May 11, 2024 - A trip down Saanich Inlet for Double Species!

It was a beautiful sunny day as we had two boats leaving the Harbour. We headed south and started cruising towards Dodd Narrows. Dodd is a beautiful narrow passage that is the northernmost entrance into the Southern Gulf Islands. We headed through Dodd and went south in Stuart Channel, our boats spread out to cover more ground and low and behold, we found a humpback whale!

Bagheera (BCY0523 calf 2021) was spending time just north of Sansum Narrows. We were able to identify Bagheera by looking at the unique markings on their fluke as they lifted it out of the water, just before they headed down for their dives. Bagheera is the 2021 calf of Graze (BCY0523), who was the first humpback we spotted this 2024 season on April 21st, having migrated back to BC from her breeding grounds in Hawaii. Bagheera was travelling slowly south and taking long dives but was kind enough to pop up near our semi-covered boat so we could get a nice, close look. We must stay at least 100 meters from our Humpback Whales at all times (unless they’re with a calf or resting, in which case that distance increases to 200 meters) but the whales have a mind of their own and occasionally will get closer to us of their own accord. When this happens we must shut down our engines until they’ve returned to a safe distance.

After relaxing with our humpback, it was time to increase our adrenaline as we got invited to a T-party happening further south! We caught up with the Transient Killer Whales in Saanich Inlet, where eight whales from three different families had come together.

T071B1 Zengo (2013)
T071B2 Tasli/Nemo (2018)

T075B Pebbles ♀ (1995)
T075B2 Fifi/Jasper ♂ (2015)
T075B3 Rubble (2017)
T075B4 (2021)

T086A3 Tyndall ♀ (2011)
T086A3A (2024)

We were treated to a flurry of activity from our orcas, including lots of surface time and tail slapping. It appeared that they may have been hunting close to shore. We saw them circling and at one point they even headed into a small cove of shallow water! Of course, without being able to see what was happening under the water, we can only speculate. One inquisitive whale was spotted close to a crab trap. Occasionally youngsters are seen playing with these, but that comes with the risk of becoming entangled! Luckily the whole group moved on today and continued without the crab trap, so we know it was just playful behaviour from the whales today. The other thing that might have brought these whales so close to shore is hunting. The shoreline is home to lots of pinniped species that use the slopes of the rocks as places of rest.

Since there wasn’t any evidence of a successful hunt that we usually see like gulls moving in to clean up the leftovers or longer periods spent below the surface dividing up the prey, it’s more likely that this was a socialization event rather than a hunt. No matter what they were doing, it was exciting to watch them throwing their tails out of the water, showing off their white underside, and otherwise look to be having a blast in the Saanich Inlet. Looking to the hills, we could see people on the Malahat Skywalk also enjoying the view of the Killer Whales travelling by.

After spending some time with them we started the long trip home, drinking in the scenery of the Southern Gulf Islands on the way home.

Both onboard naturalists Lucy Willis and Vanessa Vereschahen captured some great photos during the tour, all of which can be viewed below.