Today was a beautiful sunny day out on the Salish Sea. We left the Nanaimo harbour and headed North, where we had a report of Humpbacks near Halibut Bank. Sure enough, we were lucky enough to spot not one but two whales! The Humpbacks we met on our tour were:

Windy (BCY0843) and Tempest (BCX0837)

When we say we were lucky to spot some Humpbacks today, we truly mean it. These beautiful gentile giants were once hunted here in the Salish Sea, basically to the point of extinction. With outrage from locals as well as people coming together from all around the globe, the pressure to end the hunt for these majestic creatures was on. Then, in 1966, whale hunting was officially banned in Canada. This began what is known as the “Humpback comeback”! However, it would still be a while until the Humpbacks were once again sighted in the Salish Sea. It was in 1997 when a very special-to-us Humpback returned - this was Big Mama, she has since brought 7 calves back to our waters. Now just this year we are happy to announce her 2016 calf Poptart has returned with a calf of her own! This means Big Mama is now a Big Grandma to 4 different humpbacks (Zephyr, Windsock, Olympus, and Slice)! Big Mama is also the Big Great Grandma for 2 humpbacks (Zephyr’s 2019 and 2021 calves)!
Tempest who we spent time with on this tour has contributed to this comeback herself. She returned with a calf in 2007 and a calf in 2019. Such exciting news for us whale lovers indeed.
Windy we know is a male, but like many of our answers for our Humpbacks “we do not know at this time,” we are not sure if he has been a father to any of the calves. He does bear a scar that if you look closely you can see, this is where a tag was once attached. Scientists stopped this practice once they discovered whales were developing infections, some sadly becoming fatal. Now most of the information we gather is a collaborative effort across the Pacific Northwest, every time we head out on a tour we are not only sharing these Whales with others to bring awareness to their struggles but also collecting data and research non-invasively. With new technologies constantly being developed we hope to be able to one day identify who the fathers are as well. One way we may see this happen is by collecting biosamples from the blows via drones! Who knows, it is possible Windy has a few kids of his own too.

Enjoy the photos from today’s tour taken by Marine Naturalist Des Poier.

June 26, 2023 - Windy and Tempest the Humpbacks

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