Olivia Ellman | M/V Kestrel | Thursday August 14th, 2025 | 2:00 pm
Today’s afternoon trip was quite an adventure as Captain Vaun and I ventured through the Gulf Islands of British Columbia into an area we both hadn’t been to before. Since the closest whale sighting was far away when we left the dock, we zoomed in that direction. We heard news of rougher water crossing the Haro, so we took a more northern route and once we reached Turn Point we could see that the waters were not as bad as we were expecting! We continued across the border, navigating a few bigger waves and eventually passing the Sidney ferry landing and reaching the Narrows. The Salt Spring Island and Vancouver Island coastlines were so beautiful, and the weather was so much nicer in this sheltered area. We moved even further north until we finally reached a few other boats that were watching the T109A Bigg’s Killer Whale matriline! This family of six is known for traveling tight to shore and in more narrow/confined areas, so it was no surprise to see them hug the coastline and approach Maple Bay. After getting a few looks, they suddenly disappeared on a longer dive and we waited to see where they might come up in the harbor. We finally saw them surfacing again right next to some of the docks in the marina! They were slowly traveling back out, and surprised us with some tail slaps and fast movements so it appeared they had been stalking something the whole time. They circled around what was likely a harbor seal, and then continued tightly along the shoreline. It was amazing to see them hunting in this marina; I am always in awe of this family of explorers that doesn’t seem to be worried about these shallower, more crowded waters. As they continued along the coastline heading out the northern side of the bay, we slowly began our departure.
Captain Vaun and I had one last trick up our sleeves as we traveled south; earlier in the day, the famed whale T63 Chainsaw and his mom T65 had been seen together slowly moving south in this area but no boats had stayed with them. Since their last location was in our path home, we decided to slow down and scan in the hopes of getting a quick look at this pair of whales. After a few minutes, we suddenly saw a dorsal fin surface at our one o’clock not that far from us! It was easy to confirm this was Chainsaw and his mom when we saw his incredibly distinct dorsal at the surface. We got incredible looks at this duo as they traveled alongside us, remaining very predictable in their path even when on longer down times. This was such a lucky find on our way, and I was so excited to get to share another matriline with our passengers, especially such an iconic male in the Bigg’s population. Once we got a few more looks, it was time to once again depart the whales and make our way home. The waters had calmed even more on our way back, and even when it started raining a bit we still had such a fun trip this afternoon!