May 24, 2024 - An odd group of Orca - where was everyone else?
It was a wet and wild day out in the Salish Sea! We pushed off the dock and out into the Strait of Georgia where we enthusiastically began scanning the waves for signs of whales. When the waves are fairly high it can make it a bit harder to spot our whales as sometimes those waves create splashes that fool us! Even the staff who have been doing this for many years will occasionally pull us over for a false alarm! When we have a lot of motion in the ocean it can also make debris such as logs look like they are swimming. We had to be extra vigilant today, but our hard work paid off, and we spotted some fins in the distance! The Transient orca we found today were:
T019 Nootka ♀ (~1965)
T049A3 Nat ♂ (2011)
T049A5 Nebula ♀ (2017)
We had what we could call a mini T-party happening near Sechelt as we arrived on scene. A T-party occurs when we have multiple matrilines of Transient orca gathered to socialize. In this case, we had Nootka who normally travels with her son Galiano glued to her side, a bit strange to spot her without him. We also noted that Nat and Nebula, a brother and sister pair, were with her, without their usual pod members.
This was interesting to us because Nebula and her brother Neptune are often side by side cruising the Salish Sea together. Where was everyone else?
The matrilines are made up of the matriarch who runs the show and then her offspring stay by her side in theory their entire lives. Scanning around we spotted a large fin in the distance, who we assumed must have been Galiano. We were unable to confirm this ID, though, because he was very far away from the rest of the group.
Although we did not spot the rest of the T049As we can assume they were off in the distance still within earshot of each other.
The T049As are an odd pod that doesn’t follow the “stick with mom their entire lives” rule. Nan the matriarch has 6 children, most of whom travel with her. However, Jude her second-born son is a bit of a loner and travels on his own. Noah, her first-born son is usually following behind his family, coming together when he pleases, and then departing for short adventures by himself. This is an interesting pod as most males are huge momma’s boys, with mom favouring the first-born son.
Maybe Nan got sick of raising so many kids and kicked the boys out! It is often the females who will branch off from their matrilines once they have had a few children of their own to become matriarchs themselves. This strange mix of Orca always keeps us guessing - it’s like a giant soap opera in our own backyard! Keep up with our sightings blogs to see who we spot them with next time!
Photos taken by Marine Naturalist Val Watson.
T049A5 Nebula with T019 Nootka surfacing behind her. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A3 Nat, his dorsal fin is sprouting! Photo by Val Watson.
This time T049A5 Nebula is following T019 Nootka. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A3 Nat. Photo by Val Watson.
T019 Nootka. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A3 Nat, he’s Nan’s 3rd son! Photo by Val Watson.
T019 Nootka surfacing in front of T049A3 Nat. Photo by Val Watson.
T019 Nootka with T049A3 Nat. Photo by Val Watson.
T019 Nootka and T049A5 Nebula picking up speed. Photo by Val Watson.
T019 Nootka in front with T049A5 Nebula in tow. Photo by Val Watson.
T019 Nootka. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A5 Nebula with T019 Nootka just poking out. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A5 Nebula. Photo by Val Watson.
T019 Nootka with an aggressive surface showing off her scaring. Photo by Val Watson.
Our open vessel Cascadia! Photo by Val Watson.