August 30, 2024, 10.30 am - Tail end of a T-party and happy humpbacks!

All three of our boats pushed off the dock this morning in search of whales with our paths spread out to increase our chance of success. Two boats tucked in towards the gulf islands where the waters were protected from the wind, while one boat headed into the Strait of Georgia to brave the bigger waves. Their boldness paid off as they were the first to find whales, just in time to see the last of a T-party! Transient Killer Whales typically travel in matrilines so we usually will see a mom travelling with her children. Occasionally, multiple matrilines will gather together to socialize and we describe this as a T-party, with the T signifying they are members of the Transient ecotype. We were able to identify orca from five different families in today’s group, including:

T002C Tasu ♀ (1989)
T002C1 Rocky ♂ (2002)
T002C3 Lucy ♀ (2011)
T002C5 (2020)

T023 Janice ♀ (≤1964)
T023D Axle/Brightly ♀ (1993)
T023D3 Robin ♂ (2012)
T023D4 Sixx (2015)
T023D5 (2019)

T036 Flapjack ♀ (≤1970)
T036B Tattertip ♀ (1998)
T036B1 Bhotia ♀ (2009)
T036B2 Greenfelder ♀ (2013)
T036B4 (2024)

T075B Pebbles ♀ (1995)
T075B2 Jasper ♀ (2015)
T075B3 Rubble ♂ (2017)
T075B4 (2021)

T137A Jack ♂ (2002)
T137D Wright ♀ (2012)

Initially, the whales were moving at speed, with their bodies porpoising out of the water. Not long after we arrived, they slowed their pace and it became clear that the party was over as the families started to disperse from one another and continue on their separate ways at a more leisurely pace. At this point, our boats had to make the decision of which family they were going to stick with. We opted for travelling alongside siblings, T137A Jack and T137D Wright. Unlike the rest of the families today, these two weren’t travelling within their usual matriline. Although their mom is still around and they still travel with her the majority of the time, these two have a habit of wandering off on their own from time to time. As fathers, the male orca are very much love ‘em and leave ‘em types and are not known to spend any time with their children, however, they make excellent big brothers (/Biggs brothers) and little sister Wright is seen as the apple of Jack’s eye. We were lucky to see this dynamic duo hunting today. Although we didn’t get any photographic evidence we saw a porpoise darting through the waves with Jack in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any indication that their hunt was successful but, as they say, there are plenty more porpoises in the sea (or something along those lines).

Also in the Strait of Georgia, we were able to spend some time with a trio of Humpback Whales Nike (BCX1377), Dalmatian (BCY0994), and Taurus (BCY1080). Unlike the orca, who are in our waters all year round, the humpbacks are migratory so only spend part of the year here. They arrive around April to spend their summer eating here as British Columbia is their feeding grounds. Around October they’ll leave us to head south to spend their winters in their breeding grounds, back in either Hawaii, Mexico or Central America. All three of these whales come here from Mexico each year, maybe they’re old friends whose socializing extends across the miles. One of these whales, Nike, was feeling particularly playful and we were lucky to see some big cartwheels from him. The other two whales didn’t seem quite as energetic and Nike chose to leave them, possibly in search of someone more willing to splash around with him. Once Nike had left, Taurus and Dalmatian spent some time sleeping. The way humpbacks sleep is termed unihemispheric slow-wave sleep (USWS). As they are mammals, they need to breathe oxygen. Living in an aquatic environment means they’ve had to adapt differently to their terrestrial counterparts to continue doing this. Unlike terrestrial mammals, whose breathing is an automatic process, every breath a humpback takes is a conscious action. Because of this, they can’t shut their brain down the way terrestrial mammals do to sleep as they’d suffocate! Instead, they rest half of their brain at a time. While one half of their brain rests, the other half remains active so they can still travel, scan for danger and come up to the surface to breathe.

Whales weren’t the only wildlife we got to enjoy on today’s tour. Our boats all made a stop at Stinky Rocks, a popular haul-out site for the Stellar Sea Lions and Harbour Seals, which is not too far from where our whales were today. Of course, both of these pinnipeds are on the menu for the Transient Killer Whales. You might wonder if the whales were so close, why they didn’t stop by to browse the fast food menu? The seals and sea lions are quite intelligent, so if the orca stopped by too often they’d simply move to a different spot. The orca have to mix up where they hunt or their prey will get wise to the danger. We believe the majority of the Transient’s diet consists of the little Harbour Seals as the sea lions make a much more difficult meal; they will fight back if the orca try to eat them! The skulls of the large male stellers are incredibly similar to the skulls of Grizzly Bears so they can put up quite the fight!.

After an exciting day riding the waves, our boats made their way back to dry land. Photos from today’s trip were taken by onboard Naturalists, Val Watson, Lucy Willis and Hayleigh Hilbert and can be enjoyed below.

T137A Jack and T137D Wright travelling side by side. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

T036 Flapjack, T036B Tattertip, and T036B4 the newest member of the pod moving through the waves. Photo by Lucy Willis.

The large notch belongs to T036B1 Bhotia, making her easy to distinguish from the rest of the family. Photo by Lucy Willis.

T002C Tasu in the lead, followed by T002C1 Rocky, T023 Janice, and another. Featuring a scared seal on the rocks. Photo by Val Watson.

T002C Tasu followed by youngest, T002C5. Photo by Val Watson.

T137A Jack and a tiny seal in the background on the rocks! Photo by Val Watson.

Nike cartwheeling. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

Dalmatian's fluke. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Taurus' top fluke. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Some cute Harbour Seals on the rocks. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Lots of drool from this Adult Male Steller Sea Lion. Photo by Lucy Willis.

Some noisy looking Steller Sea Lions. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.

California Sea lions on the log booms near harmac. Photo by Val Watson.

Jilann LechnerAugust 30, 2024WhalesComment