July 4th - Cirque and Calf make another appearance and the T90's stop by for an evening visit

On the morning of July 4th our boats headed to the outside of Galiano Island to spend some time with humpback whale “Cirque” and calf. These two were traveling together, mother was foraging for food, and both were pretty playful. These two have been seen frequently in our area so Cirque must be finding some good food! We got another glimpse of the calf’s unique fluke markings - check out the photo below!

We traveled around the scenic Gulf Islands and found harbour seals, oyster catchers, cormorants and other seabirds. There is always so much happening in the intertidal zone!

On our afternoon tour the boats traveled back to the Galiano Island area and encountered the transient/Big’s killer whales the T090s. This group of 4 was traveling in a tight pod and we managed to get some great photos of their unique dorsal fins and scratched up saddle patches. The conditions were great and it was a pleasure to watch this family group explore the Gulf Islands in Nanaimo’s backyard!

Here are the best photos taken on the tours by marine naturalists Brad Farrow, Rebeka Pirker, and Cheyenne Brewster. We are running daily whale watching tours out of downtown Nanaimo so book your seat now if you’d like to see some of these incredible animals!

An oyster catcher wandering the shoreline. Photo by Rebeka Pirker 10:30am tour.

Photobomb! Photo by Rebeka Pirker 10:30am tour.

Cirque’s calf’s tail. Photo by Brad Farrow 10:30am tour.

Rainblow! Photo by Rebeka Pirker 3:30pm tour.

Jilann LechnerJuly 8, 2021Comment