April 25, 2024 - An early season T-party with the T036Bs and T137s!
It was a dark and wet day when we headed out, but that didn’t dampen our spirits as we began our quest for whales! We turned our sights eastward and began scanning the horizon. We were heading towards Howe Sound, but we always like to keep our eyes peeled in case we find anything along the way.
Howe Sound has been bustling with activity this season. There have been multiple orca pods “vacationing” in there, sometimes spending a week or more doing loops before they continue on their way, and today was no different! Once we had crossed the Strait of Georgia it didn’t take us long to find our little T-party (gathering of multiple orca pods together) on the other side by Bowen Island. After snapping a few photos we were able to ID the pods as the T036Bs and the T137s:
T036 Flapjack ♀ (≤1970)
T036B Tattertip ♀ (1998)
T036B1 Bhotia ♀ (2009)
T036B2 Greenfelder ♀ (2013)
T036B3 Chip ♂ (2018)
T036B4 (2024)
T137 Loon ♀ (~1984)
T137A Jack ♂ (2002)
T137B Tempest ♀ (2006)
T137D Wright ♀ (2012)
These two pods were meandering along the shoreline during our encounter today. They were likely looking for an easy meal, as it takes a lot of hunting to keep this many hungry mouths fed. Each full-grown orca needs to eat about 300 lbs./136 kg. of food a day, and when Harbour Seals weigh on average ~150-200 lbs./68-90 kg. each, that means a party of 10 whales like this one would need to hunt an average of 15-20 seals every day to keep their weight up!
One of the highlights of the trip was seeing T137A Jack towering over little T036B4. Typically a calf as young as T036B4 would be glued to its mother’s side, but it seems like Jack makes a good interm parental figure as well. Jack seems to be a favourite amongst orca calves, as we regularly see him wrangling the youngins while the older whales socialize. This was so common last year that we began lovingly referring to these T-party interactions as “Jack’s Summer Camp”. We are excited to see if Camp Leader Jack takes on this position again during this year’s T-parties!
After departing our party whales we began looking for other wildlife. Our sea lions seemed to be extra sleepy, as most of them were snoozing away when we found them. We can’t blame them though - today was perfect napping weather!
Once we left our sea lions behind, we found a very interesting sight - we spotted a Bald Eagle with a fresh meal. Gore warning: Photos of this part of the tour are at the bottom of the blog. We won’t discuss this in detail, as it may make some people squeamish, but we recommend checking out these photos at the bottom if you are interested in seeing the circle of life in full force.
Our Eagles weren’t the only birds acting extra riveting today either. A couple of our Cormorants were seen locking beaks and tumbling through the air together, heading straight for the water. It looked like they were going to crash into the surf until suddenly they broke off and flew separately mere moments before impact. After our exciting time at the Gabriola Bluffs, we turned back towards home port, and headed in after another successful day out in the Salish Sea.
Photos by Marine Naturalist Aly Kohlman.
T137A Jack and T036B Tattertip.
Left to right: T137A Jack, T036B4, T036B Tattertip, T036B2 Greenfelder, and T137D Wright.
T137B Tempest, T137D Wright, and T036B1 Bhotia.
Brand new baby T036B4 behind their sister T036B2 Greenfelder!
T137D Wright - she’s getting so big now!
T137D Wright, T036B Tattertip, and T036B2 Greenfelder.
T036 Flapjack.
T137A Jack and T036B1 Bhotia.
T036B Tattertip.
T036 Flapjack, T036B2 Greenfelder, and T137D Wright.
T036B1 Bhotia with her giant eyepatch visible!
T137 Loon.
The best babysitter around - T036B4 and T137A Jack.
T036B4, T036B Tattertip, and T137B Tempest.
T137A Jack, T137 Loon, and T036 Flapjack.
T137A Jack beside his sister T137B Tempest.
Tiny T036B4 closely travelling with their mother T036B Tattertip.
T137B Tempest.
T137A Jack - the star of the encounter today.
Sleepy sea lions on top of the rocks.
This sums up the average day in the life of a sea lion very well.
Cormorants nestled into the rocks at the Gabriola Bluffs.
GORE WARNING
While graphic, if you look carefully you can see all the individual parts of this eagle’s meal.
The circle of life.
Perched with its meal.