September 30th - Very active humpback whales and orcas on the way home!

Waters were calm and the air was cool as guests boarded Keta and Cascadia to start their whale watching adventure. We never know what kind of a day we’re going to have out on the water - that’s part of the beauty of being outside and seeking out wild animals!

Our boats headed into the Strait of Georgia, near Porlier Pass, where they discovered humpback whales in abundance! 3-4 animals were spread out in the area and mingling with each other. Then things got interesting. The whales started breaching, which is where they propel their entire bodies out of the water and land on their sides, creating a huge noise and splash! Definitely a crowd pleasing behaviour! The fun didn’t stop there though. The whales continued putting on a show with high energetic behaviours such as pec slaps, tail slaps, and chin slaps. Our naturalists captured so many amazing photos of these whales having fun, it was hard to pick which ones to put in the blog!

Upside down Corona running water off of the fluke. Photo by Val Watson

Corona showing off a pectoral fin! Photo by Rebeka Pirker

As if the day wasn’t already amazing, on the way back to the dock our boats picked up a pod of transient orca mid hunt! Gulls were surrounding the T037A family pod as they feasted on their marine mammal underwater. This family is the same one that was in the area the day before and it seems like they didn’t have to travel too far overnight. Matriarch T037A was swimming close to her latest calf T037A5 (born in 2019!) and her other offspring were spread out helping with the hunt. Wonderful to see intelligent, apex predators put family first!

Here are some of the best photos taken by marine naturalists Val Watson and Rebeka Pirker. We are still running tours daily at 12pm - give us a call or head to our Calendar to book!

The whales changed direction and swam right under our boats! Photo by Rebeka Pirker

Flukes are the best for helping us ID whales, but dorsals are also unique and are sometimes used to identify individuals. Photo by Rebeka Pirker

Corona showing off it’s beautiful fluke. Photo by Val Watson

Whiskers and Chins. A portrait by Rebeka Pirker

Look at all of the barnacles attached to this fin! Photo by Val Watson

From the markings on the underside of the fluke we were able to ID this whale as Fader. Photo by Val Watson

Jilann LechnerSeptember 30, 2019Comment