September 10th - Humpbacks in the Strait and a T-Party in Howe Sound!

It was a flat calm morning when Cascadia left the dock in search of whales. It wasn’t even an hour later that our guests were in the beautiful Strait of Georgia with two adult humpback whales. The Strait of Georgia is an approximately 240km long basin that separates Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands from the mainland and is home to an abundance of wildlife. We’ve been so fortunate to encounter humpbacks whales in the Strait consistently throughout this season.

Humpback whales KEX0023 “Mammoth” and “Tempest” were being very active at the surface, showing off their giant pectoral fins, trumpeting loudly, and even breaching! We don’t know for certain why whales breach, but it is theorized that it could be to slough dead skin and parasites off of their bodies, because it’s fun, and/or to make a loud noise for communication. For whatever reason these two were doing it on September 10th, guests were thrilled to see it!

In the afternoon our boat saw some shy humpback whales before heading further to Howe Sound after reports of a T-Party came in. Multiple pods of transient killer whales joining together to socialize and travel is nicknamed a T-Party, and is certainly one of our staff’s favourite occasions!

Putting on a show for us were killer whale pods the T123s, T90, T02C, and T2C2 plus potentially more! We were treated to tail slaps and back breaches, as well as a hunt. Here are some of the best photos taken by marine naturalist Cheyenne Brewster.