June 7, 2023 3:30 - A T-party with the T023s, T023Cs and T101s, as well as some humpback soup!

We started our tour searching for the T023s who we had seen just north of Lantzville during our morning tour. These five had been travelling steadily northwards throughout the day, and we were confident we could relocate them this afternoon.
However, they eluded us! We searched and searched to no avail. We prepared to begin looking elsewhere when our eagle-eyed Naturalist Val spotted something in the distance. It was a pod of orca!
Funnily enough, this group turned out to be totally different whales from the ones we saw in the morning. We ID’d these whales as the T023Cs (a matriline related to our morning group) and the T101s. As our vessels got on scene we watched as the whales slowly travelled northbound. The T023Cs’ newest calf was happily bounding through the water as they tried to keep up with the adults. The T101 brothers were lazily surfacing together side by side nearby. Suddenly, the brother veered and turned around, picking up speed. We weren’t sure what was going on until we spotted more dorsals in the distance - these two were beelining it towards these new whales. Once we got closer we realized this new group was the T023s, the whales we had been searching for earlier!
When all the matrilines came together, the excitement began! T101A Rush and T101B Lagoon were seen dashing back and forth as they interacted with the pods. These boys were also spotted breaching (jumping out of the water). Many individuals were seen tail slapping at the surface and quickly porpoising along as they interacted and played together.

Naturalist Cheyenne recorded these amazing vocalizations from the pods as they interacted. These sounds were captured using a hydrophone. Hydrophones are specialized microphones that can detect sound waves underwater. This chattering began right as the T023s approached the T023Cs and T101s, and continued for at least 10 minutes.

In total, we saw at least 13 Bigg’s orca, including 3 matrilines:

T023 Janice ♀ (≤1964)
T023D Axle ♀ (1993)
T023D3 Robin ♂ (2012)
T023D4 Sixx (2015)
T023D5 (2019)

T023C Cindy ♀ (1990)
T023C3 Durban ♀ (2009)
T023C4 Bunzie (2013)
T023C5 (2018)
T023C6 (2023)

T101 Reef ♀ (≤1969)
T101A Rush ♂ (1993)
T101B Lagoon ♂ (1997)

While Janice is the mother to both Axle and Cindy, these two family lines are considered distinct matrilines as they usually travel separately from each other. We suspect today might have been a family get-together to celebrate the new baby, T023C6!
Once our time with the T-party was up, we departed and began searching again. Our spirits were high as we began scanning the horizon in hopes of spotting a Humpback on the way back to home port.
Our perseverance paid off when we spotted a duo of humpback flukes in the distance. As we approached we realized there were more individuals around us than we expected. We were able to ID 4 individuals nearby, with blows being spotted further off on the horizon as well.

We ID’d the following Humpbacks:

Olympus (KEX0051), Olympus (KEX0051)’s 2023 calf, Prowler (BCX1660), and Tempest (BCX0837).

Olympus, Prowler, and Tempest are all known Regulars in our area - however, today’s encounter was extra exciting. Olympus, the 2018 calf of Divot (BCX1057), is now a first-time mother! This little calf was staying very close to Olympus’ side as we watched the humpbacks mingle. We were very shocked to see this little one give us a full fluke while we were on scene today. Usually, calves do not fluke at the start of the season as they are still developing their muscles - similar to toddlers learning to walk. This little one seemed extra rambunctious as they were fluking even better than the adult humpbacks today!

After we departed our Humpbacks we continued our journey homeward bound. We cruised down the Vancouver Island coastline and back into the Nanaimo Harbour, the setting sun casting a beautiful orange glow over the harbour as we docked.

Photos taken by Marine Naturalists Cheyenne Brewster and Val Watson.

T101B Lagoon. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T023D4 Sixx. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T023C3 Durban and T023C6. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T023C3 Durban and T023C5. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T023 Janice, T023C3 Bunzie, and one other. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T023 Janice. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T023 Janice and her family members. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Look at those cute little flukes! Photo by Val Watson.

Water off the calf’s fluke. Photo by Val Watson.

The calf’s fluke - it is already sporting rake marks (orca teeth marks) and a hole! Photo by Val Watson.

Olympus (KEX00051) and her calf. Photo by Val Watson.

Olympus (KEX00051). Photo by Val Watson.

Olympus (KEX00051). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Prowler (BCX1660). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Olympus (KEX00051) and her calf. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Prowler (BCX1660), Olympus (KEX00051), and her calf. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Olympus (KEX0051). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Our Zodiac, Keta, enjoying the sunset. Photo by Val Watson.

Jilann LechnerJune 7, 2023WhalesComment