June 7, 2023 10:30 - A trip with the multigenerational family, the T023s.
Today was another beautiful day with lots of sunshine for our tour. We started out by travelling north in the Straight of Georgia but turned around when we received word of a possible orca back near Nanaimo. We were fortunate to find them relatively quickly an were able to ID this family as T023 and T023Ds.
T023 Janice ♀ (≤1964)
T023D Axle ♀ (1993)
T023D3 Robin ♂ (2012)
T023D4 Sixx (2015)
T023D5 (2019)
The T023s are transient/Bigg’s orca which means that they eat marine mammals and typically we see this eco-type travel in small matrilineal family groups. Now there are no rules in the orca world but with our Bigg’s orca, we typically see males stay with mom their entire life while females leave once they have a calf or two of their own. With this family, however, T023D Axel who has 3 children of her own has chosen to continue to travel with her mother T023 Janice who is around 60 years old. This is possibly because Janice has no surviving male children and Axle is her youngest daughter. No matter why, it’s always exciting to see 3 generations of a single-family travelling together!
After spending some time with our orca we made our way to the Gabriola bluffs where we were able to observe our cormorants at their nesting site. After weeks of nest building and sitting on eggs our cormorants are starting to see the fruits of their labour as we’ve begun to see tiny baby bird heads poking out of nests lately. Cormorants are very interesting birds since they are one of the best fishing birds in the area! They don’t put as much preening oil onto their feathers, decreasing their waterproofness and therefore the bird’s buoyancy. This allows them to reach depths of up to 120 feet in their search for fish! They will swim around under the water, using their feet as their main source of propulsion.
Soon it was time to leave the bluffs behind and we returned to the Nanaimo Harbour. The photos from the tour were taken by the onboard Naturalists Cheyenne Brewster and Val Watson and can be viewed below!
T023D3 Robin showing off his sprouting dorsal fin. Photo taken by Cheyenne Breswter
T023 Axel who also goes by Brighty. Photo taken by Cheyenne Breswter
T023D3 Robin swimming gingerly in the straigh. Photo taken by Cheyenne Breswter
The marks above Axel’s eyepatch are called rake marks and are cause by other orca’s teeth. Photo taken by Cheyenne Brewster
Axel. Photo taken by Cheyenne Brewster
Axel swimming with her youngest T023D5 who is currently unnamed. Photo taken by Cheyenne Brewster
Photo taken by Cheyenne Brewster
Robin showing off his beautiful eyepatch. Photo taken by Cheyenne Brewster
Matriarch T023 Janice looking spry as ever at around 60 years old. Photo taken by Cheyenne Brewster
Cormorants enjoy a nice sunny spot on at the bluffs. Photo taken by Cheyenne Brewster
Cormorant nests at the Gabriola Bluffs. Photo taken by Val Watson.
Kula. Photo taken by Val Watson.