April 22, 2025 - A mis-match of Orca Hunting & travelling throughout the Southern Gulf Islands

It’s not every day that we start our tours with some idea of where we might go, but today was special, we had heard word of a pair of orca that were seen from shore earlier in the day that headed south from Dodd Narrows. This meant that we were going to search the Islands! Lucky for us, we had all three of our boats out today so we were able to spread out to cover more ground. Two stuck to the inside of the islands, while the other had their search take them to the Strait of Georgia. The boat on the outside ended up stopping at a Steller Sea Lion haul out, while the semi-covered boat found a pod of orca hunting in Stuart Channel. Both of these scenes were full of carnage, with an unfortunate Harbour Seal the likely target for both. At Stinky Rock, it was the eagles getting to enjoy the Harbour Seal feast, while the other two boats got to see the seal suffer at the flippers of orca. With all the action, the boats on scene during the hunt quickly recognized T036A1 Tierna and T099B Holly, but it was later revealed that their travel companion wasn’t who they originally thought. There was actually only 4 orca present here, the following whales:

T036A1 Tierna ♀ (2005)
T036A1A (2022)

T037A3 Spinnaker ♂ (2013)

T099B Holly ♀ (2007)

At first, these whales seemed to be doing some target practice with a poor harbour seal, splashing out of the water in an attempt to stun their prey. With all the whales being relatively new travel companions, it’s no surprise that it didn’t go as smoothly as some hunts, with lots of misses on these attempts, although it’s hard to judge when the attempts are so spectacular! After a while, these whales finished off their hunt and started to continue their southern travels. They ended up south of Crofton when the last of our boats left them and started their searching again. It was again the semi-covered boat that spotted another group of whales, this time three whales travelling together:

T086A1 Nahanni ♀ (~2001)
T086A1B (2023)

T124A1 Bonapartes ♀ (1996)

These whales were acting a little odd, moving very quickly and with lots of directional changes. Although this made it slightly difficult to keep up with them, it also made for some amazing looks. When orca start moving very quickly they will often do what’s called porpoising. When whales porpoise they throw more of themselves out of the water. Since air is thinner than water, theres less drag, and they will be able to move much faster. This high energy movement is when the orca can reach their top speeds of about 50 km/hour! Lucky for us the whales weren’t moving that quickly today and we were able to stay alongside them for a while, getting some great looks at their eye patches and saddle patches that often stay hidden under the waves. When they were first spotted these whales were heading north, but they switched and started headed south and were continuing that way when our last boat left them. Two of the vessels continued north, but one had one last surprise in store for them. Another pod of orca! Thanks to some distinct notches on one fin that we recognized as T124A4 Sabio, it didn’t take long for us to realize it was all the T124As travelling together. That means it was the following whales:

T124A Kittiwake ♀ (1984)
T124A1A (2024)
T124A4 Sabio ♀ (2010)
T124A4A (2021)
T124A6 Kasuun ♂ (2016)
T124A7 ♀ (2021)

If you know much about the alpha-numeric naming system for orca, one of the calves in this list might be giving you some extra thought here. If T124A1A is Bonepartes’ calf, why is it listed here when we just told you that she was headed in the opposite direction of this group? Well, that little whale has a lot of speculation around it. While it was first seen travelling with Bonepartes (who is a lone female typically) it soon transitioned to travelling closer to Sabio. Then, when Bonepartes eventually left the rest of the travel alone again, the calf was left behind. This calf also looked to be in poor condition when it was travelling with Bonepartes, but started to look better when Sabio took over it’s care. While we will likely never know who the real mother is, it seems like T124A1A will be sticking with Sabio now! We even speculated that the strange behaviour from Bonepartes and crew was due to the presence of this other group of whales.

After some time was spent with the T124As, this boat also had to point back home. We were all thrilled returning to Nanaimo with the amazing wildlife encounters we had today. We got to witness a wide range of behaviour from the whales, in a variety of conditions. Please enjoy all the great images captured by the onboard Marine Naturalists Aly Kolhman, Rodrigo Menezes, and Val Watson throughout the tour!

Juvenile Bald Eagle flying overhead. Photo by Val Watson.

Bald Eagles eating a Harbour Seal at Stinky Rocks. Photo by Val Watson.

