On August 22nd, our two open boats Keta and Cascadia set out from the Nanaimo harbour and drove towards Porlier Pass. We first dropped by some seals and some sea lions near Porlier Pass. Just East of Galiano Island, we found a humpback called Orion (BCX1251). We are able to distinguish humpbacks from each other by their flukes. Each humpback has a distinct fluke and getting a picture of their flukes while on scene allows us to tell which humpbacks we are with. Humpbacks are very common in the Salish Sea during the summer months as they migrate from Hawaii to here to feed. They feed on small animals such as krill and small fish and can eat up to 3000 pounds (1300 kg) per day! We watched Orion for about an hour before heading back. There was another humpback in this area that we saw not far from Orion, but we couldn’t get a fluke shot to be able to identify them.

In the afternoon, we had our one open boat, Cascadia out where we found 4 humpback whales just west of Roberts Creek. The humpbacks we found were Dalmation, Europa and her calf along with one unknown. These humpbacks were circling around feeding in the area. Guests got a pretty good look at these humpbacks for the hour we spent with them.

On our way back, we dropped by some sea lions on an ODAS buoy (ocean data acquisition system). These buoys have special sensors that help them record ocean data such as oxygen sensors, sensors that measure sea conditions and sensors for more weather based information. These buoys are used for ocean research and we find sea lions on top of them quite often! This is a good spot for them to rest up and heat up.

We also found some harbour seals on snake island which is found near Nanaimo and is composed of sandstone. Harbour seals like to use this island as a haul out zone. Harbour seals like to haul out mostly at low tide for an average of 5 hours, spending only about 20% of their time on land. They sleep lightly to stay alert for predators.
Check out the pictures our naturalists Ryan and Val got below:

Ring my bell! Photo by Ryan Uslu 10:30 a.m.

Dorsal, knuckles, and finally a fluke about to emerge! Photo by Val Watson, 10:30 a.m.

Banana pose! Photo by Ryan Uslu, 3:30 p.m.

I think something’s on my back! Photo by Ryan Uslu, 3:30 p.m.

August 22nd - Humpbacks all around!

© Vancouver Island Whale Watch 2018-2024. All Rights Reserved.