November 24, 2023 - Humpbacks, Humpbacks, Humpbacks!
A lot of action in the Salish Sea on this chilly November tour! The weather this time of year is definitely a little cooler than the summer months, but that doesn’t stop us! Our crew and guests were eager to head out! So toasty warm in Kula with her heated cabin we pushed off the dock.
We decided to search North in the Strait of Georgia to begin our tour, it was a good choice! With our crew and guests intently watching the waves, we saw a blow and then another! There were two Humpbacks just ahead. Our Naturalist quickly snapped some photos of their tails and dorsal fins allowing her to identify these two as Raptor (BCY0458) and Split Fin (BCZ0298). Split Fin is easily identified by the split dorsal that he sports, most likely caused by a ship strike or possibly entanglement. Split Fin is also a Z whale, what this means is that 80% or more of his tail is white. The rest of the whales we spotted today were X whales, having 80% or more black on their tails. The X whales we saw today were Kappa (BCX0158) and Flier (BCX1785), who were spotted a short distance away from our other pair. We also have what we call Y whales, which are a blend of the black and white markings on the tail, like Raptor. In our hemisphere the majority of our whales are X whales, these whales are a little more challenging to identify as the unique markings are more difficult to see on the darker tails. Something that was noted on this tour is just how similar the X-tails are, do these whales realize they look alike? Do they plan it and get together to try and stump our Naturalists? Of course not, they are just being wild whales, but some days it sure seems like it! Can you spot the differences in the X-tails in the photos below?
We also got to spend time with a few of our other species today. One of the favourites and always entertaining to watch as they bicker, yell at and push each other off the rocks, the largest Sea Lions in the world, the Stellar Sea Lions. Not to be outdone, their slightly smaller cousins the California Sea Lions were just as noisy and pushy at the log booms. No tour is complete until we have tried to find one of our majestic Bald Eagles, and today we were lucky! We spotted a beautiful adult grabbing a snack off the marker.
Photos taken by onboard Naturalist Aly Kohlman.
Raptor fluking.
Raptor’s dorsal fin.
Splitfin fluking in front of the mountains!
Splitfin’s dorsal fin.
Diving together!
Raptor.
A close look at Raptor’s tail.
Flier’s dorsal fin.
A fluke from Flier!
Kappa’s dorsal fin.
The underside of Kappa’s tail.
Splitfin going down!
Raptor going for a dive.
Splitfin.
Raptor in front of Splitfin.
A couple of Humpbacks cruising along in front of the mountains.
Kappa with a beautiful fluke waterfall.
Some nosy Stellar Sea Lions.
Getting a closer look at us!
Can you spot both of them watching us back?
Hey, keep it down!
Someone always has to be goofy in the family photo!
Looks like this large male Stellar has a mini-me.
Ok, we are scratching now…such a little copycat.
Make some room, I’m coming up!
What a pose!
An itchy California Sea Lion.
A cuddle puddle of grumps!
Using your friend’s flippers as a blanket comes in handy!
Bald Eagle in the wind.
Found a snack!