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T46s and T124s Salish Sea Biggs Orca
Today was an odd one. To begin with, after so many days of knowing where I was going before leaving the dock, today I did not know. We began searching for the multiple pods of Salish Sea Biggs Orca. Pods that have been blessing us daily with their presence. I headed north up the channel to Spieden Island and got a look at a few critters. Our tour had Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, imported Mouflon Sheep, and Pigeon Guillemot. We then went west towards Sidney, BC. After crossing Haro Strait, I started weaving in and out of the islands looking for blows and fins.
Orca Spotted Near Cowichan Bay
I was not having any luck, though. So, we were headed down to see a few humpback whales south of Victoria in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Just before reaching Discovery Island I heard a report of Orca near Sannich Inlet. I spun the boat around and sped back up towards Sidney. We zipped past the Sidney waterfront and rounded into Sattelite Channel heading west.
The pod had headed towards Cowichan Bay. By the time I caught up to them, their direction of travel had changed. They were now going north up into Sansum Narrows, inside of Salt Spring Island.
As we arrived on the scene, they made a kill and started enjoying a little snack among themselves.
We saw the T46s, the T124s, and T124C. Three large males, consisting of T46D, T46E, and T124C. The male 46D has a couple of jags near the top of his dorsal fin. 46E has a single notch halfway up on his dorsal fin.
Our matriarch for this pod has a notch near the top, and a scallop shape missing near the bottom third of her dorsal fin. The other male 124C has a notch at the upper third of his dorsal fin.
We did not have Casper, T46B1B in this group. Nor did we see her mother T46B1. This group of T46s is related, though. T46 is Casper’s great-grandmother. Click on the link here if you would like to see a blog post with pics of the white whale I refer to as Casper.
The Young Ones
The young ones are enchanting to watch as they lunge out of the water with all their extra energy and light body weight. These whales are a genuinely splendid bunch of Salish Sea Biggs Orca to be viewing. I stayed as long as we could. It was a long trip back with a bit of rough water slowing us down. As a result, the next tour would be late. Once we arrived dockside, I learned that the next tour group could not be out later than 6 pm. The whales were traveling further away from us. Sill, I could get them to the orca but not be back by 6 pm. Because of the distance, it would have needed to be an extended tour like the first. As a result, they rescheduled, and we will take them out in the days ahead.
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