April 29, 2023: Humbpack & T65Bs | Strait of Georgia

Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023
Location: Mouth of the Strait of Georgia (between Point Roberts, US and Pentos Island, CA).
Weather: Sunny, 72 degrees Fahrenheit with 9mph winds from E
Tide: Ebb
Pods/Matrilines: CRC-16831, unknown humpback, and T65Bs
Total Whale Count: 4 orcas, 2 humpbacks
Behaviors: Traveling
Boat Count: 5 (5 whale watch boats,)

T65B Chunk with new calf (Photo by Kendra Nelson)

On the last weekend of April, we were treated to beautiful sunny weather. Orca Conservancy’s Board Secretary Kendra Nelson made a day trip down from British Columbia, Canada, to join us for a whale watch day on the water. We sailed out of Skyline Marina with Outer Island Excursions. Earlier reports from the day indicated that J Pod was somewhere around San Juan Island, so to give them plenty of space, the captain opted to travel north through Rosario Strait to look for a humpback that was reported near Point Roberts.

We arrived on scene with CRC-16831, a female humpback whale nicknamed Ocean, and spent a brief amount of time with her. Note, we last saw Ocean last summer with a large calf. During this encounter she was no longer with the calf, indicating that it is now traveling on its own. This is typical for humpbacks who are solitary travelers. A humpback calf will stay with its mother for 5 months to a year. During our time with Ocean she was displaying resting behaviors and slow travels.

After our time with Ocean, the captain started venturing West toward the Gulf Islands. Upon arriving at the scene, passengers aboard spotted a large exhale of a humpback that was quickly traveling in the opposite direction as us. We were not able to get an ID on this humpback, and it appears the reason this humpback was quickly traveling was because a pod of transient (Bigg’s) killer whales, the T65Bs, were near.

The T65Bs consist of T65B "Chunk" (female, b. 1993), T65B1 "Birdsall" (male, b. 2011), T65B2 "Nettle" (sex unknown, b. 2019), and a new calf.

The week prior to our trip on the water, the brand-new calf was first photographed and discovered. We were quite excited to see the T65Bs and the new calf, which is presumed to be the second offspring to the matriarch of the T65Bs, T65B Chunk. Researchers have not yet assigned an alphanumeric ID to the young calf, but based on the pod structure it is more likely than not that T65B is the mother, meaning the ID will be T65B3.

During our encounter with the T65Bs, they were traveling at a fairly fast pace. At one point they displayed what appeared to be a brief underwater hunt, and we speculate they caught a quick seal and then continued their travels.