August 15, 2023, 3:30 - Party time with the Ts!

This encounter was the definition of a “surprise” party - our Zodiac, Cascadia, was happily driving down Valdez Island’s coastline when they suddenly spotted large splashes out in the strait. At first, they believed it to be a humpback whale. They quickly realized as they got closer it was actually a large group of orca playing!

We had a big party going on today, consisting of at least 21 members:

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

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

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

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

T065A5 Indy (2014)

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

This party was very active today. They were vocalizing (talking to each other) throughout the encounter - this is noteworthy as Transient orca are typically silent hunters. T137A Jack seemed extra excited as he was seen porpoising and breaching near the islands. This party charged along the coastline of the Flat Top Islands, causing a group of Harbour seals to galumph up the beach and away from danger.

This party was on their A-game while we were watching them today. As the young ones were splashing away together. suddenly the adults came together, dove, and had a successful hunt. This hunt was very quick - they went from travelling to hunting and back to travelling again within minutes. The only reason we were aware that a hunt occurred was because of the large flock of gulls that suddenly appeared behind the group of whales. Gulls like to gather once orca complete hunts and then pick off any remains that may have floated up to the surface of the water.

After the hunt, the party continued playing away along the shoreline of the Flat Top Islands. They quickly passed by another couple of Harbour seal haul outs, leading to more seals clumsily hopping as far up from the water as possible.

Once our time with the whales was up, we left in search of other wildlife. We found a group of Sea lions snoozing away just a short 10-minute cruise from where our orca were. As we observed them, one of the sea lions got up to leave, and they began fighting over who was in the best sleeping spot on the rock.

Photos taken by Marine Naturalists Cheyenne Brewster, Des Poier, and Ella Hillbrecht.

Charging through the surf. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Belly flop from little T137D Wright in front of her big brother T137A Jack. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Big belly up from presumably Jack! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T137A Jack crashing through the waves. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T137D Wright slapping her tail. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T037 Pizzafin and a friend cruising the shoreline. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Big tail swish from one of the younger whales! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

A lineup of orca from our party today. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Upside tail slap! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

A big pec wave from one of our males (likely T137A Jack). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

T137 Loon leads the whales to one of our Harbour seal haulouts - can you see the seals in the background? Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

What a view! There were at least 6 whales fin-to-fin in front of this house. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Triple tail slap! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Rollnig around. Photo by Ella Hillbrecht.

A Rhinoceros Auklet. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

One of our larger male Sea lions looking around. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

Fighting for the best spot on the rocks. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.

The Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Des Poier.

Jilann LechnerAugust 15, 2023WhalesComment