Two boats made their way into the Strait of Georgia this afternoon in a quest to find whales. After a little while of searching, we spotted the big, bushy blow of a Humpback Whale and headed towards it. Before we knew it, there seemed to be blows in every direction! When we have so many whales in one area, we like to refer to this as humpback soup. To avoid spending our entire tour trying to catch up to different whales, the best course of action is to pick a whale (or in this case, group of whales) and stick with them. So we did just that and began travelling alongside a pair of humpbacks who we were able to identify as Big Momma (BCY0324) and Watson/Cerulean (BCX1068calf2021).

Over the course of the last century, the population of humpbacks was decimated by the whaling industry. We suspect their numbers were reduced by around 90% and they became locally extinct in these waters. In 1970, a biologist named Roger Payne released an album titled “Songs of the Humpback Whale”. It featured recordings of humpback whales singing, a behaviour displayed by the males in order to attract the females. This album helped spawn a worldwide “Save the Whales” movement, leading to a global moratorium on commercial whaling. After almost 40 years without humpbacks in our waters, a sighting of a single whale was recorded in 1997. Ever since that sighting, we have seen more and more whales return to BC to feed. We now know that original whale was Big Momma! She has a huge lineage consisting of seven children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She is arguably the most famous whale in the Salish Sea!
As we travelled alongside Big Momma and Watson, they were joined by a third whale, Incognito (BCX2053). In typical Incognito fashion, they were being mysterious and not lifting their tail out of the water for most of our time with them. The underside of a humpback’s tail is typically their most identifiable feature. Thankfully, as our time with these whales was coming to an end, Incognito followed the lead of Big Momma and Watson and lifted their tail enough for us to identify them before we left.
Our two boats left this trio to see what other whales were around. Our semi-covered boat came across a whale lifting their tail nice and high out of the water. This whale was Olympus (BCX2075), Big Momma’s grandaughter! Our open boat was about to stop near their own whale when a guest noticed some big splashes in the distance. It was a humpback breaching! It’s always a risk to head towards a breaching humpback as often the action stops before we can catch up to them. Weighing up to 40 tonnes, every time a humpback breaches it exerts a similar amount of energy as a human would by running a marathon. Today, we decided to take the risk and it paid off, as the whale continued to leap out of the water after we arrived. Along with breaching, this whale was lifting their pectoral fins up high before bringing them down with an almighty slap on the surface of the water. Once the excitement was over, we identified this whale as Windy (BCY0893). Windy got his name after he was caught breaking wind during a close encounter with a boat.
It was soon time for both of our boats to move on. Seeing so many humpbacks is always such a pleasure, knowing not too long ago they wouldn’t have been sighted in this area at all. We really appreciate every encounter with these gentle giants.

Whales weren’t the only things we saw during our tour. Our semi-covered boat stopped by Stinky Rocks, a popular haul-out spot for the Stellar Sea Lions and Harbour Seals. Both vessels also passed by the Gabriola Bluffs which hosts a whole range of bird species! Our Naturalists, Lucy Willis and Hayleigh Hilbert, captured some excellent pictures of the tour which can be viewed below.

July 25, 2024, 3:30 pm - Blows, breaches and birds along the bluffs!

© Vancouver Island Whale Watch 2018-2024. All Rights Reserved.