All 4 of our whales today were in travel mode as they gear up for their migrations! We stopped with 3 separate sightings of humpbacks today, and our first stop was with Honu (KEY0030).

Honu hadn’t moved much since our last encounter with them 2 days prior. They were still off Entrance Island, which seems to be a hotbed for humpbacks right now. We’ve had steady sightings in this area all month and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. There must be plenty of food in the waters for these whales to finish fattening up before their 4000+km journey to Hawaii or Mexico.

After Honu we checked in on Omega (BCX1416's 2020 calf) who was just off Porlier pass. Omega is a young whale who has given us a bit of trouble when it comes to IDing them this year. We only had photos of them as a calf from 2020 to go off of, and their tail has changed dramatically since then. When a humpback calf is born they often have very hazy-looking grey/white patches on their tail. As they age those grey/white patches will either fade or brighten, so what once appeared like it would be a mostly white tail can actually end up being almost entirely black, or vise versa. This makes IDing the young ones difficult when they return, but there are usually markings present on the calves that stick around and help us ID them later. It took us a while to get used to Omegas tail this year, but now we have more up-to-date photos that we will be able to use going forward.

Our last group of the day was Two Spot (KEY0010), and Bullet (KEX0004). This pair was only a little ways from Omega and were actually travelling north, back towards Nanaimo, so we stayed with them a bit while they did. Two Spot has really been making the rounds lately. We’ve seen him with several groups of whales over the last week, and this isn’t unusual behaviour for male humpbacks, especially given the time of year. In the fall males will start to seek out females and begin trying to escort them to the breeding grounds. Many of Two Spot’s companions over the last week have been confirmed female. Two Sot is likely trying to woo the ladies as everyone prepares to head south. Today his companion is also a confirmed female, and both of them are confirmed Hawaii whales.

After hanging out with the whales we also stopped in to see some of our pinnipeds, the harbour seals are up to their usual activities of lounging on the rocks, and our sea lions have returned strong this year. They are currently enjoying plenty of Coho salmon and other tasty treats in the waters surrounding Nanaimo.

Photos today were taken by marine naturalist Aly Kohlman.

We had a surprise visit from the local river otter family on the docks again today. We haven’t been seeing them as often lately, but it’s nice to see them causing trouble in the harbour still.

October 20th - Honu, Omega, Bullet, and Two Spot in the Strait of Georgia

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