July 30th 3:30 - a T-party near Vancouver and some mom and baby humpback whales!

Our 3:30pm boats headed back out into the Salish Sea to see what the afternoon wildlife search would bring. We were not disappointed!

We traveled all of the way across the Strait of Georgia towards the city of Vancouver towards reports of killer whales. Just west of UBC, Point Grey, were a couple of pods of Bigg’s killer whales! The T037As and T137s, about 8-10 whales in total, were socializing and traveling north. We got to see a couple of spy hops, where the whale raises its head completely out of to take a look around. We also suspect by their movements that they were foraging together, searching for marine mammals such as seals and porpoises.

On the way back to port we encountered humpback whales! One boat was able to identify Zig Zag and her calf who were doing shallow dives near Gabriola Island. Another couple of our boats encountered Slate and her curious calf near Porlier. This calf has been especially interested in boats and has previously “mugged” boats - a behaviour where they come up right along the boat and interact with it. We never encourage this behaviour and we always make sure our engines are off if the whale is within 100m. Today some of our guests were treated to this special behaviour as the calf approached the boat to have a look at all of the curious faces!

Left to right: Keta (one of our Open Zodiacs) and Kula (semi-covered vessel). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

Left to right: Jack (T137A) and Volker (T37A). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster — Left to right: Jack (T137A) and Inky (T037A2). Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

Left to right: Jack (T137A), Wright (T137D), and Volker (T37A). Photo by Rebeka Pirker — Left to right: Jack (T137A), Wright (T137D), and Inky (T037A2). Photo by Rebeka Pirker

Left to right: Loon (T137), Jack (T137A), Wright (T137D) Photo by Rebeka Pirker — Left to right: Inky (T037A2), Jack (T137A), Wright (T137D) Photo by Rebeka Pirker

Loon (T137), Jack (T137A), Wright (T137D) — Inky (T037A2), Jack (T137A), Wright (T137D)

Jilann LechnerJuly 31, 2021Comment