July 1, 2023 3:30 - T099s, T065As and a couple sleepy Humpbacks

This afternoon we headed back out on the water to see who we could find! We left the Nanaimo Harbour and shot out into the Strait of Georgia. We did not have to go too far before we spotted blows off the shore of Valdes Island! This was our Humpback Whales! We got very lucky as we also found Orca today, what a treat a double species day! The Orca we saw today consisted of two Matrilines, they were:

The Orca today were anything but sleepy like the Humpbacks we saw. We were treated to some action, we had breaching, tail slaps, headstands and some exciting direction changes! This was typical behaviour for an Orca T-party (a T-party is what we call it when multiple Pods come together), they were happy to see each other as this is how they socialize. The Orca present today were:

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

T099 Bella ♀ (~1984)
T099B Holly ♀ (2007)
T099C Barakat ♂ (2009)
T099D Puck ♂ (2015)
T099E ♀ (2021)

We also saw a couple of sleepy Humpbacks in the afternoon which we ID’d as:

Graze’s 2019 calf (BCY0523 calf 2019) and Zephyr’s 2021 calf (BCZ0414 calf 2021)

To see a sleepy Humpback Whale is quite astonishing! They linger at the surface and move along slowly while taking a big breath occasionally. Unlike us the whales need to consciously think to breathe, they can not do this involuntarily as we do. This means that they only rest half of their brains at a time, always sleeping with one eye open looking for danger! They will only sleep for around 30 minutes at a time, this is so they can keep their body temperatures up in the cold waters through movement. They are very hard to spot during their resting times, this is why it is important for boaters to stay vigilant at all times when on the water. Sadly some of the Humpbacks do bare scarring from boat strikes. This is partly due to the fact that they like to sleep where they eat, and food often seems to be in high-traffic areas, we believe this is because the travelling boats agitate the water stirring up oxygen and nutrients that attract the Humpbacks’ prey. However, there is some good news: we are seeing increased numbers of Humpback Whales in the Salish Sea so with more animals comes more research and more solutions for humans and animals to co-exist together. We have already seen a huge increase in educational materials for boaters being more readily available, this helps keep us as well as the Whales safe!

Enjoy the photos from today’s tour taken by Marine Naturalists Carmen Murphy and Aly Kholman.

Left to right: T065A3 Amir, T099B Holly and T065A4 Ellifrit. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Left to right: T099B Holly, T065A4 Ellifrit, someone’s belly, T099 Bella and T099D Puck. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Left to right: T065A3 Amir and T065A2 Ooxjaa. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T099 Bella with another surfacing in front of her. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Fluke in the sun. Photo by Carmen Murphy

Graze’s 2019 calf. Photo by Carmen Murphy

Zephyr’s 2021 calf. Photo by Carmen Murphy

Stellar Sea Lions, see that big mane. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Cuddle puddle of Stellar Sea Lions. Photo by Carmen Murphy

Eaglet in its nest. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Peregrine Falcon chicks. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Cormorant at the Bluffs. Photo by Aly Kohlman

A beautiful sailboat! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Jilann LechnerJuly 1, 2023WhalesComment