August 4, 2023 3:30 - T-party shenanigans with a side of happy humpbacks
We managed to see both orcas and humpbacks during this afternoon’s tour! Our first stop was to see orcas within the Strait of Georgia today. Seen on this tour were the following orcas:
T002C Tasu (1989)
T002C1 Rocky (2002)
T002C3 Lucy (2011)
T002C5 Zippy (2020)
T037 Rocky III (1979)
T037B Harald (1998)
T037B1 Lance (2012)
T037B3 (2022)
T065A5 Indy (2014)
We managed to see orcas from three different family pods: the T037s, T002Cs and T065A5 Indy. When multiple different family pods spend time together, it is referred to as a t-party. During a t-party, orcas will take the time to hunt, socialize and even mate with one another. Each family pod consists of the matriarch and her children, so their opportunity to mate with other whales relies on meeting up with other orca family pods.
The older matriarch of the T037 family pod is T037 Rocky III, who is approximately 44 years old. Female orcas will generally go through menopause at about 40-45 years old. Once their reproductive years have come and passed, they will stick around for the remainder of their lives to pass on the years of knowledge that they’ve acquired from being a pod leader. Rocky III, mother to T037B Harald and grandmother to T037B1 Lance and T037B3, will keep teaching her daughter and grandchildren hunting tactics and the sounds they make to form their language for many years to come. The lifespan of female transient orcas is about 80-90 years and male lifespans are about 70-80 years.
Today we also to the chance to see some of our Naturalist’s favourite humpback whales. After spending time with our t-party of orcas, we travelled further north into the Strait of Georgia and spotted 4 humpback whales. Seen during this afternoon were the following humpback whales:
Strike (BCX1675), her 2023 calf, Niagara (BCY0057), and Split Fluke (BCX1068)!
Strike and her new calf were quite sleepy when we first arrived on the scene with them. When they woke up, we were not disappointed with how much energy they had. Strike’s baby was practicing their breaching and tail-slapping today! They breached multiple times, with Strike even following her calf’s lead and showing them how to properly breach. We’re certain that today’s lessons paid off and Strike’s calf has learned a lot about breaching, pec-slapping and tail-slapping.
Two of our naturalists onboard our tours today got to see Strike at the end of August last summer when she was spending all her time feeding in the Gulf Islands off of Yellowpoint and showing off her very pregnant belly while breaching multiple times. It is certainly a treat that we got to see her during today’s tour breaching again alongside her new baby.
Photos during today’s tour were taken by Marine Naturalists Vanessa Vereschahen, Carmen Murphy, and Des Poier.
T065A5 Indy. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T002C Tasu (left) and T002C5 Zippy. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T002C1 Rocky (left) and T002C3 Lucy. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T002C Tasu (left) and T002C5 Zippy. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T065A5 Indy. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A spy-hop! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T002C1 Rocky followed by T002C5 Zippy. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T002C1 Rocky waving his lovely pec fin at us! Photo by Carmen Murphy.
A lovely tail-slap. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
A baby tail. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T002C1 Rocky tail-slapping. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A breach! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike’s 2023 calf. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike following behind her little calf. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike travelling along. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike pec slapping. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike’s calf pec slapping. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike’s fluke. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike tail lobbing. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Mom and baby time! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The top of Strike’s fluke. Photo by Des Poier.
Coming in for a landing! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Breach from the bouncing little calf! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The little one looked like it was reaching out for a hug! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Backwards breach! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Whisker kisses. Photo by Des Poier.
Sleepy sea lion cuddle puddle. Photo by Des Poier.
Sleeping sea lion with Mt.Baker in the background. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
A Black Turnstone. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Side eye from a harbour seal. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A harbour seal and Black Oystercatcher. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A preening Black Oystercatcher. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
All fluffed up! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Practicing its mating strut. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A Pelagic Cormorant. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Double-Crested Cormorants. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
It’s been very hot, even for our birds! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A Bald eagle trying to keep cool. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.