October 8, 2023 - Snoopy, Bullet, and BCX1965 in the Strait, and Exploring the Gulf Islands
It was a lovely, although slightly breezy, day as we had three boats leave the harbour in search of whales. Two of our vessels headed south to the protected waters of the Southern Gulf Island, while one decided they would brave the waves and search out in the Strait of Georgia. Fortune favours the bold, as the boat which ventured out into the rougher weather ended up seeing an unmistakable sight on the horizon, the blows of a humpback whale! It wasn’t just a single whale they had stumbled across, but they had found a pair. Once they decided to show off their tail, we quickly recognized Snoopy (BCY0770) travelling with Bullet (BCX1658). These two were doing what you would expect from a humpback whale, moving slowly in and out of the water breathing, before lifting their tails to go for deeper dives before starting the cycle over again.
Once they spent some time with this whale, they started the journey back towards Nanaimo, but on the way they ended up finding another whale in their path, BCX1965! This whale was a little bit more interesting, giving a couple of extra flicks to their tail before continuing with its dives.
The other two boats weren’t as fruitful in their search, only finding pinnipeds hiding within the Southern Gulf Islands. They were pretty great to look at though, with the large Steller Sea Lions and slightly smaller California Sea Lions fighting amongst themselves and sunning themselves on the log booms that were their home for the day. Not to worry, all our guests on the boats who didn’t find whales will get to try again for free anytime they want!
Photos by Marine Naturalists Cheyenne Brewster, Des Poier, and Aly Kohlman are all below for you to enjoy!
BCY0770 Snoopy has a very round dorsal fin. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
BCX1658 Bullet - her dorsal fin is very flat on the top. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
BCY0770 Snoopy has a new gash along the top of his fluke, making in possible to ID him from top fluke photos! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
The underside of BCY0770 Snoopy’s fluke. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
BCX1658 Bullet’s fluke. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
BCX1658 Bullet on the left and BCY0770 Snoopy on the right. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
BCX1658 Bullet’s top fluke. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A tailflick from BCX1965. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
BCX1965’s dorsal - this whale has a lot of scarring all over its body. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
Going for a dive! Photo by Aly Kohlman.
BCX1965 - while their fluke is relatively plain, they do have a couple of big markings on the bottom edge of their right fluke. Photo by Aly Kohlman.
A small colony of Harbour seals checking us out. Photo by Des Poier.
It looks like someone got into a fight! Photo by Des Poier.
A trio of sleepy California sea lions. Photo by Des Poier.
The side eye was strong with this guy. Photo by Des Poier.
Sea lion fur can look very different when it is wet vs. when it is dry. This guy was half-dry half-wet! Photo by Des Poier.
Move over!! Photo by Des Poier.
Ha I win! Photo by Des Poier.
A big itchy Steller sea lion. Photo by Des Poier.
Fighting amongst the sea lions is very common. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster.
A Cormorant stretching its wings. Photo by Des Poier.
A small colony of Cormorants on the rocks. Photo by Des Poier.
Our Cormorants creeping along the Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Des Poier.
A Bald Eagle watches the waters in search of lunch. Photo by Aly Kohlman.