July 29th - A double species day with humpback whales and killer whales in Nanaimo's backyard!

On July 29th we had whale soup in our backyard!

Our morning boats headed south and encountered a pod of killer whales just south of Dodd Narrows. The T90s, a pod of 4 Bigg’s orca, were traveling northbound! We got some great photos of the tight group traveling together with the beautiful scenery in the background, and some photos of the adult male’s huge dorsal fin!

After that we encountered 3 humpback whales north of Gabriola Island. Using photos of their dorsal fins and flukes we were able to identify the whales using our onboard catalogues. Two of the whales, Slate and calf, have been seen quite frequently in our area this month! The other whale with them was “Fader”, another humpback we see regularly in the Salish Sea.

After a double species day we were satisfied and homeward bound, but wait, there’s more! The pod of orca had traveled all the way INTO Nanaimo Harbour! We could see the whales from the docks and from our office, but our boats got a much better view of the T90s hunting in the Newcastle Anchorage. How special to see!

In the afternoon our boats departed again at 3:30pm and caught up with the T90s again as they were exiting back into the Strait of Georgia to continue their journey north. We watched them travel again as a close family group, in pursuit of more marine mammals to feast on.

We returned to the north end of Gabriola Island and encountered more humpback whales! We were able to identify an individual named “Poptart”, who was born in 2016. Another one of our boats was able to identify a humpback named “Niagara” and another one of our boats identified “Zig Zag” and her calf. So many humpbacks in the area!

Here are some of the best photos taken throughout the day by our marine naturalists. We are still running daily tours at both 10:30am and 3:30pm, so don’t just read about, come and join us for an adventure!

Jilann LechnerJuly 31, 20211 Comment