June 20, 2024, 3:30pm - A Motley Crew of whales

Unbeknownst to our guests, leaving the dock today we already had a plan in play. We sped across the Georgia Strait towards the Sunshine Coast where we met up with the T023 family who are better known as “The Motley Crew”. They’ve been given this name after several members of the family were named after rockstars like matriarch T023 Janice (after Janice Joplin). Janice travels with her youngest daughter Axle and Axle’s 3 children.

T023 Janice ♀ (≤1964)
T023D Axle ♀ (1993)
T023D3 Robin ♂ (2012)
T023D4 Sixx ♀ (2015)
T023D5 (2019)

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

T086A3 Tyndall ♀ (2011)
T086A3A (2024)

T071B1 Zengo ♀ (2013)
T071B2 Tasli ♂ (2018)

Our semi-covered vessel Kula also spent a short time with the T123s, T086A3s, T071B1 and T071B2. While there are no whales named after rockstars in this group, they may have been the real motley crew! Tyndall recently had her first calf at the same time that her mother Eider had a calf and her sister Nahanni had a calf! That’s a lot of brand-new calves in a single family and we suspect that Tyndall might have been pushed out of the group (possibly temporarily). Tyndall has sought companionship with Zengo and Tasli, 2 young whales that should still be with their own mother Hood. Zengo is of an age where she could start having calves of her own soon and seems to enjoy hanging around Tyndall’s new calf.

The most surprising whale in this hodgepodge of whales is Tasli. While there is no rules and every whale has their own personality, typically we see male orca stay with their moms their entire lives. Tasli is not only a male, but a young one at that being only 6 years old. So it’s interesting that he is not travelling with his mother right now. But that’s not even the most interesting thing about Tasli. He’s developed the nickname “Nemo” because he’s actually missing an entire pectoral fin! It’s believed that he was born this way and from what we’ve seen it’s done nothing to dampen his adventurous spirit.

We started making our way back across the Strait towards Nanaimo but we weren’t quite done with our whales yet! Our captain spotted 3 humpbacks in the distance. They ended up being CRC-21677, Valiant (BCX1773) and Dalmatian (BCY0994). Having Valiant and Dalmatian together was an interesting find as they spent a couple of months together last year as well. There’s still so much to be learned about humpbacks and the way they socialize but we would like to think that these 2 whales are friends and enjoy hanging out together.

We were also lucky enough on this tour to see Steller sea lions, harbour seals and bald eagles. Getting to see so much wildlife in a single tour is always a treat for our guests and for our crew as well!

Photos for this trip were taken by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman and Lucy Willis.

We can ID our orca by looking at their eyepatch, this whale is T023 Janice. Photo by Aly Kohlman

T023D5 who is the youngest member of the family. Photo by Aly Kohlman

The largest whale in this family is T023D3 Robin. He is currently going through orca puberty and his dorsal fin will be 6 feet tall one day! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Matriarch Janice surfacing. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Stanley is a full grown male, one day maybe Robin will be this big! Photo by Aly Kohlman

Tyndall’s tiny new calf T086A3A. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Stanley is named after Stanley park in Vancouver. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Another way to identify our orca is by looking at their dorsal fin. The notch on Janice’s dorsal fin makes her very easy to ID. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Valiant about to go for a dive. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Dalmatian showing off their beautiful fluke. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Valiant was attacked by orca as a calf. They still bear the scars from it today. Photo by Aly Kohlman

CRC-21677 is a young whale. They have yet to receive a BC ID or a name. What would you name this whale? Photo by Lucy Willis.

Dalmatian fluking in front of Kula. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Steller sea lions noticing the boat. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Did you know that sea lions are closely related to bears? If you had any doubts, just look at those teeth!! Photo by Lucy Willis.

Steller sea lion relaxing on the buoy. Photo by Aly Kohlman

A harbour seal enjoying the cool water on a warm day. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Look at well our harbour seals blend into their surrounding. Photo by Aly Kohlman

A bald eagle sitting on a cormorant nest. Photo by Lucy Willis.

An eaglet we’ve dubbed “Greyson” in their nest. Photo by Lucy Willis.

A bald eagle flying. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Bald eagles don’t get that white head and tail until around 5 years old. Photo by Aly Kohlman

Cormorants at their nest. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Jilann LechnerJune 20, 2024WhalesComment