Today we left the harbour and headed north looking for some whales near Nanoose Bay. We found Flotsam and Jetsam, the Alaskan brothers near Craig Bay. These brothers were being their normal selves, sleepily travelling northwards. These brothers never seem to be in a hurry, always taking their time, which can make for some great photos as they surface slowly through the waters.

These two brothers are earning themselves a place in our most frequently seen whales this year, with their distinct notches and huge dorsal fins commonly being seen during our tours. In previous years it was more common to only see them for one or two trips all year as they passed through but this time it seems like they want to stay around for a while. No complaints about that here!

After departing scene from the two orca we headed out and saw all three of our pinniped species; Harbour Seals, Steller Sea lions, and California Sea Lions as we stopped at Entrance Island. These pinniped species are another common sight, and even more so since the lighthouse keeper changed a few months ago. Since entrance island is one of the last manned lighthouses here in BC there are two lighthouse keepers who switch off shifts every 6 months. Both these lighthouse keepers seem to have dogs, but the one on the island right now doesn’t mind having the seals and sea lions around. The Other dog likes to bark at them and watch them jump into the water!

We also stopped at the Gabriola Bluffs to see our nesting cormorants whose eggs should begin hatching in the coming weeks!

Here are some photos of the morning tour taken by marine naturalists Cheyenne Brewster and Janine Van Der Linden.

Continue below to read about the afternoon tour.

Kula, VIWW, Vancouver Island Whale Watch, Nanaimo — Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

Nanaimo, VIWW, Flotsam, Jetsam, whale watching, The Alaska Boys — Photo by Cheyenne Brewster

Nanaimo, VIWW, Jetsam, whale watching — Photo by Janine Van Der Linden

Flotsam, Oceanside, Nanaimo whale watching — Photo by Janine Van Der Linden

Cascadia, VIWW, Vancouver Island Whale Watch, Nanaimo — Photo by Janine Van Der Linden

Photo of Oceanside by Janine Van Der Linden

Entrance Island, VIWW — Photo by Janine Van Der Linden

In the afternoon we travelled south looking for whales in the gulf islands. We passed through Porlier Pass and into the Strait of Georgia where we had rumours of whales being spotted earlier that day. We saw a single blow in the distance, but the whale seemed to turn into mist and disappear, so we continued our search south. We ended up finding 2 young humpbacks, Scorch and Kelpie, who were doing very deep dives of the Galiano shore. We watched the surface, take a deep breath, and disappear below the waves. These whales too seemed to vanish after that brief spotting.

After waiting to see if they would surface again, we left and headed back north, stopping to see harbour seals in the Flat Top islands, and Steller sea lions at Entrance before returning to the harbour.

Sometimes we get lucky and find our whales, and sometimes we don’t. Then there are trips like this, where yes, we did find our whales but didn’t get to spend the time with them we wanted. We know how disheartening it can be to catch a single glimpse of a whale, and even though our guests technically saw a whale today, we know it wasn’t what they had hoped, and it wasn’t what we had hoped either, so our guests this afternoon all received vouchers for a chance to come out again and see whales in the future.

Enjoy the photos taken during the afternoons trip by marine naturalist Cheyenne Brewster

Vancouver Island Whale Watch, Scorch — Photo of Scorch.

May 25th - Alaskan brothers in the morning and HB's in the afternoon

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