We had another early morning charter today, leading to another gorgeous cruise into Howe Sound. The surrounding peaks were absolutely stunning, but not nearly as stunning as the whales we saw shortly after!

Today’s pod was the same one that we saw earlier this week, with one new addition - T087 Harbeson (~1962)!

T090 Eagle (1980)
T090B Piglet (2006)
T090C Tigger (2010)
T090D Kanga (2017)

Maybe Harbeson was the mystery whale our crew saw last trip? There are no photos of said mystery whale from the last trip, so we will never know for sure!

Today’s trip went right into Vancouver’s outer harbour. These 5 were a spectacle to see so close to land - shore watchers were able to catch some great photos of this pod as they made a close pass by Stanley Park.

According to the Photo-Identification Catalogue for Bigg’s Killer Whales (2019 Edition), these 5 whales are most commonly seen in two specific areas: around the Southeastern corner of Vancouver Island as well as in Glacier Bay, Alaska. These two places are an incredible 1,300 km apart - that’s roughly the same distance as Vancouver, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta by car! Can you imagine swimming that far?

Piglet is always extra fun to ID these days as he has ‘sprouted’ in the past couple of years. Sprouting is the term used to describe when male orca begin going through puberty. Their dorsals begin to straighten our and grow in height. Below is Piglet’s 2018 ID photo in the Photo-idenfication catalogue (2019 edition) compared to a photo taken on this tour. He’s so big now!

Eagle and Harbeson are siblings. Their mother, T088 Spokane, was last seen over a decade ago, but it seems these two have kept up their familial bond. Today Harbeson was observed cruising close by his nieces and nephew.

Harbeson is believed to be the oldest male in the Biggs’ orca population. It is estimated that he was born in 1962, making him roughly 61 years old. Most scientist believe male orca generally only live to 30-50 years of age, so this boy is defying the odds! Hopefully we continue to see Harbeson for many more years to come.

Our resident “rock sausages” (Harbour seals) were resting on some rocks when we saw them today. They gave us a couple curious looks before continuing their nap.

Today’s photos were taken by Marine Naturalist Vanessa Vereschahen.

February 10, 2023 - T090's and T087 near Vancouver

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