September 21, 2023 - Humpbacks near North Nanaimo
Another fall day was upon us as we left the Nanaimo Harbour and headed out into the Salish Sea in search of whales. One of our boats was checking out the Strait of Georgia, while the other two decided to start their search down south in the Southern Gulf Islands. It wasn’t long before the adventurous boat gave us the good news, they had found whales!
All our boats went to join them there watching a pair of humpbacks closely associating while another two circles around them farther away. The two that we spent the majority of our time with were identified as Vanta (BCX1730) and Bullet (BCX1658). These two seemed to just be enjoying each other’s company as they moved in and out of the water. Vanta even had some extra energy and decided it was time for some acrobatics as they did a series of cartwheels! A cartwheel is when the whale throws its tail out of the water with some sideways motion. Just like you would think of if a human did a cartwheel but as a mermaid.
These two then continued on with their normal humpback activities, diving below the surface for a few minutes, lifting their tails high out of the water as they did so. During one of their surfaces, another two humpbacks decided to join in the party for a short while. It was Potamus (BCY0885) and her 2023 calf! Potamus gave us a good look at her tail and the calf briefly fluked too! It’s common for calves to not have the strength to lift their tail out of the water until they are a bit older, so this was an exciting sight.
In addition to these whales, we also got to see some of the other marine mammals that call the Salish Sea home including Harbour Seals, Steller Sea Lions, and California Sea Lions! Our onboard Marine Naturalists Des Poier, Vanessa Vereschahen, and Val Watson got some great photos during this trip which can be viewed below.
Vanta doing a high fluke as they prepare to dive. Photo by Des Poier.
Bullet’s unique dorsal fin. Photo by Des Poier.
Vanta’s dorsal fin. Photo by Des Poier.
Bullet diving in behind Vanta. Photo by Des Poier.
The underside of Vanta’s tail flukes which we use to ID them! Notice the pink in the waves at the base? Vanta is pooping! Photo by Des Poier.
Bullet also diving behind the red cloud of poop that was left behind by Vanta. Photo by Des Poier.
A lovely rain-blow! Photo by Des Poier.
Potamus going for a dive during her close pass by the other two. Photo by Des Poier.
Potamus’s 2023 calf diving. Photo by Des Poier.
A lovely Little Fluke from the calf! Photo by Des Poier.
Bullet (left) and Vanta (right) diving together. Photo by Des Poier.
Vanta’s Dorsal Fin. Photo by Des Poier.
Vanta diving while Bullet exhales in the background creating a blow. Photo by Des Poier.
Vanta Preparing to dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The underside of Vanta’s tail flukes again. You can see as an X-type whale there aren’t many distinguishing features. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Vanta diving again. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A great look at Bullet’s tail. We usually ID her with the small notch on the right side of her tail. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A big Steller Sea Lion hauled out with the darker California Sea Lions. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A close-up of this bug guy. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
An adorable little Harbour Seal. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
You can see how the spots help these guys camouflage. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A gull beside a cormorant, with another cormorant peeking from behind the rock. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A very itchy Sea Lion near Harmac. Photo by Val Watson.
A Steller Sea Lion on the log booms. Photo by Val Watson.
A couple of large tug boats moving in to help move the log transport ship just out of frame. Photo by Val Watson.