June 20th - Humpback whales (including the beloved Big Momma) and transient orca on the way home!

Our boats left at 330pm on Sunday June 20th and headed out into the Salish Sea in search of whales. In the Strait of Georgia they came across a mature female humpback whale who was traveling slowly in circles. She raised her fluke up high and our naturalists quickly snapped photos to get the fluke print. It was Big Momma! She is one of the first humpback whales that whale watchers started to see regularly in the Strait of Georgia and over the years she’s returned from the warm breeding grounds with many calves. Now her calves come here with their calves and teach them how to filter feed for krill and small schooling fish!

One of our boats also got lucky and had a quick sighting of two other humpback whales in the Strait. We didn’t get any flukes or stay long, but nice to know there are so many humpback whales so close to home!

After circling around Gabriola Island our boats started the return to Nanaimo, but before they made it home they encountered some transient/Bigg’s killer whales! The pod included the T86As and T124C and we watched them traveling slowly in the channel near Nanaimo.

Our marine naturalists Val Watson and Ryan Uslu managed to get some great pictures of both species so make sure to check them all out below!

We are running daily tours out of Nanaimo on both our open and semi-covered boat. Head to our bookings page to see our live schedule and secure your adventure now!

Jilann LechnerJune 23, 2021Comment