We left the Nanaimo Harbour on the morning of August 2nd in our usual search for whales. Every single day is a fresh start in the Salish Sea since all the animals are constantly on the move. One of our most asked questions, when people are thinking about coming out with us, is: how do you know where the whales are? The easiest answer to that question is simple: we don’t!

The whales here don’t have any trackers attached to them and they don’t have any certain areas where they will always be hanging out. Instead, every day we have to go out and visually search for them. Luckily all the different whale-watching companies in the area work together, so the boats spread out and start searching!

The large whales like the humpbacks can be spotted from quite the distance by their large blows which can reach up to 5m in height and can be seen from up to a mile or so away! When they go to dive they become even more noticeable when they arch their large bodies creating a noticeable “lump” on the water. As they follow through with this dive sometimes their large tail flukes lift from the water to provide even more downwards drive. These tails are even bigger than their blows, getting up to 5.5 meters wide!

For our orca, since they’re a bit smaller they can be trickier to find on the water. They are about half the size of a humpback whale and with smaller lungs, produce a smaller blow. Although still usually the first part of the orca you can spot, it won’t be from the same distance as a humpback. The orca will also have their large dorsal fins which can help in spotting, especially if there is a large male present. The dorsal fins of females and juvenile orca are anywhere between 1-4 feet tall but an adult male will have a dorsal fin that is about 6 feet tall! Our orca also tend to travel in pods between 1-9 individuals which helps to spot them. Our humpbacks are usually solitary or travelling in pairs.

Even though we had all these techniques for finding whales and our eyes peeled, we didn't end up getting lucky this morning. There was plenty of other wildlife to see though! We saw seals, sea lions, bald eagles, and plenty of cormorants during the trip. There is also a ton of beautiful scenery along the way so even when there isn’t whales you get a beautiful experience in the Salish Sea. And, the best part? You get to do it again for free! Each guest who joins a whale watching tour with us and doesn’t find whales will receive a voucher that can be used again at any time to come out with us again for free, hopefully with more whales involved!

Please enjoy the photos of the wildlife seen throughout the tour taken by our Marine Naturalists Cheyenne and Vanessa below.