July 21st 10:30 - So many humpback whales on our morning tour!
All three of boats set off the dock in Nanaimo Harbour at 10:30am on July 21st and split up to see what kind of incredible wildlife we could find today. It was less than an hour when one member of the fleet located a group of about 3 humpback whales, including a mom and calf pair!
Adult humpbacks typically travel and feed solo, but a mom and her calf will stay together mostly side by side for the first year of the calf’s life. The calf roughly doubles in size in the first year and is constantly feeding on mom’s rich, fatty milk. Calves are born down south in the warm waters of Hawaii or Mexico, and when mom judges the new blubber layer to be thick enough and the calf to be strong enough, they make an incredible migration together up north to the feeding grounds. By the time we get to meet the calf in the Salish Sea it is an excellent swimmer that is about the size of our boat!
Associated with this mom and calf pair was a familiar humpback whale named “Checkmate”. We’ve seen this humpback a couple of times over the month, interacting with other whales or hanging out on its own. Another whale in the area was identified as “Mammoth” for the elephant-looking markings on the left side of the fluke. The friendships between adult humpback whales in our waters is still a huge mystery to us!
These whales were mostly milling about while we were with them, but they also showed off some of their more social behaviours such as pectoral slaps and breaching. Seeing a giant whale breach never ceases to amaze anyone onboard! It happens so unexpectedly that unfortunately none of our naturalists were able to capture a photo of the display.
Check out the photos of the humpback whales, seals, and sea lions taken by our marine naturalists Rebeka and Ryan!
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
The fluke of Checkmate. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Humpback whale Mammoth. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Checkmate. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
A sea lion itching its butt! Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
A mom protecting her seal pup. Photo by Rebeka Pirker.
Checkmate! Photo by Ryan Uslu.
Photo by Ryan Uslu.
Photo by Ryan Uslu.
Photo by Ryan Uslu.
Photo by Ryan Uslu.
Photo by Ryan Uslu.
Photo by Ryan Uslu.
Photo by Ryan Uslu.