July 21, 2024, 3:30 pm - Kidney and Stone in the Saanich Inlet.
Between tours on the 21st, we received a sighting of orca near the far south side of our range, heading into the Saanich Inlet, and decided we would try and find those whales for the tour! It was a long, but lovely, ride south, travelling with all three of our vessels through the Southern Gulf Islands until we reached the mouth of the inlet. Although it seems like it’s quite far out of the way for the orca to go, we hear about orca in the inlet quite frequently. Given all the small rocky islands and known Harbour Seal haulouts, it makes sense for them to be found here once in a while.
We headed into the Inlet, searching for the tall black dorsal fins of the orca as we went. Soon, we spotted them! As we approached it looked like there were two animals present, one male and one female, and the female had quite a few notches in her dorsal fin. This makes our life easier, as markings like this are what we use most often for ID purposes! After a quick flip through the Catalogue, we figured out it was: Kidney and Stone, a mother-son duo that we don’t see too often during our tours!
T075 Kidney ♀ (≤1971)
T075A Stone ♂ (1991)
The last time we saw these two was during our tour on June 17th, 2019! They are more frequently spotted south of hear closer to the waters of Victoria when they are spending time in the Salish Sea. Kidney is the mother of some whales that we have been seeing a lot more frequently over the last month or two; the T077s, the T075Bs, and the T075Cs! Some of these you might have guessed the relation, but T077 was old enough when cataloguing first started that she got her own number designation! At an estimated 53 years old, Kidney has gone through menopause and won’t be having any more kids. Her and Stone will most likely be stuck together until one of them passes away.
Photos by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Des Poier, and Vanessa Vereschahen.
T075 Kidney followed by her son T075A Stone! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075A Stone can you see the scratches on his dorsal fin? Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075A Stone. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Our open vessel Keta. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Our open vessel Cascadia. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075A Stone. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075A Stone with a backlit blow! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075 Kidney leading the way with T075A Stone following. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075A Stone. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T075A Stone can you spot the tip of T075 Kidneys’ dorsal? Photo by Des Poier.
T075A Stone. Photo by Des Poier.
T075A Stone. Photo by Des Poier.
T075A Stone. Photo by Des Poier.
T075A Stone in the sun. Photo by Des Poier.
T075A from behind, look at that wiggle! Photo by Des Poier.
T075 Kidney followed by T075A Stone. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T075A Stone with his mother T075 Kidney surfacing behind. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T075A Stone and T075 Kidney. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T075A Stone, can you spot T075 Kidney in the mist? Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T075A Stone with T075 Kidney surfacing just behind him. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
T075A Stone. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Our open vessel Keta looking at the Malahat Sky Walk. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A Bald Eagle perched in the trees. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Take off! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A Bald Eagle looking majestic. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Cormorants perched in the trees. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
The Malahat Sky Walk. Photo by Des Poier.
Kula with guests on the back. Photo by Des Poier.
Mom and pup Harbour Seal. Photo by Des Poier.
An Eagle soaring overhead. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A wee pup. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A Gull with their baby. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Cormorants lined up in a row. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.