March 27, 2023 - T049As (-A2) with T019 and T019B in Northumberland Channel
The sun was shining as we left the harbour in search of whales onboard Cascadia, one of our open vessels, on March 27th.
We were doing a large search of the Salish Sea, as we didn’t have any reports to chase this morning! Each day we typically start fresh, since none of the whales in the area are tagged we don’t know where they are! All of the searching is done visually, usually by the whale-watching boats on the water who communicate and share sightings, increasing everyone’s success! We also have a network of shore-based sightings which prove to be very helpful as well! Today the search took us north, towards Lasqueti Island. Up here we stopped in Sabine Channel to see some sea lions that were lounging on the rocks. These sea lions were Steller Sea Lions, the larger of the two local species. The males can grow up to an astounding 2800 pounds when they reach full size! The females will only get to be about 800 pounds in comparison. Today there were lots of examples of large males present. Typically, we have to guess how old each animal is based on their size, as they won’t get to full size until they are about 8 years old. Today though, we had a special animal present who had been branded! Branded sea lions are part of a population tracking experiment, and the Steller’s we have some information on!
This male was branded “423Y” which from looking up in the database, we know was branded with this number on July 17, 2013, at the Rogue Reef rookery in Oregon! This makes this guy about ten years old. Sometimes we get information about the estimated age of the sea lions when they were branded (they are usually branded as pups since they are easier to handle then) but this sea lion’s age wasn’t included in the data.
After watching the sea lions for a bit, we decided to continue searching south, through the Strait of Georgia. We were close to Gabriola when we got good news, there was orca reported nearby! We headed to Northumberland Channel (which is right outside the Nanaimo Harbour) and ended up seeing those iconic dorsal fins rising out of the water! We found them!
One whale we recognized right away as he is one of the most popular whales in the Salish Sea, T019B Galiano!
He is very easy to ID thanks to his massive dorsal fin that has a lean to it, as well as a very distinct notch. When we first saw him he was with T049A1 Noah, who soon disappeared. The rest of the group was the other T049As (other than T049A2 Jude) and T019 Nootka! Here’s who was there:
T019 Nootka/Mooja ♀ (≤1965)
T019B Galiano ♂ (1995)
T049A Nan ♀ (1986)
T049A1 Noah ♂ (2001)
T049A3 Nat ♂ (2011)
T049A4 Neptune ♂ (2014)
T049A5 Nebula ♀ (2017)
T049A6 (2022)
The T049As have been spending lots of time around the Nanaimo area lately, with the majority of our sightings this month being them! They are a favourite of ours, especially with the calf! He is very unique, with a “dent” in his face causing an adorable underbite. We aren’t exactly sure what happened to cause this, but we know this calf was very beaten up when we first saw him on March 6, 2022. He seems to have healed very nicely, which is great for Nan since raising a calf is very energetically draining. She has had great success in her reproduction, with all of her known calves surviving to this day.
As always, we were thankful to get to observe these beautiful animals travelling in their natural habitat. After our hour with them was up, the tour’s time had also run out so we returned to the Nanaimo Harbour. What a great day! All the photos from the day were taken by Vanessa Vereschahen, and you can enjoy them below!
Scratching sea lion!
This sea lion was getting tired of the cuddle puddle.
Our branded sea lion! So interesting!
Nan.
T049A6 with big surfaces, showing off their whole face! (and Nan)
Nebula, T049A6, and Nan.
T049A6 and Nan.
Galiano with his distinct dorsal lean.
Nebula surfacing. Can you see her eye?
Nootka!
Galiano.
Nat and Neptune.
Nat in front of Snake Island.
An excited surface!
Nootka travelling with her son, Galiano.
Nan and T049A6.
Galiano in front of Neptune.
Galiano, Nat, and T049A6.
The pod surfacing in front of the Coastal Mountains (Galiano, Neptune, Nat, and Nan)
Nat and Neptune travelling together.
Galiano in front of Entrance Island.
T049A Nan.
T019B Galiano sporting some new scarring in his saddle patch.