October 18th - Nike, Jackson, Frankenstein, and Kappa!

Venturing out into the Strait is always exciting because you never know who you will find, where they will be or what they will be doing.

Our boats traveled south through the strait, spread out scouting for whales. One of them spotted a blow near Porlier Pass and alerted the other boat. As our first boat arrived on scene they came to a stop and shut down while they waited for the Humpback to reappear. Anytime you’re watching humpbacks it’s a good idea to turn off your boat, just in case. Humpbacks will surface without warning and sometimes get pretty close, so to avoid potentially injuring them, and to reduce noise impacts, it’s better to play it safe.

Nike and Jackson. Photo by Rebeka Pirker

We waited to see where our humpback would surface, and we didn’t have to wait long. A large bumpy nose broke the surface, followed by a loud exhale as our whale reappeared. We were even more excited to see a second whale appear beside them. It’s always a nice surprised when you stop for one and end up with 2.
As they dove for a second time we got to see a tiny sliver of a tail, and were able to ID one of the whales as Jackson. Jackson has a beautiful white tail covered in little black spots, so he isn’t very difficult to ID.

Here’s a side by side comparison of the same whale. When Jackson first dove after we showed up he didn’t lift his tail high and he was facing the wrong direction. But if you look closely at the first photo you can see that black line on the right side of his fluke. It’s much clearer on the photo on the right. That mark alone helped us ID him.

Nike starting his inspection of the boat. Photo by Brad Farrow

Shortly after they went down they reappeared, right next to the boat! The motors still off, we slowly raised them out of the water while Jackson circled around the back about 50 feet away, while his friend floated next to the boat. rolling on his side to watch the people cooing and cheering above. This second whale turned out to be Nike, a whale known for doing this sort of behaviour. Nike likes to inspect the boats and play with them, but we aren’t sure why. Some whales in the Salish Sea seem to enjoy the boats, some are indifferent and some keep their distance. Maybe Nike is an attention hog and enjoys hearing people cheering in excitement.

Nike continued to roll next to our boat, a few times angling his head and exhaling on everyone, covering them in fresh whale blow! Jackson wasn’t too impressed and circled at a distance before deciding to head out on his own while Nike continued his inspection.

Whale blow showers! They don’t smell the nicest but they are worth it. Photo by Brad Farrow

Our second vessel decided to travel with Jackson after arriving on scene while the first boat remained hostage until Nike moved off. Nike eventually did get bored with the boat and headed out to do some feeding. Once Nike was a safe distance from the boat they were able to lower the motors again and after a few more flukes from Nike they headed off to find more wildlife.

On the way back to the harbour we spotted 2 more whales near Thrasher Rock, just south of Gabriola Island. These 2 whales were Kappa, a confirmed female who had a calf last year, and Frankenstein, a confirmer male. There were traveling at a steady pace heading north, just like Jackson had done when he left Nike. Maybe there was a Humpback meeting in the North they were late for.

Kappa and Frankenstein. Photo by Rebeka Pirker

After leaving Kappa and Frankenstein the boats went to find Seals and Sea lions. The Sea Lions have almost all returned from their summer breeding grounds. Our stellar are hanging out on Buoys near Gabriola and Porlier Pass, but have yet to take back their usually stomping grounds on Entrance Island. Meanwhile, the California Sea Lions have reclaimed the log booms near Harmac and have been joined by a number of large Stellar Sea Lion males.

Enjoy the rest of the photos taken today by Marine Naturalists Brad Farrow and Rebeka Pirker.

Nike diving behind the boat. Photo by Brad Farrow

Kappa and Frankenstein were tough to ID, because they didn’t life their tails often. In fact, these dives were the only time they did. We had one chance to get a photo, and while Frankenstein lifted his tail nice and high for us, Kappa rolled hers at the surface, so we didn’t get a good look at it. However, both of these whales have unique markings along the top edge, or trailing edge, of their flukes and that helped us to match them to our catalogs and figure out who they were. All the spots and scars really come in handy when IDing Humpbacks on the water.

Sealions always look like they just got caught doing something they shouldn’t. Photo by Brad Farrow

Jilann LechnerOctober 21, 2021Comment