February 25, 2025 - The T085s outside of Nanaimo!
After a very rainy weekend we were happy to see a patch of blue sky as our Semi-Covered boat, Kula, left the Nanaimo Harbour to search for whales! Lucky for us, we had received a shore-based report of whales not too far from us that we decided to go check out. After a short search, we spotted it, the towering black dorsal fins of an Orca travelling through the water!
After snapping some quick pictures, we identified this pod as the T085s, a relatively uncommon pod of orcas to spot in our waters. This pod consists of three members: T085 Eve, the matriarch, travelling with two of her offspring.
T085 Eve ♀ (~1977)
T085B Alison (Ali) ♂ (1995)
T085D Findlay Farenorth (2014)
These three were in travel mode as we watched, moving quickly north along the shoreline of Nanaimo, spending a few minutes under the surface of the water before emerging again. This family used to be a bit bigger, but has since lost two of its members; Zoe another male and Jasmine. As far as is known, these are Eve's only offspring. At an estimated 48 years old she will be through menopause and won’t have any more calves. Since she’s quite old, it’s possible that there were more births before they started recording it more closely, but that would only be speculation since they would have dispersed from the rest of the pod already.
We haven’t spent much time with this pod, with only three other days where they were spotted back in 2023. In all of 2024, there wasn’t a record of these whales seen, so this is the first time in a long time! We think it’s so interesting how the whales can go so long without detection. It makes sense when you think about it though, since they have a huge range travelling between the waters of Vancouver Island all the way north to Alaska and sometimes south to California. This pod in particular spend a fair amount of time in the northern section of their range, which is less populated than the southern section. With fewer people with eyes on the water, it makes sense why they might have gone undetected. No matter how they got away without being spotted, we were happy to see their fins re-emerge for us today!
After watching them for a while, it was time to let them continue on their way and we did too. The next thing we spotted on the journey was some turquoise waters close to shore. This usually indicates a Herring Spawn this time of year! The colour comes from the male fish that will broadcast their milt into the water in hopes of fertilizing the eggs that females attach to the seaweed and other outcrops of the inter and subtidal zones. Usually, a herring spawn is a very active place with all the wildlife taking advantage of this influx of fish but today there wasn’t much to be seen. We wondered if this meant that the spawn was just starting and wasn’t in full swing yet, or perhaps the water colour was coming from some unknown other reason. No matter, it was beautiful to see the unique colour in the water!
After this, we headed south toward a known Sea Lion haul-out site: Stinky Rock! This rock is named on behalf of its residents since they are constantly growling their stinky breath into the air and pooping all over the rocks leading to an even smellier experience. While watching the Steller Sea Lions, we noticed that one had a brand! With the Steller Sea Lions in the area, all the branding information is publicly available thanks to NOA! From this, we know that this is a female Sea Lion who is at least 12 years old! In 2013, she received this brand on Rouge Reef. Although the brands may look painful, once branded the cool ocean water helps them feel better and heal quickly, and they never need to be recaptured again, as we can track them from great distances from these visible brands.
Next, we continued to Porlier Pass where there were lots more sea lions spending time in the pass, but also a few Bald Eagles which were perched on the nearby marker. After watching the Bald Eagles we travelled back towards Nanaimo, passing through the channels within the Southern Gulf Islands. It was an amazing day! The onboard marine naturalist Vanessa Vereschahen captured some great photos during the tour which can be viewed below.
T085B Ali surfacing in front of a freighter.
A front on look at T085B Ali’s huge dorsal fin!
T085B Ali’s dorsal fin is probably close to 6 feet tall!
T085 Eve showing off her saddle patch as she surfaces.
T085D Findlay Farenorth surfacing with a new notch.
T085B Ali surfacing with the rocky shoreline behind.
T085D Findlay Farenorth showing off their eye patch.
T085B Ali with their blow lit up by the sun.
The whole family - T085D Findlay Farenorth, T085B Ali (back), and T085 Eve (front).
T085D Findlay Farenorth and T085B Ali surfacing together.
T085B Ali breaking the surface of the water.
T085 Eve surfacing with T085B Ali just behind her.
Family photo with T085 Eve in front, T085D Findlay Farenorth behind her, and the tip of T085B Ali’s dorsal fin just behind them.
Another family photo with the T085s.
T085 Eve surfacing.
A great look at T085B Ali.
The turquoise waters of Fillinger Park.
Another look at the Turquoise water.
A bunch of noisy Steller Sea Lions on Stinky Rock.
A fight breaking out in the waters around the rocks.
A group of surf scoters passing by in the water.
A young adult Bald Eagle.
Two Juvenile Bald Eagles.
A raft of Sea Lions in the waters of Porlier Pass.
The branded Steller Sea Lion!