A very West Coast day began with a trip out into the Strait of Georgia to the east side of Valdes Island to Stinky Rock to see the Stellar sea lions. Next, we travelled into the Gulf Islands through Porlier Pass to Chemainus, where we met up with a pod of Orca.

The pod seen today consisted of:

T046C Carmanah ♀ (1994)
T046C1 Tsunami ♂ (2006)
T046C3 Razor (2013)
T046C4 Hobi (2018)

T046C Carmanah and her children Tsunami, Razor and Hobi were spotted again today, as we had previously seen them for the first time ever the day prior!

Carmanah is an excellent mother as all 4 of her children have survived. The Matriarchs will lead and teach their offspring even teaching them their own specific dialect amongst their pods. The mortality rate for Orca calves in the Pacific Northwest is high in the first six months, estimated at around 40%. We are not sure why this occurs, but there is a lot of speculation that it is due to high levels of toxins passed to the calves from their mothers at birth and then again via milk. Our Transient population are the most toxic mammal on this planet. Orca calves are very sensitive to these toxins. Something that is not often thought of is human activities far inland can have a significant impact on the contaminants that end up in the Oceans. A large source of pollution comes from urban street runoff, farm fields and industrial sites inland, not just near Coastal areas. However, there are solutions and we can make a difference by changing and adapting to different practices as we have seen with the transformation of Howe Sound. Once an industrialized wasteland polluted by a leaching copper mine, a chemical plant and pulp mills. Now it is a UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) Biosphere reserve. This is an example of sustainable development where both humanity and nature can thrive!

When Orca calves are born they can weigh up to 350 pounds and are about 8 feet in length. Mothers give birth to live young, normally born tail first, on rare occasions they can be born head first. They have an orange or pink colouration on their white areas when firstborn, this is believed to be the blood vessels showing through the skin as they have not developed their thick blubber layer. This also means the young calves have to keep moving so they do not risk their temperature dropping in the cold Salish Sea. It has been observed that both the calves and mothers do not sleep for up to a month after the calves are firstborn! This is incredible because it has been suggested that they must not need sleep for brain development and learning. This of course is one of the many things we are still learning about the magnificent Orca!

Photos were taken by Marine Naturalists Carmen Murphy, Aly Kohlman, and Vanessa Vereschahen.