October 8th - Hanging out with 4 humpback whales - Big Momma and friend, Snoopy, and Graze!

Another rainy morning in downtown Nanaimo but our passengers didn’t let affect their moods. Everyone bundled up in their warm cozy suits and pushed off the dock at 11am with high spirits. It didn’t take long for excitement to arise. Two humpbacks had been found near Halibut Bank, nice and close to Nanaimo!

Cascadia throttled ahead towards the report but were interrupted by humpback whale blows of their own! Humpbacks Big Momma (BCY0324) and friend were only 4 or so miles from the other humpbacks and our guests got to see this big great-great grandma whale milling, logging, and lunge feeding in the Strait of Georgia.

We weren’t seeing much fluke action so decided to head on over to visit with the other two humpback whales nearby. Humpbacks Snoopy (KEY0013/CS425) and Graze (BCY0523) treated our guests to quite the show as they traveled, rolled, and dove all around our boat.

We are certainly being spoiled for humpbacks in the Strait of Georgia, but we are definitely not complaining! Here are some of the best photos taken by marine naturalist Val Watson during the tour. We are still running daily tours at 11am, so if a humpback is on your bucket list, now is the time to book!

Big Momma and friend traveling under some heavy clouds

A waterfall coming off of Snoopy the whale’s fluke

Stunning flluke shot of Snoopy! Fluke shots help us to identify humpback whales and help local NGOs like www.ketacoastalconservation.org monitor the growing population we have here in the Salish Sea

Graze’s nickname comes from these scars it got from a predator - likely a killer whale

Jilann LechnerOctober 10, 20181 Comment