June 8, 2023 10:30 - Windy the Humpback in the Strait of Georgia
Today’s humpback was ID’d as Windy (BCY0893). Windy is a known Regular in our area and is one of the few confirmed Male humpbacks in our area. His sex was confirmed by both photos and by biopsy.
In general, Humpbacks show very little sexual dimorphism (difference in form or physical appearance between males and females of the same species). Female humpbacks do have one specific physical difference in the form of a grapefruit-sized bump known as the hemispherical lobe. The function of this lobe still continues to stump scientists, and it is quite difficult to get a photo of this lobe as the individual needs to be breaching or lob tailing to be able to see it. The genital slits on males are located closer to the belly of the whale, but this is a feature that is hard to notice unless you are an experienced whale watcher.
Windy was less than energetic today and maybe even a little sleepy. He has just completed a nearly 5000 km journey from Hawaii to British Columbia. During his trip to and from Hawaii, as well as during his stay he’s had little to no food to eat. So when he finally makes it back to the feeding grounds here in British Columbia he is tired and hungry. So hungry in fact that he will eat anywhere between 3000-5000 pounds of food every single day while he’s here. This is an impressive amount of food when you consider that humpbacks eat small prey from krill to smaller fish.
We also were fortunate enough to see our stellar sea lions and our little harbour seals. While stopped with our harbour seals we noticed 2 bald eagles that appeared to be chowing down on something. Originally we thought our pair had caught themselves a large fish but upon closer inspection, we noticed that they were eating a deceased seal pup. Currently, it is prime pupping season for our harbour seals but it is also the time of year that our eaglets are sitting in the nest waiting for their parents to bring home food. So while one life is unfortunately over, this deceased pup will go on to feed the next generation of our eagles.
Photos today were taken by Marine Naturalists Vanessa Vereschahen and Des Poier.
Windy (BCY0893). Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Windy (BCY0893). Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Windy (BCY0893). Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Windy (BCY0893). Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Windy (BCY0893). Photo by Des Poier.
Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Scratching that itch. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Photo by Des Poier.
Photo by Des Poier.
A sleepy California sea lion on the rocks. Photo by Des Poier.
Gore Warning for below photos: A pair of Eagles feeding on a seal pup
Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The eagle tried to take its catch away, but it was too heavy for it to lift. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.