August 28th - Double Species Day!

Today we were very happy to find a group of 4 humpbacks hanging out off Thrasher Rock, not too far from the Nanaimo harbour. Divot (BCX1057), Split Fluke (BCX1068), Heather (BCY0160) and her calf were traveling slowly, and spending a lot of time near the surface.

There was plenty of tail slapping and rolling in the waves - some very social whales! This was an exciting group to watch, not just because the whales were so active, but because Heather is Split Fluke’s mom! So Split Fluke was hanging out with her mom and new brother who was born just this winter.

Humpback whales are born down south in the warm waters of Mexico and Hawaii and then the calf has just one year to learn the migration and feeding techniques from its mom. Not much is known about the mother and offspring relationship once this year is over and they separate, so it is always extra exciting for us to see them reunite on one of our tours!

After we left the humpbacks we traveled a bit further south to find a group of orcas, the T100’s, traveling and hunting in the Strait of Georgia. The T100’s are 4 killer whales: T100, her son T100C from 2002, daughter T100E from 2009, and the youngest T100F from 2014. A beautiful family pod working together to hunt marine mammals in the Salish Sea!

Here are some of the best photos taken on August 28th by your marine naturalist Ryan Uslu. We are still running daily departures at 1pm on both our open and semi-covered boats. Give us a call or head to our website to reserve your seats!

The fluke of “Heather”…. notice the “H” in the top left corner? That’s how we tell her apart!