August 25, 2023, 10:30 - The T075Bs and T077D close to home, and lots of Humpback Whales!
It’s always a great day when we don’t have to go too far for the whales. Today was such a day, with the T075Bs trolling the shoreline of Gabriola Island, right near the Malaspina Galleries! They did a mini-north island tour, being found on the NW side of Gabriola before continuing south into Northumberland Channel. From here they passed through Dodd Narrows and continued south in the Southern Gulf Islands after we left them.
There were 6 whales present today. The T075Bs were travelling with T077D, and members include:
T075B Pebbles ♀ (1995)
T075B2 Fifi / Jasper ♀ (2015)
T075B2A (2023)
T075B3 Rubble (2017)
T075B4 (2021)
T077D Alycon ♀ (2009)
This group has been travelling together for a while now, making their rounds of the Salish Sea with their new calf. Typically pods will travel within their own family groups, with the matriarch, or mother (in this case T075B Pebbles) leading her kids around. Having a seemly random whale travelling with them might seem strange just based on their number, but interestingly T077D is actually Pebbles’s niece!
The scientific ID’s given to the Biggs/Transient Orca shows you their lineage. You can see how this works with the T075B’s names, T075B herself was the second born to T075 who would’ve been an adult at the time of Cataloguing (T075 was born before 1971, making her at least 52 years old). T075 has 3 known offspring (T075A, T075B, and T075C) and two suspected offspring (T077 and T078). T077 (Alycon’s mom) is estimated to be born in 1981, making her about 42 years old. From this very complicated family tree, you can see the relationship here.
This straightforward and consistent numbering system is kept for the animal’s entire life and makes tracking lineage super easy (although it can get a little long) when following this naming system. Other Ecotypes of Orca don’t have such an easy-to-track numbering system, which makes figuring out relationships much less intuitive.
After hanging out with the family for a little bit, we headed out to the Strait to find some humpbacks. And boy did they deliver! We ended up seeing 5 confirmed individuals, with other blows in the distance. While coming on scene, our semi-covered vessel Kula was lucky enough to witness 2 breaches from BCY0994 Dalmatian, with BCX1773 Valiant hanging out as well. Interestingly enough, Dalmatian and Valiant are related! Valiant’s mother BCX1068 Split Fluke is Dalmatian’s sister, so this was a cool little family meet-up. Both animals come from the Mexican humpback population. The other vessels ended up finding BCY0057 Niagara and BCY1278 Hendrix not too far away, near Halibut Bank. Hendrix is a newer animal in our area, so it’s always great to see them around!
Later on, we headed to Stinky Rocks to see some more wildlife. It’s always a great time looking at the other species found here in the Salish Sea, and today we got to see some Cormorants drying their wings after a dive. These impressive diving birds utilize the sea breeze to dry off because they don’t have the protective oil on their feathers to keep them dry when fishing. There was also a ton of little Harbour Seals hanging out on the rocks, and a variety of other shorebirds.
Today’s photos by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman and Des Poier .
T075B Pebbles, T077D Alycon and T075B4 travelling together.
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075B2 Fifi/Jasper
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075B3 Rubble
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075B2 and the newest member of the 75Bs, T075B4, travelling with T077D.
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075B4 pops up for a quick breath!
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Family Photo! T075B4 leader the charge with the rest of the family behind.
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Dalmatian jumps for joy!
by Aly Kohlman.
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Cormorants drying off those wings!
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Did you know that Harbour Seals keep their spot pattern their whole lives?
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A small injury on this Harbour Seal.
Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Valiant going on a long dive.
Photo by Des Poier.
Tiny baby T075B2A with mom T075B2 Fifi / Jasper
Photo by Des Poier.