August 9th - The week of humpbacks continues
Today our heat spell continued, and so did our humpback streak! We visited Jupiter and a companion who were travelling in the straight of Georgia near Entrance Island. During this time we saw lots of fluking, and even a few pectoral waves! We had the perfect day in the gorgeous weather as we watched these two, and on the way back to the harbour we saw harbour seals, and some cormorants and other marine birds.
One humpback whale surfacing for air, while another throws their flukes in the air before a deep dive. Photo by Alanna Vivani.
Water spilling off of the flukes of a humpback whale as it goes for a deep dive. Photo by Alanna Vivani.
Two surfacing humpbacks just they exhaled. Photo by Alanna Vivani.
When searching for humpback whales we don't look for their dorsal fins, like we would for orcas, instead we look for their massive blow. When humpback whales exhale through their blowholes, they can can cause water to rise as high as 20 feet in the air. As well, as these giants of the sea breath out, they make an amazing sound as they blow, which can be easily recognized.
Two humpbacks whales exhale through water in unison. Photo by Alanna Vivani.
As a humpback whale surfaces, we can see it's double blowhole. Photo by Alanna Vivani.
The differences between orca and humpbacks do not stop with the shape and size of their dorsal fins, their blowholes are actually entirely different. While orcas have one nostril/blowhole, humpbacks have two, just like a human! When these whales surface and open their blowholes, they exhale air rapidly, forming these amazing streams of air and vapour, as seen below. This is followed by an inhalation of water, and the whale lowering itself back beneath the waves.
A humpback whale flashing a fluke in front of the BC ferries. Photo by Alanna Vivani.
The whales were travelling near a BC ferries route. Pictured above, you can see all the ferry goers gathered at the rail to watch these two as they continued on their journey.
Photo by Alanna Vivani.
After our amazing time with the whales, we came across harbour seals at Snake Island.
Our boat undergoing four death stares and two cases of indifference from harbour seals. Photo by Alanna Vivani.