June 10, 2023 3:30 - T124A2s + T100Bs + T100E

The West Coast weather continued into the afternoon with cloudy skies, making for the perfect moody whale watching! Heading South back into the Southern Gulf Islands, we started the search for the whales we had seen this morning but it seems that they had disappeared! We continued searching, still hopeful that they would show up when suddenly our search was successful, but to our surprise, it was a different set of whales! This time we saw 6 different whales travelling together, it was the T100Bs, T100E, and the T124A2s! This is the breakdown of the different pods:

T100B Freya ♀ (1997)
T100B1 Seidr (2010)

T100E Tharaya ♀ (2009)

T124A2 Elkugu ♀ (2001)
T124A2A Agafia ♂ (2013)
T124A2B Litton ♀ (2016)

Although with members of 3 pods present and technically a T-party, these whales were more in travel mode instead of socialization mode! You can tell the difference somewhat based on what we see from the whales above the surface. When travelling, it’s common to see them surfacing a few times to breathe, going for a longer travelling dive, and then repeating the process. They also tend to stay in the same direction while travelling, whereas if they are socializing or hunting, there will be more directional changes and they can be harder to follow.

Today though, it was an amazing experience getting to spend our time watching these whales moving slowly in and out of the water. Soon our hour with the whales was up, and we headed out to see what other wildlife we could find! We managed to find both Harbour Seals and Sea Lions after our whales.

Pinnipeds can be easier to find since they usually are found on the same rocks every day! The harbour seals in particular have high site fidelity, and when they go and forage they won’t go much further than 5 miles away from their home haul-out.

Soon Sea Lions will be harder to find in our range as well since they are a migratory species. When they are up in their breeding grounds off northern BC and southern Alaska, they will go long periods of time without feeding so building their fat reserves here in the Salish Sea over the winter months is super important. Steller Sea Lions are known to be opportunistic feeders, which means that they will take advantage of any available food source in their environment. Their diet consists mainly of fish, such as salmon, herring, and pollock, although they are also known to feed on squid and octopus. These sea lions are skilled hunters, using their streamlined bodies and powerful back flippers to chase and catch their prey. They are also known to work together in groups to corral schools of fish, making it easier to catch their meal. Overall, Steller Sea Lions are impressive and effective hunters in their marine ecosystem.

Although impressive hunters, we usually only see them being lazy or arguing on the rocks of their haul out like we did today! As you look through the photos, you’ll notice one of the huge adult males on display, who likely weighs about 2,800 pounds! They are very impressive to see.

Soon the tour came to an end, and we returned to Nanaimo. There were some amazing photos captured by our Naturalist Aly Kohlman today which you can see below!

Can you see the rake marks on the saddle patch and dorsal fin of T124A2A Agafia? Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T124A2A Agafia and T100B1 Seidr. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T100B1 Seidr and T124A2A Agafia. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T100E Tharaya in front o T124A2 Elkugu. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T124A2B Litton in front of T100E Tharaya and T124A2 Elkugu. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Harbour Seal on the seaweed beds. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

You can see the difference between the wet and dry sections of these two harbour seals! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A giant male Steller Sea Lion! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Adult bald eagle on the nest. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Jilann LechnerJune 10, 2023WhalesComment