dorsal fin. Kye also has a small notch about halfway up his dorsal fin which can be used for ID. Kodiak has started to sprout and his dorsal is growing more every day. The final member, Kin is also a male but hasn’t started to sprout yet.

T069 Komox is an impressive mother, she has had 6 kids, and only one has passed away. The mortality rate for orca is estimated to be quite high, about 50% of calves are lost within the first few years of their life so Komox is a super mom keeping so many of her kids healthy. She is also a grandmother to 6 grandkids, so she has taught her daughters to be great mothers as well. All of her daughters have dispersed from her pod to form their own with their own kids, and only her sons are left travelling with her. This is very common in transient orca since if their pods get too large their hunting success usually falls. The boys will likely stick with Komox until she passes away. Since she is only 48 years old, that hopefully won’t happen for a long time yet.

These four orca continued to travel and pass by Nanaimo where we left them to return to the dock. It’s always great to see both species like we did this morning!

Enjoy the photos taken during the tour by Marine Naturalists Val Watson and Vanessa Vereschahen.