August 20, 2023, 3:30 - An uncommon Humpback AND an uncommon pod of orca in one trip!
Today we cruised through the Southern Gulf Islands in search of whales. We didn’t have to go far before we located a humpback feeding away off of Valdez Island!
Today’s interesting humpback was ID’d as Fallen Knight’s 2019 calf (BCY1223)! We haven’t seen this little one since 2019 when they were still by their mother Fallen Knight (BCX0915)’s side. We are glad to see they seem to be doing well! During our encounter, this whale was seen fluking and feeding as it travelled along the waterway.
We did notice that BCY1223 seemed to become a bit agitated after a while. We weren’t sure why, but it became clear when we had our next whale encounter of the day!
After departing our humpback, we stumbled on a pod of orca near Harmac pulp mill. This pod was ID’d as the T073A’s - a new-to-us pod consisting of 4 members:
T073A Greg (1987)
T073A1 Paws (2005)
T073A2 Trites (2010)
T073A3 Jessica (2015)
The T073A’s are not regular visitors to the Strait of Georgia. This pod is typically seen in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Puget Sound, or far up north in Alaska.
Humpbacks and orca do not get along. This is likely why BCY1223 was acting agitated earlier as this pod of orca was quite close by to where they were travelling. While BCY1223 should be safe as they are quite large at this point, yearlings (whales in their first year of life without their mother by their side) could be a potential menu item for the orca. Predation on humpbacks is very rarely witnessed, leading to some scientists speculating if it is actually a rare event. However, there have been many cases of humpbacks saving other animals (seals, sea lions, etc.) from orca. We do not know for certain why humpbacks are willing to step in for other species, but these gentle giants very clearly have a grudge against our orca one way or another!
Photos taken by Marine Naturalist Aly Kohlman.
BCY1223 travelling along.
BCY1223 - their blunt dorsal fin helps ID them if they decide to not fluke.
BCY1223’s pretty fluke.
T073A Greg and her youngest T073A3 Jessica.
T073A1 Paws beside his siblings T073A2 Trites and T073A3 Jessica.
T073A Greg at the front with her eldest son T073A1 Paws behind her.
T073A3 Jessica.
T073A2 Trites - they have two notches out of the base of their dorsal which helps us ID them.
T073A Greg, the matriarch of the pod.
T073A2 Trites beside their brother T073A1 Paws.
T073A2 Trites.
T073A1 Paws.
T073A1 Paws - his eyepatches has fresh scratches through it.
Our Harbour Seals are the masters of the perfect side eye.
Boop!
There were quite a few scuffles between the sea lions today as they fought for the best napping spot.
Not everyone was happy in the sea lion cuddle puddle today.
A juvenile Bald eagle.
A juvenile Bald eagle in flight.
A Turkey Vulture showing off its stunning silver plummage.
One of our freighters outside Departure Bay.
A smokey sunset to end the trip.