The weather was grey but our spirits were high as we started the day with three boats leaving the dock in search of whales, and it didn’t take us long to find them. Thanks to a land sighting, we were able to locate a group of Transient Killer Whales just north of Neck Point, only fifteen minutes from home! In the group we had matriarch, Nan, and four of her children.

T049A Nan ♀ (1986)
T049A3 Nat ♂ (2011)
T049A4 Neptune ♂ (2014)
T049A5 Nebula ♀ (2017)
T049A6 Charlie II ♂ (2022)

We travelled south alongside them until there was a flurry of activity just off the coast of Saysutshun Island. All of a sudden the family members were moving in different directions and aggressively surfacing, common behaviours to see when our orca are hunting. After only a few minutes and with one final wave of Charlie II’s tail, the family resumed their travel south. We didn’t see any evidence of a successful hunt but either way, this would have been a great learning opportunity for the younger whales within the group.

At thirty-eight years old, Nan is a prolific mother having produced six calves, all of which are doing well. In the wild, female orca typically go through puberty and start producing calves when they’re around 12 - 15 years old. With a gestation period of between 15 and 18 months, we typically see them produce a calf every 3 to 5 years. Orca are also one of the few animals to go through menopause, which usually takes place in their fourties. With the big 4 - 0 fast approaching for Nan, do we think we’ll see any more calves from her? It would seem she may already think there are enough mouths to feed in her family, with eldest sons T049A1 Noah (2001), and T049A2 Jude (2007) breaking away from the rest of the family to travel solo instead, we joke Nan may have kicked them out to fend for themselves. Hopefully, we’ll enjoy speculating about this family’s dynamics for many more years to come, we can’t wait to see what’s next for Nan!

After our time was up with the Transients, there was still plenty for us to explore. We were close to Gabriola Bluffs, an area where there’s always so much to see. The bluffs provide a nesting site for both Pelagic and Double-Crested Cormorants. This also makes it a great spot for some of the larger bird species, with eagles treating the nesting site as their own personal buffet and Turkey Vultures picking off the unlucky fledglings that don’t make it. That’s nature for you! Two eagles we’ve affectionately nicknamed Bonnie and Clyde return to their nest nearby each year, and we’re happy to say we’ve been able to see the newest addition to their family on our recent tours.

We then passed Harmac Mill, where California Sea Lions were resting on the log booms, before heading south through Dodd Narrows. We weaved our way around the gulf islands then headed out between Gabriola Island and Valdes Island towards the Strait of Georgia. Here, we paid a visit to Stinky Rocks, a popular haul-out spot for Stellar Sea Lions and Harbour Seals. Along the coast of Valdes Island we could see a number of both adult and juvenile Bald Eagles. It’s always great to see so many of them when not too long ago, the population was suffering due to the use of DDT. This commonly used pesticide caused a catastrophic decline in the species during the 20th century but thankfully, since its ban in the 1970s, the eagles seem to be recovering well.

We started making our way back north towards Nanaimo, scanning the Strait along the way but the humpbacks remained elusive today. Overall, it was a great day getting to see so much wildlife and we returned to the dock happy!

Naturalists Vanessa Verechahen, Des Poier and Hayleigh Hilbert got some amazing photos of the day, which can be viewed below.