September 5, 2024, 10:30 am - The T002Cs and T075Bs were hanging out, and 4 humpback whales!
We started the day without any reports, but we didn’t let that get us down as our two vessels headed out into the Salish Sea to start their search! It was the open boat that was able to find the first group of whales. We could quickly ID them as a group of transient orca; the T002Cs and T075Bs were still travelling together.
T002C Tasu ♀ (1989)
T002C1 Rocky ♂ (2002)
T002C3 Lucy ♀ (2011)
T002C5 (2020)
T075B Pebbles ♀ (1995)
T075B2 Jasper ♀ (2015)
T075B3 Rubble ♂ (2017)
T075B4 (2021)
When pods of Biggs orca interact it’s typically a positive thing. Orca are very social animals and have close-knit relationships with others, so when they meet up, they are usually happy about it. It not only means a chance to socialize with orca outside your own family group, but sometimes we think it means catching up with an old friend. This may explain why Tasu and Pebbles have been spending so much time together lately, they are pretty close in age. Maybe they have been friends for a long time. Or maybe they are swapping parenting tips? Or maybe Pebbles is more interested in spending time with the strapping young male Rocky instead? We love to speculate! Unfortunately for us, these types of interactions can be hard to research and get any solid answers on since talking to the whales isn’t feasible so we can’t know for sure what is happening with them. No matter why they are travelling together, we do love to see this group of whales. There is something here for everyone, with lots of whales for a group of biggs, a large adult male present, and a youngster, with T075B4 only being 3 years old. Theoretically at 35 and 29 Tasu and Pebbles are still reproductive and could be producing more offspring before they go through menopause, so there may be even more bouncing babies in this group the next time they decide to spend time together!
While one boat was watching the orca, the other found a pair of humpback whales travelling together. One of them we were able to ID as Professor X (BCX1965) but the other remains a mystery. The easiest way to identify a humpback is by looking at the underside of their tail flukes. You can classify a humpback into X, Y, or Z types by seeing how much of the underside of their tail has white pigmentation to it. X will be less than 20%, Y is between 20-80%, and Z is more than 80%. Professor X is an X-type whale, with only a few markings that distinguish him. Most notably, he has a white “X” shaped scar on the bottom of his right fluke which he is named for! The other humpback didn’t cooperate and show off their tail. Sometimes you can use their Dorsal Fins to ID them, but so far we haven’t had luck with this whale. We’ve seen them a few other times, but in none of our encounters have they lifted their tail for us to get a positive ID on! We will be sure to update it here if we do figure it out! Soon this boat went to join in watching the orca, and the other boat headed out on their own humpback quest.
Soon enough they also found a pair of whales, this time being Zephyr (BCZ0414) and her 2024 calf! Zephyr is a Z whale, meaning that the majority of her tail flukes are white, although she didn’t show her tail off much for us today to prove it! We know that this calf has a very similar pattern to their fluke that Zephyr does which should make it interesting to see them returning to our area as the years go on! Z whales are quite rare, so having new additions with so much white is always exciting for us!
Finally, our whale time was up with both of the species today. Both boats headed over to “Stinky Rock” to get a look at the Steller Sea Lions as well as the Harbour Seals that were using the rocky shoreline as their bed. They are both pinniped species, but they are vastly different in their size and behaviour. It’s great seeing the two so close together for comparison! After Stinky Rock, we made the journey back to the harbour and finished off the tour. It was a great morning spent with all the various wildlife, and our onboard marine naturalists got some amazing photos of everything we saw today! The photos by Aly Kohman and Hayleigh Hilbert can be enjoyed below!
Our Unknown’s dorsal fin. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Professor X’s dorsal fin. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
The underside of Professor X’s tail. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
The mystery humpback going for a dive. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T002C Tasu, T075B Pebbles, and T002C3 Lucy. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T002C3 Lucy and T002C1 Rocky. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T002C1 Rocky is a big boy. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T002C Tasu has a lot of scarring on her saddle patch. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T002C1 Rocky surfacing in the waves. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T002C1 Rocky also has a lot of saddle patch scarring. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
T002C1 Rocky plowing through the water. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
T075B3 Rubble surfacing in the waves. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
T075B4 surfacing beside mom. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
T002C1 Rocky has an impressive dorsal fin. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
T002C Tasu showing off her eye patch. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
T002C3 Lucy surfacing. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
T075B Pebbles in the middle of T075B2 Fifi and her youngest. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
T075B3 Rubble creating their own little wave. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Zephyr’s dorsal fin. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Zephyr’s 2024 calf’s dorsal fin. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Zephyr and her calf surfacing together. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Zephyr just barely showing off the underside of her tail. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Look at the size difference in these two Steller Sea Lions! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
An itchy Steller Sea Lion. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
It doesn’t look very comfortable for these Harbour Seals. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A juvenile Rhinoceros Auklet floating by the whales. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.