It was a beautiful day as we had three of our vessels leaving Nanaimo. With calm waters and clear skies, we were buzzing with excitement to see what the Salish Sea had in store for us today. The three boats spread out to cover more ground, their eyes peeled for the telltale signs of whales in the area. What we typically see first depends on the species. Humpbacks release a tall, busy blow into the air, which can be spotted from great distances. When they lift their tails for a dive, the 20-foot area can also be pretty easy to spot, as long as you are looking in the right place at the right time. With the orca, you will usually spot the towering dorsal fins first. The dorsal fin will be about 4 feet tall for females, and 6 feet tall for males.

The first thing that was spotted today was the tall blows of the humpbacks. It was a pair of them that we first came across. One of these two was fluking beautifully, which was Twinning (BCX1207), the other one was slightly more shy, but eventually showed the tail off revealing itself to be Mantis (BCX0936). It seemed like we caught these two resting, as they weren’t doing longer dives that would indicate diving to the level of their food. Although food is the main reason that the humpbacks are in our waters, they can’t be feeding 24/7, they need this rest to recoup some of their energy for the day. They don’t rest exactly how you might think though, since each breath they take is a conscious choice, unlike us where we breathe without thinking about it. If the whales turned off their whole brain, they would end up suffocating. Luckily, by turning off and resting only half of their brains at a time for power naps throughout the day, they avoid this fate! We stayed with Twinning and Mantis for a while before more blows to the south caught our eye. It seemed that there were more humpbacks in the distance!

Ever curious, we headed over and found another pair of whales travelling together: Professor X (BCX1965) and Iota (BCX1416 calf 2022). There must have been something in the air, or maybe they found the quiet hum of our engines soothing as these whales also seemed to be resting. These giants were breaking the surface of the water with ease, releasing a massive cloud of mist into the air. As calming as it was, we continued on, heading south and leaving these two to their rest. One boat that arrived late stayed longer and was there to witness these whales waking up! They seemed to be curious about the boat that was nearby upon waking and spent time exhausting this curiosity.

While that was happening, the other boats had found more whales close to Thrasher Rock. It was different whales for the different boats here. One of the open boats had a pair of whales, Neowise (BCY1228) and Olympus (BCX2075) who also appeared to be resting.

Not too far from this group was a second and third pair of whales: Valiant (BCX1773) and Ghost (BCX1333) travelling together, and Manta (BCZ0155) and Mammoth/Ocean (BCX1710) together. This group of four was relatively close together at first but slowly drifted in opposite directions while we watched them. Seeing the whales associating like this is very interesting. We don’t know what drives the associations or how they choose their partners. They can last anywhere between a few hours to a few days, even up to weeks at a time. All of these whales have been seen travelling closely with other whales as the season has gone on. We love to speculate what they might be factoring into these social interactions, but so far no clear reasoning has appeared.

While spending time with the gentle giants of the Salish Sea we got word of another report not too far from where we were: orca! So we planned our arrival at their location. Since there were lots of other boats on scene, we made a stop at Stinky Rocks to view the pinnipeds that were spending time there. It wasn’t just the ever-entertaining Steller Sea Lions fighting on the rocks and the calm Harbour Seals floating and watching us from the water, but we also saw a Great Blue Heron perched here today, trying to blend in with the nearby gulls.

On our way to the orca, the semi-covered boat had a surprise in store, as they spotted the big blows of more humpbacks on the horizon! Since we still had some time, we headed over to see who it was. These two were also resting at the surface of the water, only lifting their fluke once, and it was when no cameras were ready! Luckily, they spent lots of time at the surface as they rested, allowing us to get some very clear photos of the mother and calf we were observing. Later in the day, after searching through the catalogues, we were able to figure out the identity of these mystery whales as Hecate (BCX0470) and her 2024 calf.

From here, all three boats ended up watching the group of orca that were spotted travelling north in Trincomali Channel. These whales were a little but tricky to ID, with no large males in the group and only one animal with any distinct notches in their dorsal fin. Lucky for us, and thanks to the hard work of those not on the boats today going through the sent photos, we figured out that there was two different pods travelling together today: The T030Bs and the T117Bs!

These whales aren’t a very common sight on our tours, matter of fact, this was the first time that our company has seen the T117Bs, and only the second time seeing the T030Bs. These two pods have been seen travelling together on and off throughout the year, so it was a treat to see them all together today! They continued north, and we left them to it since we were running short on time for the tour.

The tour had one last special encounter in store for us though, as earlier in the day we heard about a rare animal sighting in Dodd Narrows, not too far from Nanaimo. There was a Sea Otter spotted here by viewers from the shore of this popular hiking location. Since we were passing through here anyway, we stopped in the current to see if we would be lucky enough to get a peek. Sure enough, we saw the fluffy white face of the Sea Otter poke out of the rapid before quickly disappearing once again. There was plenty of other action in here to distract us, like the sea lions fishing in the current and gobbling down their salmon prey. But the brief glances at the Sea Otter were the highlight.

Sea Otters, once abundant along British Columbia’s coastlines, were nearly driven to extinction by the fur trade in the 18th and 19th centuries. Though reintroduction programs have been successful in certain areas, seeing a sea otter in Dodd Narrows is uncommon and suggests the potential for broader habitat recovery. The sighting is important not just because of the rarity of sea otters in the region, but also due to their critical role in the marine ecosystem. Sea Otters are considered a keystone species. By controlling sea urchin populations, they help maintain the balance of kelp forests, which in turn support a rich diversity of marine life. A healthy sea otter population is a strong indicator of ecosystem health.

Hopefully, we will keep seeing more and more Sea Otters on our tours and see the return of kelp forests to our area. In the meantime, we will be thankful for this look at this rare critter we had today! It was a great end to this already amazing day. Please enjoy the photos from the day taken by the onboard marine Marine Naturalists Val Watson, Vanessa Vereschahen, and Aly Kohlman available below!

October 12, 2024 - Humpbacks galore, a mismatch of orca... and a Sea otter?!

© Vancouver Island Whale Watch 2018-2024. All Rights Reserved.