October 31st - Halloween Humpback Extravaganza!
The only thing scary about this trip was the number of whales that we saw! During our tour we ended up finding a total of 11 whales! They were Sherwina and her calf, Tempest and her calf, Two spot, Uluka, Hammer, Viking, BCZ0342, MMY0168, and one unknown! That’s a whole lot of whales!
When we left the harbour we started without any reports but quickly ran into a favourite pair of ours, Sherwina and her calf! These two were travelling through the Strait of Georgia enjoying the calm weather and showing off for us at the surface a bit. After watching these guys we left and found a larger group of humpbacks travelling together: Tempest and calf, Hammer, Two Spot, and Uluka. These whales were also showing their tail flukes off and giving a good show. Tempest and her calf eventually made their away from the others and continued on their way.
When leaving these whale and starting the journey back towards the harbour we came across more whales! These whales were Viking, BCZ0342, and MMY0168! These whales were travelling along together and doing dives for their food.
Our humpbacks whales here in BC won’t be around much longer as they will usually travel down south over the winter to their breeding grounds in either Hawaii, Mexico, or South America. Out of these whales we saw today we know that Viking and Sherwina both have been seen in the Hawaiian breeding grounds while Tempest has been seen in Mexico. Typically the whales will go to the same breeding grounds year after year and return to the same feeding grounds as well, although more research is being done into this. Some whales have been recorded in both Hawaii and Mexico in different years but it isn’t very common. Sherwina is an interesting whale as well since she has switched feeding grounds between the years. She has been seen in BC in the Salish sea (where we saw her) but has also been matched to the California coast! Again, this is unusual behaviour.
All the other whales that we saw today haven’t been cross-matched to either of the breeding ground but hopefully that information will be recorded soon!
As the humpback populations around the world are recovering and more research is being done we keep learning new things and sometimes prove old theories to be wrong! Whale research is a never ending pool of interest and is why we take pride in working so closely with Humpback whale research group Keta Coastal Conservation!
After out time spent with our humpbacks we also got to see a bunch of harbour seals, bald eagles, Steller sea lions, and California sea lions! It was an amazing end to the month. Please enjoy the photos taken during the day by our marine naturalists Rebeka Pirker and Rebecca Stirling!
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
A small group of common murres. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Common murres swimming near the whales. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Viking diving behind BCZ0342. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
BCZ0342 (left) and MMY0168 (right) going for dives. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Steller’s sea lions. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Some stellers hanging out in the water. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Some surfbirds and black turnstones on the rocks. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Stellers sea lions enjoying the sun! Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Sherwinas calf! Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Sherwina and her calf! The calf is showing off her tail flukes with a wave. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Pectoral fin slap! Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
Going for a dive! Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
Hammer showing off the bottom of their tail flukes! Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
Hammer waving their tail flukes! Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
One of our humpbacks going for a dive in front of Mt. Baker. Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
A beautiful blow catching the light. Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
Sherwina(front) and her calf (back) checking out our boat! Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
Happy harbour seals. Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
Huge group of California sea lions on the log booms. Photo by Rebecca Stirling.
A California sea lion scratching an itch! Photo by Rebecca Stirling.