June 10, 2023, 10:30am - Hunting with the T100s in the Strait of Georgia
It was an overcast and brisk day we set sail in search of whales! We began our search northbound, looping out into the Strait of Georgia, scanning the horizon as we went in search of blows, dorsals, or flukes. Afterwards we turned back and started journeying southbound. We passed by Nanaimo and entered Dodd Narrows, a beautiful narrow waterway close to our home port. From there our boats split up to cover as much ground as possible with our Semi-Covered boat sticking close to the shoreline and our Open boat staying further out in Trincomali Channel. While we didn’t find anything inside the Gulf Islands today, we hadn’t given up hope! Our boats crossed out into the Strait of Georgia through Porlier Pass and once again split up to continue our search.
Our boats zig-zagged across the Strait, scanning and scanning as they went. After taking a couple shorts breaks they decided to turn back Northbound and look up the outer coastline of the Gulf Islands. Our Zodiac took a quick pit stop at “Stinky Rocks” - a small group of rocky islands off of Valdez’s coastline. Many sea lions go to these rocks to haul out. In other words, it’s a great place for them to nap and grumble at each other. Most of the sea lions seen here are Steller sea lions, but there is usually a handful of smaller California sea lions that like to snooze away there days here as well.
After visiting our sleepy pinnipeds we caught word of an orca sighting nearby and we were off again! We quickly crossed the Strait to see a small pod of orca hunting. These 3 were identified as the T100s:
T100 Hutchins ♀ (1979)
T100C Laurel ♂ (2002)
T100F Estrella (2014)
It seems like Harbour Porpoise was the food choice today, as the trio quickly chased their prey down. Very soon after we arrived there were tell-tale signs of a successful hunt: a large red spot had appeared on the surface of the water, and a very excited Laurel spyhopped (brought his head up and out of the water). Spyhopping sometimes occurs after a hunt as a form of celebration - think of it as the whale equivalent to being excited that a meal is ready.
Besides the spot on the water and Laurel’s spyhop, another interesting thing was spotted: their meal’s lungs were seen floating at the surface! While we are unsure why this occurs, every year we end up seeing one or two sets of lungs bobbing along. Apparently Laurel was not going to let any of the meal go to waste today, as he quickly swam over and nabbed the last bits for himself.
The T100s are an interesting pod. They used to have 4 members travelling together, but the middle child, T100E Tharaya, has been travelling elsewhere lately. The last time we saw Tharaya she was in a large T-party in Howe Sound on February 12th. Hutchins’ oldest living daughter, T100B Freya, was also in this T-party along with her two children. Was Tharaya visiting her sister and nieces/nephews? Or was it just a chance meetup? Either way, we hope Tharaya is doing well, and we hope we are able to see her again soon!
Once our time with the orca was up we turned and continued adventuring around. Our Zodiac had a quick stop with one more surprise whale close to where the orca were originally spotted. This little whale was being quite tricky to watch and was fluking very quickly, but we were able to get a clear enough photo to ID this individual as BCY0523’s 2023 calf!
After departing the whales we turned around and started making our way back to home port, after another successful day of adventuring on the Salish Sea!
Please note: Some of the photos below show the remains of the hunt. Viewer discretion is advised!
Please enjoy these photos taken by Marine Naturalists Cheyenne Brewster and Des Poier below!
Some cute harbour Seals on the rocks. Photo by Des Poier.
A large male Steller Sea Lion towering over the smaller ones at the Haul-out. Photo by Des Poier.
Did you know that Male Steller Sea Lions can weigh 2800 pounds! Photo by Des Poier.
It looked like this sea lion was waving to us! Photo by Des Poier.
Stinky Steve taking a nap. Photo by Des Poier.
Some lovely starfish. Photo by Des Poier.
T100C Laurel. Photo by Des Poier.
Lungs floating in the water. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Can you see the lungs in T100C Laurel’s mouth? Photo by Des Poier.
T100F Estrella doing a fast surface during the hunt. Photo by Des Poier.
T100C Laurel has an interesting shape to the tip of his dorsal fin. Photo by Des Poier.
T100C Laurel going for a dive during the hunt! Photo by Des Poier.
T100F Estrella surfacing in the waves. Photo by Des Poier.
T100 Hutchins has a small notch at the top of her dorsal. Photo by Des Poier.
T100C Laurel. Photo by Des Poier.
T100C Laurel with his very distinct dorsal fin. Photo by Des Poier.
T100 Hutchins surfacing in the Strait. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
T100C Laurel surfacing in the Strait. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
T100C Laurel surfacing in the Strait. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
This arch in their back indicated readying for a dive. Photo by Des Poier.
BCY0523 calf 2023’s tail dipping below the surface of the wave as they dive. Photo by Des Poier.
BCY0523 calf 2023’s dorsal fin! Photo by Des Poier.
The underside of BCY0523 calf 2023’s tail flukes. That dark spot is a good ID feature for them. Photo by Des Poier.
BCY0523 calf 2023 going for a dive! Photo by Des Poier.