July 18, 2023, 10:30 - T-Party off of Galiano
T037 Rocky III ♀ (1979)
T037B Harald ♀ (1998)
T37B1 Lance ♂ (2012)
T37B3
T065B Chunk ♀ (1993)
T065B1 Birdsall ♂ (2011)
T065B2 Nettle ♂ (2019)
T065B3
T65A5 Indy ♂ (2014)
T034 Grace ♀ (<1969)
T034A Pachamama ♀ (2007)
T034B Sounder (2017)
T034A1 (2019)
It was a wonderful sunny day for us as rolled up on a T-Party. A T-parties are one of our favourite things to witness on tour. They happen when multiple matrilines of transient (the T in T-Party) orcas come together (the party in T-Party). This is usually a joyous occasion for our orca and we are often delighted with breaches, tail slapping and breaches as the different families socialize.
As we pulled up to our T-party all the whales were spread out. When we see this behaviour it’s almost always a sign that our orcas are looking for something to eat. A group this large is going to have to devote a considerable amount of time to hunting as each adult orca needs between 300-500 pounds of food daily. It didn’t take long for our expert hunters to not only find prey (we suspect a harbour porpoise), but to also remove it from existence.
Orca are fantastic at sharing and once one of the whales had made a speedy kill, they shared it amongst the others in the group. After a quick snack, the orcas were in much more of a party mood. It is always a treat to watch a family celebrate with full bellies, but an even bigger treat when it’s done with so many orcas. They began breaching and tail-slapping and we even had a few spy hops as well. Unfortunately for us our time was up with them and we had to move on and see if we could find any other whales.
It wasn’t long before our search for another whale ended as we went north and stumbled upon a humpback. While our search for a humpback was short, the time it took to ID it was even shorter as we quickly noticed this humpback was missing a large circular chunk out of their fluke indicating to us that this was, in fact, Snoopy (BCY0770). Snoopy is a whale with multiple aliases. Other names Snoopy goes by are Gibbous and Lunar. Because our humpbacks are migratory, sometimes they get named more than once.
After some time hanging out with Snoopy we wrapped up the tour with harbour seals, stellar sea lions, turkey vultures and Eagles as well as a visit to the Gabriola bluffs to see our cormorants.
The oldest whale in the party Grace breaks the surface of the water. Photo by Des Poirier
Indy showing off his breaching skills. Photo by Des Poirier
Flukes up! Photo by Des Poirier
Checking out whats going on above the water. Photo by Des Poirier
A powerful tail slap. Photo by Des Poirier
Grace enjoying the T-Party. Photo by Aly Kohlman
Grace with her youngest Sounder. Photo by Aly Kohlman
This is one of the ways we can tell if an orca is male or female. In this picture there is a lack of mammary slits so this is obviously a juvenile male (most likely Indy). Photo by Aly Kohlman
Sounder picking up speed on the way under the water. Photo by Aly Kohlman
Can you see the orca’s eye in this photo? It is actually in front of and below the eyepatch. Photo by Aly Kohlman
We often call Rocky III “Pizza fin”. What do you think? Photo by Aly Kohlman
The blowhole is how our orcas breath. In this picture it is open, most likely inhaling. Photo by Aly Kohlman
T65B3 is so young that he doesn’t have a name yet. Photo by Aly Kohlman
Porpoise lungs floating at the surface of the water. The only remnants of a successful hunt. Photo by Aly Kohlman
Did you know every dorsal fin on our humpbacks is unique? Photo by Des Poirier
With the circular hole in Snoopy’s fluke, it’s no wonder one of their aliases is Lunar. Photo by Des Poirier
Snoopy arching before a deep dive. Photo by Des Poirier
The circular scaring on Snoopy is likely caused by cookie-cutter sharks. Photo by Des Poirier
Those bumps on Snoopy are not typical. Maybe this is the whale version of hives? Photo by Aly Kohlman
A stellar sealion pokes its head out of the water. Photo by Des Poirier
Stellar sealions are sexually dimorphic, can you tell which sealion is male and female in this picture? Photo by Des Poirier
Cookie-cutter sharks don’t just target whales. Photo by Des Poirier
Harbor seals are playful and curious. Photo by Des Poirier
A harbour seal pup checking us out. Photo by Des Poirier
Although commonly mistaken for a sea otter, this is actually a river otter. Photo by Aly Kohlman
Sea otters spend most of their life in the water while our river otters spend time on both land and sea. Photo by Aly Kohlman
Turkey Vultures can smell carrion over a mile away! Photo by Aly Kohlman
Pigeon Guillemot proudly showing off his fish. Photo by Des Poirier
Adult bald eagle possibly bringing food for its eaglet. The eaglet is the bird on the right. Photo by Des Poirier
Adult bald eagle. Photo by Des Poirier
Cormorants hanging out on a ledge. Photo by Des Poirier
Cormorant taking a break before heading back to the nest. Photo by Des Poirier