July 15, 2023, 10:30 - A Humpback and Orca Extravaganza

We love finding wildlife in our own backyard! Today was no different, encountering both Humpbacks and Orca all within a few minutes of the Harbour. First, we headed to Entrance Island, where we encountered a familiar animal in the Salish Sea. It was Poptart and her new calf! Poptart (BCY1014) and her 2022/2023 calf were most recently spotted in Hawaii in April, so it’s exciting to see them return here to feed. Although we weren’t the only excited ones today! This little calf was very excited today, with repeated breaching, chin slaps, tail slaps and pec slaps. The calf carried on with this activity for the whole time we travelled with them. What an impressive show of power!

We soon got word of a pod of Orca travelling nearby, so we said goodbye to Poptart and headed North towards Lantzville. On the way, one of our boats came across Graze (BCY0523) and her 2022/2023 calf, just off of Neck Point. This pair also came from Hawaii and were last spotted there in March. It looked like momma was getting some much-needed rest and was sleeping soundly while her little one curiously milled around. It’s a lot of work to be a mother!

We left Graze and her baby to their nap and continued on. Finally, just east of the Winchelsea Islands, we found our Orca! We had two families travelling together, the T037As and the T065As. The whales present today include:

T037A Volker ♀ (1994)
T037A2 Inky ♂ (2009)
T037A3 Spinnaker ♂ (2013)
T037A4 Crinkle ♀ (2015)

T065A Fingers/Artemis ♀ (1986)
T065A2 Ooxjaa ♂ (2004)
T065A3 Amir ♂ (2007)
T065A4 Ellifrit ♀ (2011)
T065A6 Callisto ♀ (2018)

These families were all travelling together! While initially starting off fairly sleepy, they quickly perked up and began moving quickly. We travelled alongside them as the families interwove, with something piquing their interest. They started splitting up and circling, clearly scoping out their surroundings. Finally, both pods picked up speed and we left them as they zoomed North. However, our day wasn’t done! In their wake, guests spotted a familiar sight: a Humpback blow! A young whale had caught caught up in the action. We quickly figured out it was Chi (pronounced K-eye), Zephyr's 2021 calf! And boy were they excited to see us! After a close encounter with the Orca, who are the only predators of Humpback whales, this young whale sure seemed to be celebrating their freedom. While we don’t know how interested the Orca actually were in Chi, it’s always a gamble with wildlife.

Chi’s grandmother, Divot, is a well-known whale in the Salish Sea. She has had 5 calves and is officially a grandmother of 3 grandkids! Chi is Zephyr’s kid. Zephyr is known to interact with boats in a behaviour called “mugging” and seems to have passed this curiosity on to Chi. We actually had an encounter with him ourselves while he was still travelling with Zephyr where they both came over to check out the boat. You can see this interaction with him as a baby in this reel. While a close encounter like this with wildlife is always magical, it’s also concerning that this young whale seems to enjoy the attention of boats. This isn’t the only incident with this whale this season, so we hope they don’t get too comfortable with boats, at risk of an accident. After Chi got enough to satisfy their curiosity and moved on, we continued on our slow trek back to the Harbour.

We stopped along the way to see some Harbour seals, always a fan favourite, and our favourite spot at the Gabriola Bluffs. After visiting the cormorants and the local Bald Eagle family, it was time to head home. What an eventful morning, and all within 20 minutes of home!

Photos were taken by Marine Naturalists Des Poier and Val Watson.

Poptart’s (BCY1014) 2022/2023 calf. Photo by Des Poier

A pec slap from the unnamed calf. Photo by Des Poier

The little one shows off their belly with a full back flop! Photo by Des Poier

Another breach from the calf! Photo by Des Poier

The calf breaching with its mouth wide open! Photo by Des Poier

A chin slap incoming from pop tarts calf. Photo by Des Poier

Another back breach from the young whale
Photo by Des Poier

Showing off that fluke with some good tail slaps!
Photo by Des Poier

Doing some cartwheels!
Photo by Des Poier

Poptart (BCY1014) comes up for a breath while her kid splashes around.
Photo by Des Poier

A Harbour seal lounges on the rocks.
Photo by Des Poier

Jilann LechnerJuly 15, 2023WhalesComment