August 9th 3:30 PM - Smiley and Calf having a blast near Halibut Bank
We left the Harbour in search of the humpbacks that we saw in the Strait of Georgia during the morning trip. As we headed out to search we ended up seeing blows in the distance! They were still close to Halibut Bank, a shallow area in the Strait that causes high productivity, but once we got closer it was clear that these weren’t the same whales we had watched this morning.
Instead of the two adults we had seen earlier, this was a Cow-calf pair. After being a bit lazy for a while suddenly these two jumped into action, literally! The calf suddenly started breaching out of the water, showing off its athletic prowess as it continued to do this over 15 times! Breaching is always an amazing activity to see from our whales, but it is still a mystery as to why they do it! There are a few theories people have, to knock parasites off their skin, for long-distance communication, or in cases like this, it just seems really fun. Young whales typically will breach more than adults since they aren’t having to build their fat reserves back up. From the time they are born, they will be drinking their mother’s fat-rich milk. This milk is about 70% fat, and usually pink in colour from the krill diet of the mother humpback.
The fat-rich milk gives the calf a ton of energy, usually to put towards growth but today they used it to throw itself out of the water! It was a moment that our marine naturalist, Cheyenne Brewster was able to capture with our onboard cameras! Please enjoy all the amazing photos that are included below!
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Smiley (BCY0995) and her 2022 calf. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Smiley (BCY0995) and her 2022 calf. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Like mom, like baby - Smiley (BCY0995) and her 2022 calf. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Smiley (BCY0995)’s 2022 calf fluke! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Smiley (BCY0995)’s 2022 calf fluke! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Snoozing time. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Scritch scratch. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.