March 15, 2023 - T-party in Sansum Narrows and the T049A brothers near Dodd Narrows

It was a perfect day for a whale-watching tour when we left Nanaimo on March 15th with both our open boat, Cascadia, and our semi-covered boat, Kula! We were prepared to start our search fresh for the day when we got word that there was a t-party happening near the south end of Saltspring Island! We headed that way, while of course keeping our eyes open for anything else on our journey.

As we approached we could see a wide spread of the whales across Satellite Channel. As we got into position we got our first look. We immediately recognized Barakat (T099C) but the others took some more time and photos to figure it out. In all, there were three different pods present: the T034s, T037s, and the T099s! That would mean (if all members were present) that there were 12 whales partying up the channel! Those whales were:

T034 Grace (~1969,♀)
T034A Pachamama (2007, ♀)
T034B Sonder (2017)

T037 Rocky III (1979,♀)
T037B Harald (1998, ♀)
T037B1 Lance (2012, ♂)
T037B3 (2022)

T099 Bella (1984,♀)
T099B Holly (2007,♀)
T099C Barakat (2009, ♂)
T099D Puck (2015, ♂)
T099E (2021)

Interestingly, there were likely some family ties playing in with this party, as it’s thought that T037 is T034s daughter! That would mean that there were four generations of orca here! Although the T099s aren’t related to them, orca are very social and like to spend time with other pods, even those outside their own family! As you will see in the photos, all these whales were travelling very close to each other, so close it’s likely that they were touching underneath the water! This is pretty common to see in our orca, especially in large social groups like this one!

Watching these animals move through the narrow passageway between Vancouver Island and Saltspring Island was breathtaking, and we are pretty sure they managed to grab a snack on the way as well! Interestingly, we also saw them pass up a lot of potential food sources on the way, with a confident group of sea lions swimming by this large pod, not 200m away from them! There were also some not too bothered groups of seals along the rocks in this passage that we managed to get some good looks at!

It felt like time was flying as we were watching this group, as it was soon the end of our hour and we had to move on. Part of the regulations for watching Transient Orca in Canada is that when you are within 1 km of them, you must stay travelling under 7 knots. This can make it hard when the whales are spread out across a whole channel and moving in the same direction as you! With our skilled captains, we eventually made it away from this group and moved on to other wildlife.

First, we stopped for a better look at some Harbour Seals that were relaxing at their haul-out. The harbour seals can be very predictable so finding them is usually a breeze, as long as the tides cooperate! Since harbour seals can’t walk on the land, they are usually found in areas that have shallow slopes to the shore. These types of slopes are often below the tide line, meaning they won’t be available to the seals at high tide. Lucky for us, the tide was going out during the tour so we got to see lots of little rock sausages!

Next, we got to see the impressive congregations of sea lions that have been hanging out in Ruxton Passage. Today it was a mix of both the sea lion species that can be found in BC, the Steller Sea Lions and the Califonia Sea Lions! Both these species spend their winters here before leaving us in the summer for their breeding grounds.

Finally, it was time to head home. On the way towards Dodd Narrows, the very narrow passageway between Mudge Island and Vancouver Island that’s about 10 minutes from Nanaimo, our open boat found another set of whales! This time it was two large male orca: T049A1 Noah and T049A2 Jude! These two were travelling slowly south together, most likely sleeping. Although the other group was more active, getting to see those 6 foot tall dorsal fins and massive bodies of the male orca is always thrilling! We couldn’t stay with these two long, as our time on the tour was running out, but we spent a few minutes with them watching their massive fins cutting through the calm waters.

Finally, we left Noah and Jude and made it back to the harbour. What an amazing trip!

All of the photos from the day were taken by our marine naturalists onboard and are below.