Our morning tour started before we even left the dock when we were greeted by a group of River Otters grooming each other as we headed down to the boats. Our two open boats were soon on their way and the luck continued, we found Orca right outside of Nanaimo harbour! Today we had members of the T049A family which included Nan, and four of her six children:

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

We travelled alongside the family as they made their way past Harmac Mill. The Transient Killer Whales are our marine mammal-eating ecotype which means seals, sea lions, porpoises and even large baleen whales are some of the items on the menu for them. The California Sea Lions hanging out on the log booms didn’t seem too pleased as our whales passed by and were causing quite a commotion. They were lucky today as the whales didn’t pay any attention to them, continuing on their way. We followed the whales through Dodd Narrows where people on both Vancouver Island and Mudge Island got a great view of them from land. The family then decided to do a U-turn, heading back towards Dodd Narrows, but our time with them was up so we went to see what else we could find.

We swung by an area we’ve nicknamed Stinky Rocks where the Stellar Sea Lions like to haul out. Today the nickname was self-explanatory! We were treated to an unusual sight as one of our large males appeared to be attempting to mate. This seemed strange as typically these sea lions will head up to their breeding grounds in Alaska to undertake this activity. Upon closer inspection, it appears that the unsuspecting victim may have actually been a smaller male. It was Nanaimo Pride this weekend, maybe they just wanted to show us that nature doesn't discriminate!

From here we sped across the Strait of Georgia to catch up to some Humpback Whales that another boat had found. These whales were identified as Split Fin (BCZ0298) and Lucky (BCZ0419). They treated us to some surface time with the Vancouver skyline and Mount Baker in the background and Lucky even showed off her beautiful tail! After our time with the humpbacks, we made our way back to Nanaimo. The whales decided our tour wasn’t over as the T049As were back close to home. Not only had they escorted us out at the start of our trip, but they wanted to make sure we returned safely too. They came all the way into Nanaimo Harbour, swimming past our dock and close to Maffeo Sutton Park where activities were set up to celebrate World Ocean Day. The people in the park certainly got a great view of why it’s worth celebrating.

Since the Orca had escorted us home, it was nice and easy to pick them up again when our open boat, Keta, headed out for the afternoon tour. They had completed a loop of the harbour and were close to Snake Island. This time, the three youngest siblings, Neptune, Nebula and Charlie II, were exhibiting playful behaviour with lots of splashing around. Nan and Nat travelled alongside them, unfazed by the youngster’s shenanigans.

After our time with the family was up, we headed north in the Strait of Georgia, scanning for the nice big blows of the Humpback Whales. Our efforts did not go unrewarded as we found Coyote (BCX0837 calf 2021). Although the only recorded sightings of Coyote have been here in the Salish Sea, we think they head here to feed from Mexico as that’s where their mom’s breeding grounds are and calves show the same site fidelity as their parents. Coyote was doing short, shallow dives with lots of turning and was generally circling the same spot, which indicates to us they were likely feeding. After the long journey from Mexico where there’s little in the way of food and the humpbacks have to rely on their fat reserves, it’s no surprise this young whale was hungry. Humpbacks can actually spend up to 22 hours per day feeding when they return to the area! With a final tail slap, we said goodbye to Coyote and made our way home. What a fantastic day on the water!

The amazing photos from today’s trips were taken by the Naturalists on board: Aly Kohlman, Vanessa Vereschahen and Lucy Willis.