July 19th - Yogi the humpback in the Strait of Georgia!

On July 19th our boats Keta and Cascadia set out into some gorgeous sunshine in search of whales. After hours of searching through many beautiful inlets and channels, unfortunately our morning tours didn't find anything, but they still got to see some rowdy sea lions and some adorable harbour seals. 

Some Steller Sea Lions hanging out on a buoy at Gabriola Reef. Photo by Alanna Vivani.

Harbour seals hauled out on the rocks. Look at how cute they are! Photo by Alanna Vivani

During the afternoon rumours started surfacing about a humpback whale in the Strait of Georgia, near Bowen Island. Late afternoon a whale watching boat from Vancouver found this humpback and saved the day for our afternoon guests!

Yogi the humpback with his huge fluke coming up out of the water. Photo by Alanna Vivani 

Yogi (BCY0409) the humpback whale had been found feeding in the deep waters of the Strait. Yogi is a mature whale who has been seen many years in our waters. Yogi got its name because of the white bear-like face that can be seen on the underside of its fluke. The pattern of a humpback whales fluke remains relatively unchanged throughout its life, allowing us to use this Yogi bear trait to monitor this whale through the seasons. 

The underside of Yogi's fluke. Can you see the face? Photo by Alanna Vivani

It's mid July and we are still seeing so many humpbacks?! Traditionally humpbacks would be further north by now or at least the majority of "our whales" would be. This must be a new record for how many humpback whales have been seen in the Salish Sea in July! 

Gif of a humpback showing off its fluke going down for a deep dive. Photos by Alanna Vivani.

Our humpback whale encounters are being logged carefully to help local NGO's like Keta Coastal Conservation research the comeback of this incredible species. We love humpback whale research so much we even named our new boat Keta! 

Final fluke from Yogi. Photo by Alanna Vivani

There are still is plenty of summer left to get a whale adventure in. We are running tours daily at 10:30am and 3:30pm and it is WHALE SEASON!