A question we are often asked before leaving the dock is “How long does it take to find the whales?” We don’t usually know when we leave the dock whether the whales will be hours away or just on our doorstep. Today we were fortunate because they were in our backyard just south of Dodd Narrows. Dodd Narrows is a passageway we often frequent to search around the Gulf Islands. There is a wonderful hike called Cable Bay Trail that you can take which will bring you straight to the narrows. Those lucky enough to have hiked the trail today were rewarded with a short visit from our T099 matriline.

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

On land, it was a scorcher of a day, but on the water, we had a nice breeze to keep us cool as we pulled up to the T099’s. The family was quite spread out for a lot of our encounter. Perhaps they were scanning the area for their next meal. This family is notorious for their hunting prowess. The T099’s along with another family that frequents the area (the T065A’s) were successful in October in a Minke whale hunt. While our Biggs killer whales are marine mammal eaters, it is rare that we see them predate on larger whales and even rarer still for it to be successful.

Today was also Mother’s Day and with 4 living children T099 Bella is a terrific mother. Our orca moms are the backbone of orca society and this is especially true with our Bigg’s. Bigg’s orca travel in matrilines with mom leading the family. Her sons will often stay with her their entire lives, we like to call them “Big Mama’s boys”. At 16, it’s very possible that T099B Holly could start producing her own calves soon. When this happens she will leave her mom and start her own matriline.

We also went to one of our favourite sea lion spots that we call “Stinky Rock”. There were lots of stellar sea lions on the rock and in the surrounding water today. Unfortunately, we did encounter a sea lion that had an apparent propeller injury. While it was hard to watch, this is a good reminder of why it’s important not to feed sea lions as it rarely ends well for the animal.

We finished the tour at the Gabriola bluffs where our cormorants were building their nests for the soon-to-be mother birds.

Today’s photos were taken by Marine Naturalist Aly Kohlman.