September 19th - Kappa and her calf off of Gabriola Reef!

On the 19th we left the harbour without any sightings for the day, but luckily for us the smoke had cleared and there wasn’t any fog so the visibility on the water was good. We managed to find a mother calf pair of humpback whales just south of Gabriola Reef! We identified these two animals as Kappa (BCX0158) and her calf from this year. Her calf is easy to recognize due to its skin condition and pointy white dorsal. We saw this pair on September 11th so their unique markings are fresh in our memories!

Humpback whales come to our cold, northern waters to filter feed on small prey such as krill, herring, and sandlance. They are huge whales, reaching 60 feet or more, but they can only swallow prey the size of a grapefruit or smaller! It takes the whole summer and early fall for these whales to build up an appropriate blubber layer to get them through their fast in the winter.

Both vessels were able to find their own juvenile bald eagles and snag some gorgeous photos that show off their mottled brown and white feathers. Eaglets are born grey and then turn a dark brown. Over their first four years they will develop more and more white feathers first on their bellies and in their wings, and then in the third year on the crown and throat. These birds don’t yet have white feathers on their crown and throat so they would likely be in their first or second year.

By the fifth year the bald eagles will have a completely white head that contrasts with a dark brown body. They never actually become bald; they were given that name because of the old English word “Balde”, meaning white. Bald eagles can have a lifespan of around 20 years and mate for life.

Here are the best photos taken by marine naturalists Val and Cheyenne.

Jilann LechnerSeptember 21, 2020Comment