It was another amazing humpback day, as we got to see four different whale in total, one of which didn’t cooperate enough for us to get an ID for.

The trip first left Nanaimo and headed out into the Strait of Georgia, looking to see what whales we would be lucky enough to spend some time with today. We travelled through the strait until we got to an area that has been popular amongst the humpbacks lately, Halibut Bank!

While there was a couple more spotted in the distance we got to spend some quality time with three different sets of whales. First was Neowise (KEX0068) who was travelling by himself today. He must have been lonely, since he seemed to try and befriend our boats, with him coming to the surface nearby and rolling around, trying to entice us to play with him. Of course, we would never play with he whale or encourage this kind of behaviour from them, since being close to vessels is dangerous for the whales, especially if they catch the boater off guard. Propellers and moving boats can cause issues for the whales, and for that reason when the whales come too close to us, we just have to shut the boat down with engines off, and float there until the animal leaves us alone again. He eventually got bored of the boat and continued to travel north in the Strait of Georgia.

After leaving Neowise behind, the boats split looking for other wildlife, and two of them ended up finding their own second set of whales.

The first pair was Squirrel (KEX0066) travelling with another unknown whale who was being shy with their flukes. Based on the dorsal fins, we haven’t been able to match it, but if we end up figuring it out, we will be sure to update it here!

The other boats got to see another humpback who is part of a very special family, Beak / Nuage (BCX1606), who is Big Mama’s 2014 calf. This makes Nuage 9 years old! Big Mama is a favourite in the Salish Sea, since she was one of the very first humpbacks to return to the area. She was spotted in 1997 and has since brought back 7 different calves to the Salish Sea. These calves were born in 2003 (Divot), 2006 (Split Fin), 2010 (Canuck), 2012 (Tulip), 2014 (Beak/Nuage), 2016 (Poptart) and finally 2022 (Moresby). That’s a lot of whales! Divot has also had a few calves of her own in 2011 (Zephyr), 2014, 2018 (Olympus) and 2021 (Slice). And now Divot has grandkids, from Zephyr in 2019 and 2021 (Chi) as well as from Olympus in 2023 (Achilles). This makes Beak an Uncle and a Great Uncle! So many whales in this family tree!

Photos by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Ella Hillbrecht, and Vanessa Vereschahen.