September 7, 2023, 3:30 - The T049As by south of Stinky Rocks
After a successful morning trip with whales close to our home port, we were eager to push off the dock and locate our whales again. We headed out into the Strait of Georgia as we assumed this was the direction the T049As had headed. We were correct and were able to locate them about a third of the way down Valdez Island’s coastline! There were 5 members of the T049A matriline present today:
T049A Nan ♀ (1986)
T049A3 Nat ♂ (2011)
T049A4 Neptune ♂ (2014)
T049A5 Nebula ♀ (2017)
T049A6 (2022) Nicknamed Charlie II
This quirky family was being as rambunctious as ever. They were seen tail slapping, hunting, porpoising (quickly travelling above the surface of the water), and they even spy-hopped a few times!
T049A6, nicknamed Charlie II after Charlie Chin, is a super interesting orca to observe. This little one has a severe underbite which causes some of its teeth to protrude from its mouth. Their rostrum is also noticeably blunter than most orca. In most species, a serious birth defect like this would cause the affected to die very young. However, orca are a special case - there have been a handful of cases with orca born with birth defects that seem to have lived relatively normal lives as they are cared for by their mother and other pod members. Probably the most notable case would be T002C2 Tumbo, a Bigg’s orca that was born with scoliosis (abnormal curvature of the spine). Scoliosis caused Tumbo to be unable to keep up with his family and made it so he was unable to hunt. This didn’t stop his family from loving and caring for him though - they would go and complete a hunt and would bring food back for him. Tumbo was 15 years old when he was last seen and sadly is now presumed deceased. We wouldn’t be surprised if Charlie II may struggle to hunt due to their unique facial structure, but we are confident that Nan and the rest of the T049As will do everything in their power to help this spunky little one grow big and strong.
After saying goodbye to the T049As we headed north to Stinky Rocks, a small jut of rocky shoreline nearby. This area is popular with our Steller sea lions and Harbour seals - we usually can find our Sea lions snoozing together on the southern tip of the rocks whereas the Harbour seals typically are found in the middle or northern tip of the area. There are also a couple different species of bird that can be found here as well. Today we saw a female Harlequin duck waddling around, a flock of Black Turnstones checking out the shores, and a handful of Gulls resting.
On our way back to home port we made one final stop at the Gabriola Bluffs to see our Cormorant rookery. These long-necked blackbirds love to nest in the Bluffs’ many sandstone cracks and nooks as well as the dead trees at the very tip of the bluffs. It is common to see these birds soar out from the rockside and dive headfirst into the waters below. These birds hunt by diving and ‘swimming’ (more like paddling with their wings) to catch fish and crustaceans for themselves and their chicks.
All photos from this tour were taken by Marine Naturalist Des Poier.
Matriarch T049A Nan.
T049A3 Nat - his dorsal is beginning to straighten now!
T049A5 Nebula is also going through a growth spurt!
T049A3 Nat travelling along.
T049A6 Charlie II beside their sister T049A4 Neptune.
T049A4 Neptune beside T049A3 Nat.
The T049A4 Neptune, T049A3 Nat, and T049A5 Nebula travelling side by side.
The T049As travelling close together, with one of the members flicking their tail.
T049A3 Nat - his saddle patch is now heavily scarred, which we can use to confirm his ID.
T049A6 Charlie II going down for a dive.
While only a year old, T049A6 Charlie II is already covered in many scratches.
Tail flick from T049A6 Charlie II.
T049A5 Nebula porpoising through the water.
Backlit blows are one of our favourite things to photograph - besides whales of course!
Who’s King of the Rock today?
A young Steller sea lion examining an older male Steller sea lion’s teeth.
Sea lions are happy to turn anything into a pillow.
A Black Turnstone beside a female Harlequin duck.
Time for takeoff!
A bob of Harbour seals snoozing in the sun.
Our Harbour seals like to look at us just as much as we look at them!
A flock of sleepy Cormorants.