August 19, 2023 - The T018s near Snake Island
It’s always a special day when we get to see this pod of orca, one of our favourites, the T018s!
T018 Esperanza (≤1955)
T019 Nootka (≤1965)
T019B Galiano (1995)
T019C Spouter (2001)
This group of four whales is interesting to see because it not only contains the oldest estimated whale in our population T018 Esperanza herself, but also one of the most recognizable, T019B Galiano. This pod with their experience and body size are very efficient hunters and are known for going after some of the more difficult prey like Sea Lions and porpoises. This is likely why we see the members of this pod showing up with more and more scars and notches. Small injuries like this aren’t going to do much to affect the overall health of the animals, as they have been known to get much larger trauma and be fine. This can range from being hit by a vessel, to getting entangled in fishing gear, to sometimes getting themselves caught in the changing tides and getting stuck in the rocks. While none of this has happened with this particular pod, it has been recorded in other members of the Transient / Biggs population with them recovering quickly and without having much in the way of long-lasting effects. There was one orca, Ben, who was hit by a vessel off the coast of New Zealand which obtained huge amounts of damage to their dorsal fin, and had half of it collapse or fall over to one side, he was also stranded on the beach not too long after. It goes to show the resilience of these animals!
Today the T018s were patrolling the shores of Snake Island for a much easier prey source, the Harbour Seal. These are the smallest and easiest prey that the transient orca go after and the T018s showed off their efficiency today as they hunted one seal and quickly celebrated their success afterwards. It was a great time to spend with these amazing animals.
After watching them continue their travels, we headed out to find other wildlife. We got a look at some Harbour Seals who were looking much more relaxed than the ones hauled out on Snake Island who were being harassed by the orca. The harbour seals are some of our favourites, with their big, dark, eyes and their cute little whiskers.
What a great day!
Photos by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman and Carmen Murphy.
T019 Nootka surfacing with a ton of scars on her saddle patch. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A very close pass by T019B Nootka. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T019 Nootka diving. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T019B Galiano showing off his iconic dorsal fin. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T019B Galiano surfacing in the waves. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T019 Nootka with all her new notches and marks in the dorsal fin. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T019B Galiano giving us a great look at his eye patch. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T019C Spouter surfacing through the waves. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A tail slap flinging water in the air. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T019B Galiano surfacing in front of his mom T019 Nootka. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T019C Spouter with some scared looking seals in the background. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Long seal is long. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
Some Harbour seals hauled out behind oysters. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
A couple of pups on the rocks. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
What a cute harbour seal! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Some Cormorants sitting on the rocks nearby. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Some harlequin ducks trolling the coastline. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A curious River Otter. Photo by Carmen Murphy.
A turkey vulture looking out from his sandstone perch. Photo by Carmen Murphy.