August 31, 2023, 10:30 - T019 Nootka and T019B Galiano travelling through Stuart Channel
Another day, another set of whales to be seen! Today we pushed off the dock and began heading south, into the gulf islands. After adventuring around the gulf islands, we were able to locate a pair of orca travelling north towards Dodd Narrows.
Our pair of orca were identified as part of the T018 pod:
T019 Nootka ♀ (≤1965)
T019B Galiano ♂ (1995)
Galiano is always a very impressive whale to see. His dorsal fin is significantly thicker than most other mature males which has caused the fin to form a significant curve as he has grown. He also has a large notch part way down his dorsal edge. These two identifiers make Galiano one of the easiest whales in the Transient/Biggs population to ID, along with other famous whales such as T063 Chainsaw.
Nootka, while also cool to see, is quite a bit smaller than her son. Her dorsal fin is likely around 2.5 feet tall, where as Galiano’s is likely closer to 6 feet tall. We always get a giggle when we hear about shore based whale sightings reports, as a lot of the time a pair like this would be called a “mother and baby orca”. At ~58 years of age, Nootka is a bit too old to be considered a baby by most people’s standards, and Galiano is definitely not a mother! Jokes aside, we do understand why this misunderstanding happens. Can you imagine having a child who ends up growing over double your own height?!
Interestingly, the other half of this pod (T018 Esperanza and T019C Spouter) has been spending their time down in the US instead of up in our area. While we are unsure why this pod has split both halves of the family seem to be healthy. We hope that one day they decide to travel together regularly again!
After departing our delightful duo we continued our search for other wildlife. We travelled out into the Strait of Georgia where we stopped at “Stinky Rocks” to see our sleepy sea lions. Stinky Rocks has become a staple location for our trips to visit as our sea lions have been seen hanging out here all year round now! Besides our sea lions, there were also many harbour seals (and harbour seal pups) hauled out on some nearby rocks as well.
Photos taken by Marine Naturalists Val Watson.
T019B Galiano surfacing with Vancouver Island in the background. Photo by Val Watson.
T019B Galiano showing off his eye patch during a surface. Photo by Val Watson.
T019B Galiano and his mom T019 Nootka surfacing together. Photo by Val Watson.
A great example of what the orca have to deal with on the water. This freighter is anchored so they wouldn’t have to worry about the noise this time. Photo by Val Watson.
T019B Galiano and T019 Nootka surfacing very close together. Photo by Val Watson.
You can barely see T019 Nootka’s dorsal fin in front of T019B Galiano. Photo by Val Watson.
T019B Galiano’s dorsal fin leans at the top, leading to the thicker, less pointy side profile. Photo by Val Watson.
T019B Galiano surfacing with Tree island in behind. Photo by Val Watson.
A turkey Vulture landing on Stinky Rocks. Photo by Val Watson.
A Steller Sea Lion watches us on the boat. Photo by Val Watson.
A sea lion walking along sticky rocks. Photo by Val Watson.
This gull tried to compete with the noisy sea lions. Photo by Val Watson.
Some Harbour Seals hauled out nearby. Photo by Val Watson.
This smaller one is a pup! Photo by Val Watson.