October 12, 2023 - Some new and some old faces - er, flukes!
It was another great day spent on the water exploring the Salish Sea. We ended up heading to a familiar place for us recently, close to Halibut Bank. This seems to be the party zone for our humpback whales lately, with large congregations forming here. We are likely seeing a bit of change in their behaviour, as we are approaching the time when they are preparing for their migration down south. The preparation for this migration started the moment they completed their trek up north to our waters. When they are further south in the more tropical waters the humpback whales won’t be feeding since there isn’t a lot of food for them down there. Instead, they go through huge changes in weight throughout the year, coming very skinny in the spring here and building up their fat reserves over the summer while they eat massive amounts of food. They will survive off of the energy stored in this fat over the winter when they migrate again.
It’s an impressive cycle that they do every year! Towards the end of their season here, when their fat reserves are much more developed, they change from focusing only on feeding and start to have more time for socializing. This is what we were lucky enough to see today, as we had four different humpback whales spending time in a group, getting up to all sorts of fascinating behaviour. The whales were Kraken/Pyramid/Monarch (BCZ0180), HW-MN0510714, Malachite (BCX1210 calf 2021) and BCY0961 calf 2021.
These whales were swimming closely together, likely being able to touch under the surface of the water. They started trumpeting at the surface, seeming to get excited in the presence of our vessels (more likely we just had good timing) and we started to see some surface activity! We saw them roll at the water’s surface, and then this excitement started to get directed towards us, and they started a behaviour known as mugging. We had all four of these whales circling around the boat, seeming curious as to what we were doing. Of course, when the whales start to get too close like this we shut our engines off and have to wait until the whales are far enough away before we start up again. This helps to prevent the risk of injury for all involved, as we don’t want to hurt the whales.
This behaviour continued for a little while before it seemed that the whales returned to being more interested in each other than us, and continued on their way. With this, our time with the whales was up and we started the return to the harbour. Along the way we ended up seeing some other wildlife, including Harbour Seals, Sea Lions, and some sea birds as well. All the photos from the day taken by Naturalists Des Poier and Vanessa Vereschahen can be viewed below!
The dorsal fins of Malachite, Kraken, and BCY0961 calf 2021. Photo by Des Poier.
The dorsal fins of HW-MN0510714 and Malachite. Photo by Des Poier.
HW-MN0510714 and Kraken swimming close together. Photo by Des Poier.
This whale creates a rainblow with the zodiac guests eagerly watching. Photo by Des Poier.
Malachite halfway through his dive. Photo by Des Poier.
The beautiful underside of Malachite’s tail flukes. Photo by Des Poier.
A very shallow fluke, but enough for us to know it’s BCY0961 calf 2021. Photo by Des Poier.
HW-MN0510714 and Kraken diving side by side. Photo by Des Poier.
The underside of HW-MN0510714’s tail flukes! Photo by Des Poier.
So much power behind one of these blows! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A gull keeping watch over us as we watch the whales. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Malachite has a lot of barnacles growing all over his tail! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
HW-MN0510714 and Kraken diving next to each other. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
One of the whales (perhaps Malachite?) swimming towards our boat. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Malachite does a side-ways surface with his tail. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Kraken lifting their tail in preparation for a dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Kraken’s tail going under the surface. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Malachite diving under the surface. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Malachite doing another side ways tail. we can tell from all of those leading edge barnacles! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Kraken lifting their tail and creating a fluke waterfall! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Malachite diving. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The Steller Sea Lions on the White Islets. Photo by Des Poier.
Two big boys cuddling on the rocks. Photo by Des Poier.
The sea lions can get curious when they notice the boats! Photo by Des Poier.
But most of the time they’re more interested in eachother. Photo by Des Poier.
Steller Sea Lions playing. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A cuddle puddle of Sea Lions. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A harbour seal enjoying the sunshine. Photo by Des Poier.
The Gabriola Bluffs is a common last stop on our tours. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A River Otter back at the dock. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.