October 30, 2023 - A fun day with some fun Humpbacks
We had another surprisingly sunny trip on October 30th. At this time of year, we usually have days full of grey skies and rain, so getting to go out and have a sunny trip is always great! Today our open boat Cascadia cruised out into the Salish Sea, crossing the Strait back to Humpback Land, a popular gathering point for humpbacks this season.
After crossing, we started scanning the area in search of the telltale blows or flukes. It didn’t take long for us to locate a group of 4 humpbacks associating together. These 4 were ID’d as Corona/Phi’s 2022 calf (BCX1416 calf 2022), Nike (BCX1377), Mathematician (BCY0785), and Fader (BCY0195). This was a super exciting encounter as we had not seen Corona’s 2022 calf yet this year. These 4 were very playful and were seen tail slapping and cartwheeling. The calf also gave us a little ‘wave’ as it pec-slapped as well.
These humpbacks were spotted mugging one of the other whale-watching boats on scene. Most people would see the word “mugging” and think it is a bad thing, but when it comes to whales most people are excited to see it. Mugging occurs when whales come up to boats and check them out themselves. This behaviour is not encouraged, so it is always extra exciting when the gentle giants decide to take a peek at us.
After leaving our quartet of whales behind, we started cruising along in search of other wildlife. Suddenly, we saw some big splashes in the distance - it turned out to be another group of humpback whales!
Our second group of humpbacks was identified as BCX1965 and MMX0355. Neither of these two have nicknames yet, but we hope that will change soon! They had stopped breaching once we arrived on scene, but they continued to tail slap away. We watched them play away for a bit before we turned our attention back towards Vancouver Island and started the journey back home.
We are quickly approaching the end of the year when our humpbacks will start migrating out of our area. In the coming weeks, these massive whales will start making the journey to either Hawai’i or Mexico where they will breed and give birth. We are sad to see them leave, but we are excited to see all their familiar faces/flukes next year, hopefully with some new babies in tow!
Please enjoy these photos taken by Marine Naturalist Vanessa Vereschahen.
BCY0785 Mathematician - look at that funky striped dorsal fin!
BCX1377 Nike and BCX1416 calf 2022 Corona/Phi’s 2022 calf (fluking)
BCX1416 calf 2022 Corona/Phi’s 2022 calf’s fluke. So pretty!
BCY0785 Mathematician has a lot of scratching over their body.
BCX1416 calf 2022 Corona/Phi’s 2022 calf’s dorsal.
BCY0785 Mathematician diving.
BCY0785 Mathematician - you can see part of their fluke markings.
BCY0195 Fader’s fluke.
BCX1377 Nike fluking.
BCY0785 Mathematician’s fluke.
BCX1416 calf 2022 Corona/Phi’s 2022 calf travelling along.
BCY0785 Mathematician’s dorsal.
BCY0785 Mathematician fluking.
While not the best shot, this was enough to confirm this was MMX0355.
BCX1965 diving.
BCY0195 Fader’s funky dorsal.
BCX1416 calf 2022 Corona/Phi’s 2022 calf pec waving!
A tail flick from an excited humpback.
A cartwheel from the same excited humpback!
BCX1965 - can you spot their distinct X marking along the bottom edge of their fluke?
A VERY sleepy Harbour seal.
A California sea lion looking down its nose at us.
That is a lot of saliva!
Sea lions have incredibly long whiskers that they use for navigating.
A Black Oystercatcher watching the water with a Surfbird beside it.
A curious little Gull.