It was another beautiful, sunny morning as we left the dock in search of whales. It was a bit windy today, so we decided to head into the Southern Gulf Islands to start our day. We cruised through the islands and out of Gabriola Pass. Here we got to visit one of our favourite spots we like to call “Stinky Rocks”. This is a popular spot on our tours, and always a fan favourite. We often get to see a large variety of animals and today was no different! There were harbour seals with their brand-new pups, steller sea lions and even bald eagles. After hanging out with our feathered and furry friends, some of our boats decided to try our luck in the Strait. It was a little bumpy out there but we often have great success finding humpbacks in the Georgia Strait. Today however our passengers just enjoyed the waves before we headed back into the sheltered waters of the Southern Gulf Islands, this is where we found the T101 family.

T101 Reef ♀ (≤1969)
T101A Rush ♂ (1993)
T101B Lagoon ♂ (1997)

This small family of 3 adult orcas were spread out and zig-zagging around Stuart Channel. Often times when Bigg’s orca are hunting they will spread out to cover more ground as they are considered stealth hunters. Orca are the largest members of the dolphin family and therefore have the incredible ability to echolocate. Echolocation is where the animal emits short frequency bursts towards an object or animal and listens for the returning echo. This often helps them navigate their environment and hunt. Because Bigg’s orca hunt other animals with fantastic hearing, we find that they often hunt silently so as not to give themselves away. As the family travelled along, suddenly Reef and Lagoon stopped and started circling, with Rush quickly joining them. We believe Reef (mom) may have found and successfully hunted a harbour seal because the family got together shortly after we saw a harbour seal head poking out of the water.

The other thing that clued us into the fact a hunt had likely occurred was a radical behaviour change. Lagoon, the youngest member of the family, spy-hopped and then all 3 whales took off! All 3 whales started porpoising, which is a behaviour where whales travel close to the surface of the water and jump out for breaths while moving at a high speed. Rush (the oldest brother) was roughly a kilometre ahead of Lagoon and Reef as they chased after him, reaching speeds of close to 20 KM/Hr. This went on for a significant amount of time. This family is usually pretty consistent with their behaviour, so it was incredibly fascinating to watch something different from them today! Because food sharing is so crucial to Orca pods, all three of them would have shared the seal amongst themselves. Our naturalists believe that Rush may have taken a bigger portion and taken off, causing the other two to chase behind him at high speeds. They could have also had a burst of energy after their little snack, and wanted to burn some off. Either way, we can’t be sure of the reason for their behaviour today, but we sure have fun speculating!

We finished the day stopping at the Gabriola Bluffs where we saw cormorants at their nesting site. We were also lucky enough to see the most underrated bird, the magnificent turkey vulture!

Photos by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Des Poier, and Vanessa Vereschahen.

July 14, 2024, 10:30 am - Orca Off to the Races!

© Vancouver Island Whale Watch 2018-2024. All Rights Reserved.