October 21st - BCX0745 makes an appearance!

We had a very unique encounter on the 21st, as we finally start to see seasonal weather return things are getting a bit cooler on the water, but the whales are still here and so we head out to find them!

We encountered a single humpback today across the strait near Gibsons. This whale is known only as BCX0745 , and according to Happy Whale, has never been seen in the Salish Sea. The sightings of this whale date all the way back to 1982 in Hawaii, making this humpback at least 40 years old!
While most of their sightings come from Hawaii, in 2020 this whale decided to travel over to Mexico for a visit. They only have 2 other sightings reported at feeding grounds, once in Alaska and once off Haida Gawaii. We aren’t sure exactly what brought our new whale to the area but it’s very exciting to see new fins choosing to visit the Salish Sea.
Hopefully, our friend here will return in the coming years and decide the Salish Sea is their new favourite spot.

All the photos today were taken by marine naturalist Vanessa Vereschahen.

We travelled back across the Strait to find some harbour seals lounging on the rocks and the California and Steller sea lions on the logs outside Harmac pulp mill.