August 1, 2023 - Epic T-party all day with a side of humpbacks

What a day! We had a giant group of orca that were travelling together, some of which we saw meeting up during the previous day’s trip, but there were some changes overnight. Today this group consisted of the T002Cs, T034s, T036s, T036As, T037s, T065A5, T077C, T077D, and the T137s, a total of 29 whales!

Those whales are:

T002C Tasu (1989)
T002C1 Rocky (2002)
T002C3 Lucy (2011)
T002C5 (2020)

T034 Grace (≤1969)
T034A Pachamama (2007)
T034B Sonder (2017)

T036 Flapjack (≤1970)
T036B Tattertip (1998)
T036B1 Bhotia (2009)
T036B2 Greenfelder (2013)
T036B3 Chip (2018)

T036A Leland (1990)
T036A1 Tierna (2005)
T036A1A (2022)
T036A2 Kailas (2012)
T036A3 Storm/Mike III (2015)
T036A5 (2021)

T037 Rocky III (1979)
T037B Harald (1998)
T037B1 Lance (2012)
T037B3 (2022)

T065A5 Indy (2014)

T077C Neftali (2006)
T077D Alycon (2009)

T137 Loon (~1984)
T137A Jack (2002)
T137B Tempest (2006)
T137D Wright (2012)

These whales were doing a whole lot of surface activity, basically doing every surface activity that you could ever hope to want to see during time spent with orca. Breaching, cartwheeling, tail slapping, vocalization, spy hopping, and pec slapping!

It’s not very often that we get to see this type of surface activity from our orca let alone in such a large group like this, so we drank in every single moment of it we were lucky enough to witness. This sized group of orca also doesn’t tend to spend extended periods of time together, usually only having it last for a few hours to maybe a day or two. This t-party ended up extending over 4 days total which is very uncommon but pretty cool to be able to see. Not only did they give us a lot to look at, a further breakdown of this groups dynamics is interesting too!

While we saw 8 seperate matrilines here, a large majority of these animals are actually related. T036 Flapjack has some pretty strong genetics, and appears to have brought her family together for a big reunion. The T036As consist of her daughter T036A Leland, her grandchildren, and even a great grandbaby, little T036A1A! But thats not all, because T137 Loon is also suspected to be another daughter of hers, although not confirmed. This would mean that 19 of the 29 whales spotted this day come from the same lineage, with four generations present. Family reunion indeed! Matriarch T034 Grace also has some extra family present, with her daughter T037 Rocky III and grandkids also meeting up for the party. Another 9 whales in one lineage! The other families present show no known relation to the larger families here, but must have wanted to join in the fun.

We not only got to see this large group of orca moving up the coast today but both trips were blessed with humpbacks as well. On the morning tour got to see a cow-calf pair which we IDed as Graze (BCY0523) and her 2023 calf. Typically the humpback mom and calf pair will be travelling basically side-by-side, but today we saw Graze leave her calf behind at the surface while she went for a longer feeding dive. This prompted her calf to do what could only be described as a temper tantrum! It started slapping it’s pectoral fins against the surface while also rolling around in protest. It was quite a sight to see!

The morning tour also got to see 2 humpback whales, this time they were both adults. These two are whales that aren’t seen by us very often: Velvet (BCY1186) and Crevasse (BCX2054). These two whales were travelling close together through the Northumberland Channel heading out into the Strait of Georgia.

There was lots of other non-whale wildlife spotted along our trips today as well, including bald eagles, cormorants, and seals! All the fantastic photos taken by Naturalists Carmen Murphy, Cheyenne Brewster, and Des Poier can be viewed below!

This looks like the whale is half backwards! Photo by Chy Brewster.

T036A Leland travelling with her newest calf close behind, T036A5. Photo by Chy Brewster.

A lovely upside down tail slap. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T036A5 surfacing on the left with T036B Tattertip on the right. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T036 Flapjack in front of her grandson T036B3 Chip. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T036A2 Kailas moving through the water. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T036B Tattertip showing off her very distinct markings on her dorsal. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T036B Tattertip travelling in front of T036A Leland and T036A5. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T002C3 Lucy / Helena checking out the boat! Photo by Des Poier.

T002C3 Lucy / Helena. Photo by Des Poier.

Graze preparing to dive. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Graze’s 2023 calf also preparing to dive. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Graze has a very distinct scar on her dorsal fin which you can see here. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Grazes 2023 calf was swimming sideways showing off half their fluke and a little pectoral fin! So cute! Photo by Chy Brewster.

The underside of Grazes 2023 calf’s fluke. Photo by Chy Brewster.

The underside of Graze’s tail flukes. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Graze’s left dorsal. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Graze’s 2023 calves left dorsal fin. Photo by Chy Brewster.

The underside of Graze’s 2023 calf’s flukes. Photo by Chy Brewster.

A Black Oyster Catcher on the rocks. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Some harbour seals hauled out on the rocks. Can you spot the one pup nursing? Photo by Chy Brewster.

Look at how cute these Harbour Seals are! Photo by Chy Brewster.

Steller Sea Lions hauled out on Sticky Rocks. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Look at all the Sea Lions! Typically they would’ve migrated to their breeding grounds by now but we are still seeing lots. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Sometimes the Steller Sea Lions get curious about us too! Photo by Chy Brewster.

Cormorants on the Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Chy Brewster.

A lovely look at the erosion along the Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Chy Brewster.

From left to right: T036B Tattertip, T036 Flapjack, and T036B2 Greenfelder. Three generations in one photo! Photo by Chy Brewster.

T002C1 Rocky and T037 Rocky II travelling with T037B Harald. Photo by Chy Brewster.

A bunch of partial fins behind T037B Harald. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T037 Pizza Fin / Rocky II. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T002C1 Rocky surfacing with mom T002C Tasu and T002C5. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T036A Leland at the end of a breach. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T002C1 Rocky doing a tail slap. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T036A1 Tierna travelling with her calf, T036A1A. Photo by Chy Brewster.

A pectoral fin out of the water. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T137A jack sporting some new scarring on his dorsal fin. Photo by Chy Brewster.

A nose and a tail out of the water. Photo by Chy Brewster.

T002C1 Rocky travelling with T077C Neftali. Photo by Chy Brewster.

The underside of Velvets tail. Photo by Chy Brewster.

A lovely tail flick from Velvet. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Cormorants on the dead trees near Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Chy Brewster.

A young Cormorant in the water. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Young bald eagle on a branch. Maybe Pinecone or Freddy? Photo by Chy Brewster.

Juvenile bald eagle. Photo by Chy Brewster.

Jilann LechnerAugust 1, 2023WhalesComment