July 11th 10:30 - A nice morning with two humpback whales, lots of pinnipeds, and seabirds!

On the morning of July 11th our boat Cascadia headed north from Nanaimo towards a report of a humpback. They found one milling around Blueback Beach, a popular sandy beach in northern Nanaimo. This whale was doing deeps dives, most likely searching for food such as bait fish and krill deep in the water column. Humpback whales are baleen whales, so instead of teeth they have long pieces of baleen hanging in their mouths that’s made out of the same material as our finger nails! They use this baleen to filter out small prey when they ingest mouthfuls of water!

After spending some time with this whale Cascadia headed to Thrasher rock, along the Southeast side of Gabriola Island. Here they encountered a familiar fluke, that of humpback whale “Snoopy” (BCY0770)! Snoopy was traveling in the Strait of Georgia and showed off its unique fluke many times for our guests to enjoy!

We also visited a sea lion haul out where some of the last sea lions of the season were resting lazily on the rocks. A year round resident, the harbour seals, also made an appearance along the intertidal zone!

Along the Gabriola bluffs we visited with the cormorants, a heron, and seagull, and seastars. It was a wildlife packed tour yet again!

Here are some of the best photos taken that tour by marine naturalist Rebeka Pirker: