We could hardly contain our excitement today as we had a shore report of Orca in our range! This would be the first time we had spotted them this month, and we had almost forgotten what they looked like at this point!
Eager to start our search, we pushed off the dock and went south toward our report, through Dodd Narrows and into the Gulf Islands. We sent all 3 vessels in slightly different directions to maximize the chance of spotting the towering dorsal fins among the surf. This is the easiest way to spot our Orca. While they do let out a blow, usually we spot the dorsal fins first, as they stand 3 to 4 feet tall on the females and a whopping 6 feet on the males!
Sometimes we may have a dry spell on Orca sightings as our Transient Orca have a massive range, and can be anywhere from Alaska to California. They also travel vast distances each day in search of food, averaging around 100 km! With such voracious appetites each Orca needs to eat around 300 pounds of food daily, so you bet they are constantly on the move!
The Orca we spent time with today is a brother and sister pair. It is assumed their mother is now deceased, as she hasn’t been seen since January of 2022, so Salix may have taken on the role of Matriarch. This duo is:

T030A Sequoia ♂ (1986)
T030C Salix ♀ (2005)

These two have a bit of a theme to their names as well! This big boy with his tall dorsal fin is named after the mighty Sequoia tree, known as the world’s largest tree. These Sequoias can reach staggering heights of over 300 feet, a fitting name if you ask us!
Salix is a species of the breathtaking Willow tree, symbolizing flexibility due to its limber branches. As we know, the Orca are incredibly agile and able to adapt and maneuver quickly in the water, just like the supple branches of the willow in the breeze.
This was also the first time as a company we have seen these two, and seeing a new pod is always exciting! It looks like this group spends a lot of time down in Victoria, and much further North, in Port McNeil and in the Hecate Strait. After watching these two for a while, our time was up, so we got right back into search mode!

Without missing a beat, a blow was spotted. This blow was lingering and appeared very smoke-like. It was the blow of our gentle giants, the Humpbacks. We had a pair of good-looking flukes hanging out together today! It was the stunning Stingray (BCZ0409) with her almost pure white tail, and graceful Geometry (BCZ0338) showing off some moves! These moves included some pec-slapping, rolling around and even a breach! These two must have had the whale zoomies today!
Meanwhile, near Entrance island, our semi-covered boat spotted some blows of their own, finding more humpbacks. This pair was scarred up Scratchy (BCY1022) with their distinct tail markings, and perky Pop Tart (BCY1014), known for popping out of the water. Our best guess is these two were most likely feeding, as it generally takes up a good portion of their time in our waters - and with good reason! These whales come to us from their breeding grounds over 4000 km, where there is little to no food for them. Once they return to us in early spring, they spend their summers here fattening up to prepare for their long journey back. What’s most astonishing is that they fast for up to 6 months over the winter, losing up to a third of their body weight. Looks like these two were feasting in our nutrient-rich Salish Sea today!

We also got to meet the most abundant and arguably the cutest members of the Salish Sea, the Harbour Seals. They were resting on the rocks, probably warming back up after hunting for fish in the chilly deep water. We then headed back to the dock to make the staff “stuck” in the office jealous of our amazing trip!

Please enjoy these photos by Marine Naturalists Hayleigh Hilbert, Vanessa Vereschahen, and Lucy Willis.

August 14, 2024, 10:30 am - The drought is over!

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