November 13, 2023 - Humpback whales everywhere!
We are always excited to get on the water since there are still plenty of whales around, even in this cooler weather! Today we ended up coming across three different groups of whales. The first group was three whales travelling together: BCX2192 (previously MMX0355), Schooner (BCX1193calf2021), and BCY0961’s calf 2021. These three seemed to be having fun social interactions with each other. Lots of quick surfaces, rolling near the surface, and making trumpeting noise at the surface. One whale in particular, BCX2192, seemed extra excited. He was showing off his tail a lot more, and gave an impressive tail lob! This led to photos of the underside of his tail peduncle and a great chance to see that there was no Hemispherical lobe present. This confirms that BCX2192 is indeed a he! We are always super excited to try and sex any of our whales, as it’s pretty rare to get that perfect photo without any water obstructing the right area.
After watching these three enjoying their time socializing, we continued our search in the Strait of Georgia. It didn’t take us long before our second sighting. This time it was Harpy (BCY0660 calf 2020) travelling near Halibut Bank! She was doing slightly longer dives and was showing her tail off with each one. This combined with the fact she wasn’t travelling very far during these dives indicated to us that she was likely feeding in the area. There is lots of food here in the waters of BC so this is a common sight with our humpback whales. They are actually about to start their migration once again, heading down to either Hawaii or Mexico. Sometimes through cross-matching, we will know which of the feeding grounds the whales that we see go to, but not in Harpy’s case. The same with her mother, Raptor, who also doesn’t have a match to either breeding ground yet.
The final humpback that we saw today was a well-known one in the area, Yogi (BCY0409)! Yogi has a beautiful white and black fluke with a marking on the right side that reminds people of a bear, hence his name. Today Yogi was acting pretty similar to Harpy, in the way he was doing deeper dives with less time spent at the surface than the group of three that we saw first. Although this means you only get to see the whales as they come up to breathe before continuing the dive cycle, getting to see them lifting their giant tails out of the water to prepare for these deeper dives is breathtaking. These tails can get over 15 feet across! This large canvas with the white mixed with the darker skin really makes for a magnificent sight.
Eventually, we also left Yogi to his feeding, and continued closer to Valdes island where there is a Steller Sea Lion haul-out! There were so many animals there today, ranging from the massive 2,800-pound males to the smaller females and juveniles. They are usually pretty interesting to watch, as they are scrambling up the rocks, over each other, and letting out plenty of growls while they do it.
Further down on the rocks we also found another pinniped species, Harbour Seals! These are much calmer animals than the sea lions, usually, we see them lazily laying on the rocks with much less infighting.
It was getting close to the end of the tour time now, so we started to head back in the direction of Nanaimo. Along the way we spotted a bald eagle perched in a tree keeping an eye out for fish in the more shallow waters. We also made a final quick stop at Harmac to see the California Sea Lions that like to hang out there!
Getting so many wildlife sightings today was absolutely amazing. The Naturalist onboard, Des Poier, got some amazing photos from the day which can be viewed below!
BCX2192 doing some pectoral fin slapping! Photo by Des Poier.
BCX2192 travelling closely with BCY0961’s 2021 calf behind. Photo by Des Poier.
BCX2192 doing a slight tail flick as he goes under the surface. Photo by Des Poier.
Th underside of BCX2192’s tail flukes. Photo by Des Poier.
Schooner’s dorsal fin to the left while BCX2192 does a mini spy hop on the right. Photo by Des Poier.
BCX2192’s rostrum is barely above the water. Photo by Des Poier.
This photo shows the genital region of BCX2192, with no Hemispherical lobe. Photo by Des Poier.
BCX2192’s continuing his tail lob. Photo by Des Poier.
You can see the flexibility of the fluke from the bend in BCX2192’s tail here. Photo by Des Poier.
BCX2192 preparing to dive. Photo by Des Poier.
The one lazy fluke from BCY0961’s 2021 calf which we used to ID them! Photo by Des Poier.
BCX2192’s dorsal fin. Photo by Des Poier.
Harpy’s dorsal fin as the surfaced in the Strait. Photo by Des Poier.
Harpy creating a fluke waterfall as she prepares to dive. Photo by Des Poier.
The brilliant white underside of Harpy’s tail flukes! Photo by Des Poier.
The underside of Yogi’s tail flukes as he dives. Can you see the bear? Photo by Des Poier.
Yogi’s dorsal fin. Photo by Des Poier.
Yogi created a fluke waterfall as he dives once again. Photo by Des Poier.
The Steller Sea Lion. Photo by Des Poier.
The sea lion in the middle is one of the largest male on the haul out. Photo by Des Poier.
A closer look at the large Steller Sea Lion. Photo by Des Poier.
One of the smaller sea lions fresh out of the water. Photo by Des Poier.
The others weren’t too pleased about another Sea Lion joining their rock. Photo by Des Poier.
Adorable Harbour Seals on the rocks, featuring some gulls as well! Photo by Des Poier.
The watchful Bald Eagle. Photo by Des Poier.
The California Sea Lions near Harmac. Photo by Des Poier.
They can get themselves in some strange places! Photo by Des Poier.