July 1st 10:30 - Cirque and calf and 2 unknown humpbacks off of Entrance Island

It was a busy sunny day when Cascadia and Kula left the harbour in search of whales to watch for the day.

Kula began the search by leaving the harbour, aiming to head around the north end of Gabriola Island before heading south through the straight of Georgia. They had only just made it past Snake Island when our naturalist Rebeka saw a humpback tail behind the boat. We quickly stopped and turned around to see a young humpback exhaling above the water before disappearing for a moment. They were only gone a short while before they returned to the surface with mom. We didn’t have to wait long to figure out who it was. As mom dove to find food she lifted her tail high in the air, allowing our naturalists to get a photo of her fluke. We were able to ID this whale as Cirque, one of the humpbacks we’d seen the day before. Cirque was first sighted in our region in 2017 and this year she’s back with a rambunctious little one in tow. This calf was extra excited today, and didn’t seem to be following mom on her dives. The little one would arch their back, and follow mom for a moment, but didn’t seem keen on learning today. They were back at the surface within seconds, and ready to play. Constantly doing headstands, and lifting their tail high in the sky. Swishing it back and forth, or laying on their back and slapping their pectoral fins on the waters surface.

Their active behaviour meant our naturalist Rebeka got some beautiful photos of their tail, which are very important to get in a calves first year. With this photo of their tail we will be able to ID this whale in future years as Cirques calf, allowing us to build humpback family trees and get a better glimpse into their social structures. It’s currently widely believed that humpbacks, outside of breeding season and migration, are relatively solitary animals. It’s also believed that after their first year with mom, mom and calf split up and maintain little contact afterwards. But with photo identification we can start to gather socialization data. If we know a whales family history, or at least their moms side, we can see if they are spending time with relatives during feeding seasons, and that could mean they maintain family ties after their first year.

Above is a Cirques tail, the circular markings and white striations are how we identify her on the water. Below is her calfs tail. You can see just how different these tails are, there’s no real similarities. We aren’t sure what determines a whales coloration on their tail, if its genetic or random. If it is genetic, this little one probably got it’s fathers tail!

Here Cirque is going for a deep dive, while her calf follows behind. Humpbacks, like most whales, love to be close to each other. Mom and Calf share a special bond, and they certainly don’t have the concept of personal space. Though, this youngster didn’t seem to keen on learning to fish today, as they spent most of their time at the surface, splashing and putting on a show for our boats.

Can you see the bumps on the calfs nose? Those are hair tubercles, or hair follicles. Which means, you guessed it, humpbacks have whiskers! We aren’t really sure why, but those little whiskers may be sensitive and useful in helping them find food.

After leaving the humpbacks off of Gabriola Island we headed through the gulf Islands to seek out sea lions, seals and we even found a pair of bald eagles resting beside the Harbour seals.

We are running daily tours at 10:30 and 3:30 on our open and closed boat! If you’d like a chance to see a playful humpback in the Salish Sea you can book through our website, over the phone or in person at our waterfront office.