May 30, 2024 - Humpbacks by Lantzville, orca by Bowen Island, and orca close to home!

It was a nice sunny day today as all three of our boats headed out into the Strait of Georgia in search of whales. There have been a lot of humpback whales returning to this area from their breeding grounds in Hawaii and Baja.
It didn’t take long for Kula, our Semi-covered vessel, to find two humpbacks identified as Ocular (BCX1705), and Ghost (BCX1333) travelling together. Ocular has some very distinctive scarring around the base of its tail from an old entanglement.

Humpback whales can lack spatial awareness and are very prone to getting entangled in lines and old fishing gear. Even though our waters may look beautiful and blue, there can be a lot of ropes, lines, and nets hanging out in the water. These nets are known as ghost nets and can wrap themselves around humpbacks. Flukes, fins, and even a humpback whale's whole body can get wrapped in lines. These can cut into a whale’s skin and leave them with serious injuries. Once they are free of the net, those injuries leave scars for a lifetime. About 50% of the humpbacks here in British Columbia have survived an entanglement, and a lot of those humpbacks still have scars and nicks from the lines.

If you ever encounter an entangled whale, do not try to free it yourself. Contact professionals to come and help the whale. In British Columbia, the Marine Mammal Incident Reporting Hotline is 1-800-465-4336.

After watching Ocular and Ghost for a bit we continued on our search. Shortly after we found an odd group of Transient orca travelling together:

T123 Sidney ♀ (~1985)
T123A Stanley ♂ (2000)
T123C Lucky ♀ (2012)
T123D Darcy ♀ (2018)

T086A1 Nahanni ♀ (~2001)
T086A1B (2023)

We didn’t stick with this group for very long as they quickly travelled about. The T123s are a regularly seen pod for us, but we haven’t seen T086A1 Nahanni for a bit! Nahanni and her calf rarely travel with their original matriline anymore. Lately, this duo has been travelling with the T124Ds as well as one other misfit whale - T124A1 Bonapartes.
Bonapartes has been getting a bit of controversy lately. It is believed that she had her first calf this year, designated T124A1A, but since its initial sighting, it has rarely been seen by her side. T124A1A has instead been seen travelling almost exclusively with Bonapartes’ sister, T124A4 Sabio. There’s a lot of speculation as to what could have happened. Maybe Bonapartes wasn’t able to produce enough milk for the little one, so her sister took on the mother role? Maybe T124A1A should actually be designated T124A4B because it is Sabio’s second child, and it was originally misidentified? While we do not know for sure, we are hoping that one day through DNA technology we will be able to find out whose baby this adorable little one is!

While Kula was travelling with those humpbacks and surprise orca, our Zodiacs were elsewhere continuing the search for other whales. While we searched around a lot today, our whales end up being quite close to home - right at Dodd Narrows! Because none of our whales are tagged, we never know where they will go day-to-day, and this was a perfect example of that! The whales crossing through the Narrows were identified as the T124As:

T124A Kittiwake ♀ (1984)
T124A4 Sabio ♀ (2010)
T124A4A ♀ (2021)
T124A6 Kasuun ♂ (2016)
T124A7 ♀ (2021)
T124A1A (2024)

There’s that odd little calf we mentioned above! T124A1A continued to travel close to T124A4 Sabio as well as T124A4A during our encounter. These whales were quickly travelling through Northumberland channel and heading northbound up the coast of Vancouver Island as we observed them.

Besides the whales, we also had some pit stops to see Harbour seals, Steller sea lions, California sea lions, and many different bird species. You never know what you’ll see from day to day, and today we saw nearly every species we can see on our tours, leading to another excellent day exploring the Salish Sea!

Photos by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Vanessa Vereschahen, and Hayleigh Hilbert.

Ocular (BCX1705) going down for a dive. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Ocular has some pretty gnarly entanglement scarring on his fluke! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Another shot of Ocular’s fluke, going on a dive. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Look at those nostrils! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Entanglement causes long term damage to our gentle giants. Photo by Aly Kohlman

The terrific twosome! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Ghost goes on a dive beside Ocular. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Ocular has a distinctive notch in their dorsal, making it useful for IDing. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Ghost shows off her fluke! Photo by Aly Kohlman

T086A1 Nahanni in front. T123 Sidney and her oldest son, T123A Stanley travel behind her. Photo by Aly Kohlman

The T124As travelling together. Left to right: T124A4A, T124A1A, T124A4 Sabio, T124A Kittiwake (back), and T124A7 (front/eyepatch). Photo by Aly Kohlman

One of the youngsters comes up for a breath. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T124A4 Sabio glides through the water with a tugboat nearby. Photo by Aly Kohlman

From left to right: T124A4 Sabio, T124A1A (2024), and T124A4A (2021). Photo by Aly Kohlman

Very young whales are orange until about a year old! Photo by Aly Kohlman

T124A Kittiwake has some fresh scars that appear to be healing well. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T124A7 (2021) travelling alongside T124A Kittiwake. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Little one was very active! Photo by Aly Kohlman

T124A1A comes up for a quick breath behind T124A4. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T124A Kittiwake. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

T124A4 Sabio out for a cruise. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

T124A1A comes up for a breath with T124A4 Sabio and T124A6 Kasuun. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Little calf T124A1A surfacing. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

T124A4A ahead of T124A4 Sabio. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Two youngsters come up for a quick breath. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Some very curious Harbour Seals pose for a picture. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Some sleepy California Sea Lions. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Look at this massive male Steller Sea Lion! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Hanging out in the surf! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Some very impressive teeth on this guy! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

A Steller Sea Lion glamour shot. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Basking in the sun- King of the Rock! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Momma Bald Eagle keeps a watchful eye over her nest. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

A juvenile Bald Eagle soars high. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

The Cormorants are in full nesting mode! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

A Cormorant skims the waters surface. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

A couple Steller’s Jays perch high. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

A Cormorant flies by with nesting material. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

A Great Blue Heron hangs out in the Harbour. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Kula in action! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Our open boat Cascadia finishing up at the bluffs! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen

Jilann LechnerMay 30, 2024WhalesComment