July 1st 3:30 - Cirque and calf, Noah, Judy, and the T46B's!
Kula and Cascadia left the harbour at 3:30, eager to see if Cirque and her calf had stuck around after we had left them nearly 4 hours earlier. It took a few extra minutes, but we spotted the calf going for a dive closer to Entrance Island. When they resurfaced we had to wonder if they had any energy left after the morning splash party, or if these 2 would be doing lazy dives and napping in the afternoon sun.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
We were not disappointed when, shortly after stopping, the calf rose from the water in a breach! Usually when humpbacks breach they do it more than once, so we got our cameras ready and held our breath. Sure enough, this calf was trying to fly this afternoon, as they breached again, and again and again. We counted about 8 breaches in total! We know their Latin names means “Big-winged” but maybe someone should tell them they can’t actually fly.
Animation by Rebeka Pirker.
The little calf was all to excited to play in the sun today, and their energy never let up. Look how big that splash is!
Animation by Rebeka Pirker.
Animation by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
After leaving our leaping humpbacks we stopped by entrance island to see some Stellar sea lions, before continuing through to the flat top islands. Along the way we got a call that their were 2 orcas in the gulf islands, so we hurried over to see if we could find them. We found T49A1, Noah, and younger brother T49A2, Judy/Jude cruising past Thetis island.
After leaving the brother duo we headed for the harbour, but we got stopped coming through Dodd’s Narrows by a surprise pod of orcas! The T46Bs were cruising north past Mudge island, so we stopped to watch them playing around the tankers near Harmac.
Check out the rest of the photos our marine naturalists Cheyenne and Rebeka got during our tour below:
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
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.