July 26, 2024, 3.30 pm - A hunt with the T034s and T037s and Slap-happy Scuba!

Conditions were gorgeous as our Semi-covered vessel Kula and our Open vessel Cascadia began their afternoon trip. We began the trip by cruising across the Strait of Georgia - the big body of water that separates the mainland of British Columbia from Vancouver Island. Because all of our whales are free of trackers and tags we never know where we will go from trip to trip - sometimes we get them nice and close to home, sometimes we need to go for a scenic adventure before we locate them. Today was a bit of a longer adventure but it was definitely worth it!

We scanned all the way across the Strait and didn’t see anything immediately. Suddenly, after closing in on Halibut Bank, 7 orca popped into existence! There had been no previous reports of these whales which is a perfect example of why it’s so important to always be scanning whenever you are out and about - you never know when and where you’ll spot them!

After snapping some photos these pods were identified as the T034s and T037s:

T034 Grace ♀ (≤ 1969)
T034A Pachamama ♀ (2007)
T034B Sonder ♀ (2017)

T037 Rocky III / Pizza Fin ♀ (1979)
T037B Harald ♀ (1998)
T037B1 Lance ♂ (2012)
T037B3 (2022)

The T034s and T037s were on the prowl today - literally! The two pods quickly took down a Harbour Porpoise for an early evening snack before they began celebrating the meal. They were spyhopping (bringing the front half of their bodies out of the water so they can look around), pectoral slapping (slapping the surface of the water with their side fins), as well as tail slapping (slapping the surface of the water with their tails). Meal time is very important for orca as they are very family/social focused. Whenever a group successfully completes a hunt, the catch is shared between all the individuals present instead of one single whale getting the full meal. This means each whale will get essentially an Hors d'oeuvre to tide them over until their next successful hunt. This may seem a bit odd but it works well for them!

Once our time with our orca was up we departed scene and went back into search mode to try and turn today into a double species trip! We started scanning around for the telltale sign of humpbacks - big bushy blows, big arching backs, or those billboard-sized flukes coming above the water. It didn’t take us long to find a lone humpback travelling south of Bowen Island. This whale was identified as Scuba (BCY1225)!

Sadly, Scuba has dealt with entanglement troubles in previous years - he’s known to have been entangled not once, but twice! The scarring along his peduncle and around the base of his flukes is a testament to these encounters. He was able to disentangle himself successfully both times but it is always a distressing time to learn about our beloved gentle giants suffering. Thankfully there are trained professionals to step in and help disentangle whales as needed, such as with Smoke recently who was entangled in prawn gear.

Scuba with a large notch in his peduncle due to a previous entanglement. Large nodules of scar tissue can also be seen at the base of his flukes. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Scuba must have had a nice full belly today as they were breaching, tail lobbing, and pec slapping away. This time of the year is precious for our humpbacks as they are busily packing on the pounds to prepare for their annual migration. While Scuba has not been crossmatched to a breeding ground yet, his mother Zig Zag goes to Hawaii so it is highly likely that he will return there as well. Generally, calves will always return to their natal breeding grounds, however, that has begun to change a bit in recent years. We have had a few individuals who have now been crossmatched to Hawaii and Mexico. While we aren’t sure why they have changed their patterns, these whales may have started to form relationships resulting in changes in their migration routes. We are very excited to continue studying this species so that we can hopefully have a better understanding of humpback social dynamics in the future!

After visiting Scuba we ran into the T034s and T037s once again, and they did the same thing as the earlier encounter - another porpoise succumbed to these excellent hunters! At first, they were on the move, porpoising very fast and very spread out. Suddenly, another successful hunt led to even more celebrations, with even more breaching and tail slapping!
Orca must hunt very extensively every day to keep up their weight. On average each individual will need to eat 300-500 lbs. of food per day. Harbour Porpoises generally only weigh about 150 lbs. - that means for a group of 7 orca like this one, they’d need to hunt ~18-19 porpoises every single day! This is why they need to be as efficient as possible whenever they hunt - less calories burnt means less hunting they’ll need to do to catch back up on their caloric deficit!

After a thrilling adventure on the Salish Sea we began making our way back toward home port, happy and fulfilled after another amazing trip!

Please enjoy today’s photos were taken by Marine Naturalists Val Watson and Lucy Willis.

You can see the unfortunate first Harbour Porpoise that became an early dinner. Photo by Val Watson.

T034A Pachamama surfacing. Photo by Val Watson.

T034A Pachamama showing her eye patch, you can also see her eye. Photo by Val Watson.

T037B and T037B3 travelling side by side. Photo by Val Watson.

T037 Pizza Fin has a very triangular dorsal fin. Photo by Val Watson.

T034 Grace surfacing in the calm water. She has a notch about halfway down her dorsal fin. Photo by Val Watson.

T034A Pachamama spy hopping. Photo by Val Watson.

A moon jelly floating by us. Photo by Val Watson.

This tail has some damage to it! Photo by Val Watson.

The semi-covered boat watching the T034s and T037s hunt. Photo by Val Watson.

Scuba’s pectoral fin in the air. Photo by Val Watson.

Scuba’s dorsal fin. Photo by Val Watson.

A big Pec slap from Scuba. Photo by Val Watson.

Scuba bringing down his pectoral fin. Photo by Val Watson.

Scuba pec slapping with Howe Sound in the background. Photo by Val Watson.

The underside of Scuba’s tail. Photo by Val Watson.

Kula watching Scuba pec slapping away! Photo by Val Watson.

The tail end of a full jump out of the water during fast travel. Photo by Val Watson.

T037B Harald surfacing quickly. Photo by Val Watson.

This humpback whale was passed by by the fast moving orca. Photo by Val Watson.

The tail end of them hitting a poor porpoise out of the water. Photo by Val Watson.

The youngster, T037B3, breaching. Photo by Val Watson.

T037B3 finishing their breach. Photo by Val Watson.

A dorsal fin in front of Mount Baker. Photo by Val Watson.

Jilann LechnerJuly 26, 2024WhalesComment