While we run two tours a day until mid-September, the light at the end of the evening is usually our limiting factor time-wise. However, that means we often get incredible sunset tours this time of year, and this tour was especially spectacular tonight. We had three boats out this afternoon, and we headed south down through the Gulf Islands to see if we could pick up a northbound group of Orca we saw earlier that morning. We were in luck! Today’s pod was the T023s and consists of the following members:

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

This family was very casually on their way north, travelling leisurely through the calm waters. Orca pods are renowned for their matrilineal social structures, which are pivotal to their social organization and survival. These pods are led by a matriarch, typically the oldest and most experienced female, who plays a central role in guiding and maintaining group cohesion. This matriarchal system ensures the transfer of crucial knowledge, such as hunting techniques and navigation routes, across generations, fostering a deep sense of familial loyalty and cooperation within the pod. Once sexually mature, females may disperse from the group to start their own families. The matriarch of this pod, Janice, travels with her youngest daughter and grandchildren. Janice has had several calves and currently has an older daughter who has dispersed and started her own matriline. Males often remain with their natal pods their whole life, so young male Robin has lots of babying to look forward to! He may disperse temporarily as well once he is fully grown, but many lone males eventually return to their families after having some fun on their own. After spending some time with this family, we decided to head out to try and find some Humpbacks.

We found a couple of different humpbacks across the three boats, all of whom were incredible to watch in the fading evening sunlight. First, we came across Sherwina (BCY0961)! She is a young humpback who was first spotted in 2017 and has been confirmed to be female. Sherwina is a bit of an odd duck, as far as humpbacks go. Each year, these magnificent creatures undertake a journey that spans thousands of miles, travelling between their feeding grounds and their breeding sites. Our waters here in the Salish Sea have an abundance of food for the humpbacks because they are so rich in the nutrients that smaller schooling fish seek out. Returning to us in early spring, humpbacks flock here to spend the summer months feeding as much as they can before embarking on the long journey back to the breeding grounds in the much warmer waters of Hawaii and Baja Mexico. Usually, Humpback populations travel the same route, always returning to the same waters their mothers would have brought them, a phenomenon called site fidelity. Sherwina is from the Hawaiian population, choosing to spend her time in the breeding grounds there in the winter. However, her feeding ground preference is unusual, as she splits her time between feeding here in BC and down in California! Usually, these are two separate populations of animals, but Miss Sherwina clearly loves to switch it up on us!

We also spent some time with two other humpbacks, Prowler (BCX1660) and Slice (BCX1057 calf 2021). It was lovely to watch the flukes from the humpbacks as the water started turning pink, mirroring the spectacular sunset. We rounded out the tour by checking out some pinniped friends, as all the animals were bathed in a lovely evening glow. The Harbour Seals and Steller Sea Lions are always a crowd favourite! We got to see some bird species as well, with the Cormorants fanning their wings on the gentle evening breeze as White-winged Scoters flew past.

On the trip home, we ran into the T023s again, much closer to home this time! We stayed for a few minutes to get some photos of the dorsals as they glided through fire-coloured waters, and although we could have stayed all night, it was time to head home. A fantastic sunset cruise showing the best the Salish Sea has to offer! Check out the incredible pictures from the day, taken by onboard naturalists Aly Kohlman, Vanessa Vereschahen, and Val Watson.

September 7, 2024, 3:30 pm - A double stuffed afternoon, spending time with Orca and Humpbacks!

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