Bald Eagle tearing into their meal. Photo by Val Watson.

A confused looking Bald Eagle. Photo by Val Watson.

Spinnaker’s tail in the air with (likely) T036A1 Tierna on the left and T099B Holly on the right. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

One of the girls trying to hit the seal with their tail. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A big splash from one of the whales during the hunt. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T099B Holly lunging at the Harbour Seal. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T036A1 Tierna’s tails with the Harbour Seal running in front of it! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T099B Holly with a big exhale as she worked hard during the hunt. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

The Seal looking scared with the two orca beside it. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T036A1 Tierna doing a tail lob. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T099B Holly with another attempt to hit the Harbour Seal with her tail. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T036A1 Tierna with a tail slap. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T036A1A lunging during the hunt. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Whale watchers onboard Keta with T037A3 Spinnaker surfacing nearby. Engines were off, and it looks closer than it is thanks to lens compression! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T036A1 Tierna chasing the Harbour Seal that’s doing it’s best to run away. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T036A1 Tierna with her tail in the air, T037A3 Spinnaker, and T036A1A. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T037A3 Spinnaker doing a tail lob during the hunt. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T036A1 Tierna surfacing. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T099B holly diving behind T037A3 Spinnaker. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

The downside of a telephoto lens, showing the details of T037A3 Spinnaker’s saddle patch. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T037A3 Spinnaker with water falling off his dorsal fin. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

A very detailed look at T037A3 Spinnaker’s back. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T037A3 Spinnaker with his tail in the air with T036A1 Tierna beside him. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T036A1 Tierna with her tail in the air. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

Whale Watchers onboard Kula. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T037A3 Spinnker showing off his eye patch. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T099B Holly surfacing. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

Whale watchers on Cascadia enjoying their time with the whales. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

You can see rake marks on T036A1A’s dorsal fin. Photo by Val Watson.

T036A1A surfacing in front of T037A3 Spinnaker. Photo by Val Watson.

T099B Holly surfacing. Photo by Val Watson.

T036A1A, T099B Holly, T037A3 Spinnaker, and T036A1 Tierna surfacing together. Photo by Val Watson.

T036A1A and T037A3 Spinnaker. Photo by Val Watson.

T036A1 Tierna. Photo by Val Watson.

T086A1 Nahanni surfacing just in front of T124A1 Bonepartes. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T124A1 Bonepartes about to break the water just in front of T086A1 Nahanni. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

This scarring on the saddle patch is how we identify T086A1 Nahanni. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T124A1 Bonepartes (back) and T086A1 Nahanni (front) surfacing together. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

T086A1B surfacing with Cascadia in the background. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

T086A Nahanni surfacing just behind T124A1 Bonepartes. Photo by Val Watson.

T086A1B porpoising through the water. Photo by Val Watson.

T086A1B following behind mom, T086A1 Nahanni. Photo by Val Watson.

From left to right: T086A1B, T086A1 Nahanni, and T124A1 Bonepartes. Photo by Val Watson.

T086A1B porpoising behind mom, T086A1 Nahanni. Photo by Val Watson.

Rhinoceros Auklets floating by. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Rhinoceros Auklets. Photo by Val Watson.

Harbour Seals on the rocks. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

Some very happy Harbour Seals in the sun. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

Harbour Seals happy in banana pose. Photo by Val Watson.

T124A6, T124A Kittiwake, and T124A1A surfacing together. Photo by Val Watson.

T124A4 Sabio with a backlit blow. Photo by Val Watson.

A beautiful photo of T124A6 and T124A7 together, with mom, T124A Kittiwake hidden behind them. Photo by Val Watson.

A family photo with the T124As. Photo by Val Watson.

T124A4 Sabio’s beautiful backlit blow. Photo by Val Watson.

T124A4A surfacing just behind mom. Photo by Val Watson.

Steller’s Sea Lions looking at us with interest. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

You can really see the size difference with this adult male in the middle of the photo! Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Steller Sea Lions fighting at Stinky. Photo by Val Watson.

California Sea Lions on the log booms at Harmac. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes.

A sleepy looking California Sea Lion. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

Bonnie the Bald Eagle panting in the heat while she is likely sitting on her egg. Photo by Aly Kohlman.

A Bald Eagle watching from the branch. Photo by Aly Kohlman.