We had an amazing opportunity to meet a lot of our Humpbacks today! From our photos, we had six whales that were able to be identified, but we also saw some blows off in the distance, so there were many animals present today! The Humpbacks present today were:

Ocular (BCX1705), Pingu (BCY1110), Mammoth/Ocean (BCX1710), Graze’s 2019 calf (BCY0523 calf 2019), Schooner (BCX1193 calf 2021), and Zephyr’s 2021 calf (BCZ0414 calf 2021)!

We once thought the Humpback was a solitary animal, preferring to spend time alone. Now that there is an increasing population here in the Salish Sea we are beginning to think this may not be the case. This season our focus has been on studying how whales are associating, so we want to learn more about these animals and their social behaviours. We know the Humpbacks don’t have the same social structure as the Orca, who travel in matrilines composed of a matriarch and her offspring. However, it is becoming more apparent that they do seem to enjoy each other’s company. On the tour today we certainly spotted a bunch of them in close proximity! We believe this was probably due to an abundance of food in the area. We definitely have a lot to learn about these gentle giants and every trip is an opportunity to get updated photos, document their behaviours and further study associations between the animals. Just this season we have seen Scuba (KEY0040) and Schooner (KEY0045) who are known siblings, travelling together. In 2020, we documented Heather (BCY0160) and Raptor (BCY0458) travelling together while they were both pregnant. Then to our surprise, in 2022 we came across their two calves Neowise (KEX0068) and Harpy (BCY0458 calf 2020) travelling together! This was so neat to see and lead to some interesting questions. Are they like humans where they could possibly hear each other in utero? That is something we may never prove, but it sure is fun to speculate!

We were also very fortunate to have experienced a few different types of behaviours today. We got treated to some pectoral slapping, fluking, breaching and even some mugging! “Mugging” occurs when a whale approaches a boat and interacts with it - a rare experience indeed. We try not to encourage this because we want our whales to remain wild, and avoid an increased chance of boat strikes in the future. But occasionally, the curious whales will come to investigate our boats, so we cut our engines and wait it out. We can’t deny it’s exciting and very special!

After our time with the Humpbacks, we went to find some pinnipeds and stumbled across a group of harbour seals enjoying the sun. We finished the day off at the Gabriola Bluffs, checking out the Cormorant colony and our local eagle’s nest.

Photos today were taken by Marine Naturalists Carmen Murphy and Des Poier.

June 27, 2023, 10:30 - Humpback Party in the Strait!

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