July 10th - Orcas and Humpbacks around Belle Chains!

Today we spotted lots of different whales! On our morning trip we visited the T65A’s as well as a Harbour Porpoise! Fingers (T65A) and her pod were playing around the Pender Bluffs with lots of rolling and breaching! Naturalist Natalie captured some beautiful family shots as they were playing in the mists.

Family photo. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

In the afternoon, Divot and Mammoth the humpbacks were spotted popping up East of Belle Chains. We also visited the T65A’s again, who were travelling with a few other orcas! Each humpback is ID’d by getting a picture of the underside of their fluke (tail) and comparing it to our catalogues. The underside of the fluke is as unique as a fingerprint for our humpbacks, letting us ID individuals due to unique colouring or scars on each fluke!

Humpback fluke. Photo by Jilann Lechner Campbell (3:30).

Backwards breach by baby T65A6. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

Playing around. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

Tail action! Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

Fingers (T65A), Ooxjaa (T65A2), Amira (T65A3), Ellifrit (T65A4), Elsie (T65A5), and calf T65A6 were having a whale of a time as you can see this morning. Lots of action from the pod as they socialized and travelled around looking for their next meal. Divot and Mammoth were busily looking for food as well, but humpbacks tend to be a bit more laid back while they ‘hunt’. Our Transient orcas are apex predators that mainly feed on harbour seals. Our humpbacks are filter feeders, so to feed they open their mouths and sieve large amounts of water and small creatures like krill or small schooling fish through their baleen.

Photo by Jilann Lechner Campbell (10:30).

Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).

Come join us for your own chance to spot Orcas or Humpbacks! Call us at 250-667-5177 to book over the phone or continue on this website to book online! We hope to see you out on the waters with us!