April 23, 2023 - A T-Party in the Strait of Georgia! The T036As, T065Bs, T124As, T124C, and the Alaskan Brothers T125A and T128 were all there!
What a lucky day for us here at Vancouver Island Whale Watch on the 23rd! As we left the Nanaimo Harbour, we had a report of a couple of orca that were seen from the ferry, so we headed over that way. It wasn’t long before our eagle-eyed captain spotted them in the distance and let me tell you, it was much more than a couple of whales! This was a full-blown T-party, meaning multiple pods of whales were travelling together and socializing with each other. Taking photos is so important since things can be revealed after the fact, like an extra pod we saw today! In total, we saw 18 orca partying it up, and those whales were:
T036A Leland ♀ (1990)
T036A1 Tierna ♀ (2005)
T036A1A (2022)
T036A2 Kailas ♀ (2012)
T036A3 Storm / Mike II ♂ (2015)
T036A5 (2021)
T065B Chunk ♀ (1993)
T065B1 Birdsall ♂ (2011)
T065B2 Nettle ♂ (2019)
T065B3 (2023)
T124A Kittiwake ♀ (1984)
T124A4 Sabio ♀ (2010)
T124A4A (2021)
T124A6 ♂ (2016)
T124A7 ♀ (2021)
T124C Cooper ♂ (1992)
T125A Jetsam ♂ (1998)
T128 Flotsam ♂ (1988)
Getting to see a t-party is a unique experience since it typically means seeing more whales, and more activity, and you have to be extra lucky to find them! When we search for whales, it’s a fresh start each day, since none of the whales have trackers or anything to keep their location known, so we have to go out and transect the area, basically hoping to come across them (with a little more nuance than that). When we have 6 pods travelling together like we did today, that means instead of having the chance to come across these whales separately in 6 different areas, you have to be lucky enough to find the one spot with them all present! The good thing though, is it’s much easier to spot 18 whales compared to 2.
We watched this group socialize for the hour that we stayed with them, seeing breaching, tail slaps, spy hops, and close travel from nearly all the whales, as they moved south in the Strait of Georgia. Amongst the group were a pair of less common whales, the Alaskan Brothers, T128 Flotsam and T125A Jetsam! Our theory is that this socialization could help them lead to breeding opportunities since they are large, impressive males, and since they spend more time up north, they would introduce more genetic diversity to our local population, increasing its overall health! Writing this blog from the future, I can tell you that this party has continued for days, with just as much excitement seen in the whales as what we saw today!
We are so lucky to have the chance to experience these iconic animals in their natural environment, and this time of year is the best time to see our orca! We are running tours every day at Noon, so if you want your own encounter, join a tour with us!
The moments from today’s tour, captured by Vanessa Vereschahen, are below for you to enjoy!
Someones tail, T124A Kittiwake, T124A7, T036A Leland, and T124A4 Sabio.
T125A Jetsam.
T124C Cooper with likely T065B1 Birdsall’s fluke in the background!
T125A Jetsam with his brother T128 Flotsam about to break the surface in front of him.
T124A7, T124A Kittiwake, and T124A4 Sabio.
T036A1A, T036A1 Tierna, and a couple others in the midst of diving.
T036A1A, T036A1 Tierna, and someone’s tail!
T065B Chunk, T036A5, and T036A Leland.
T036A Leland
T036A2 Kailas and T124A4 Sabio.
T128 Flotsam and T124C Cooper.
T065B1 Birdsall.
One of the boys tails!
T125A Jetsam.
T036A1 Tierna and her 2022 calf!
T125A Jetsam.
Now that’s a T-party photo! Who we can see, other than the tail, are T065B3, T065B Chunk, and T036A3 Mike III.
T065B3, T065B Chunk, and T124A4 Sabio.
T124C Cooper in front of T036A2 Kailas.
The new baby! T065B3 and their mommy T065B Chunk!
T036A1A and T036A1 Tierna.
T036A2 Kailas, T036A3 Mike III, and T124A4 Sabio.
T128 Flotsam.
T065B3, T065B Chunk, and T036A Leland.
A bunch of the calves hanging out together!
T035A5 in front of another tail.
T124A4 Sabio and T124A4A travelling together.
T065B3’s rostrum, T036A1 Tierna, T065B chunk (behind), T036A1A, T036A2 Kailas, and another! So many whales!
T065B3, T036A1 Tierna, T065B chunk (behind), T036A1A, T036A2 Kailas, and another!
Tip of T036A2 Kailas’ fin, T036A5 and T036A Leland.
Someone bringing their tail up!
T065B3 is so cute! Surfacing just behind his mom T065B Chunk (and T036A2 Kailas is just visible on the right of the photo.
T124A4 Sabio.
Presumably one of the Alaskan Brother’s tail next to the dorsal fin of T124C Cooper.
You can tell it belongs to an adult male since its curved at the edges!
Here’s an example of a young male or female, since the tail flukes are smaller and don’t curve.
Steller Sea lions having a nap.
A large group of Steller Sea Lions at Stinky Rocks.
Can you tell who the oldest male there is? Hint, he’s in the middle.
A big lazy boy.
A Harlequin Duck! The males of the species have this beautiful colouration.
Some Harbour seals hauled out on the rocks.
This clumsy Harbour seal was struggling to get down the rocky shoreline!