We couldn’t have asked for a better day as we had two of our vessels pushing off the dock to start their search for whales. They headed out into the Strait of Georgia, the body of water separating Vancouver Island from the mainland of BC. This area has a lot of hotspots for productivity, with two banks - Halibut and McCall - in the middle, helping to mix the water column. It also has an influx of nutrients from the many rivers that flow into the Strait, especially the Frasier River which collects from most of southern British Columbia, moving huge volumes of water. The placement of the Southern Gulf Islands also contributes to the Strait’s productivity, with narrow passageways creating currents that will also mix the water and introduce oxygen into the system when the tides push large volumes of water through them. All this combines to create a very complex food chain with lots of interesting animals in the area for us to observe.

Today it started with a pair of Humpback Whales found near the southern end of Halibut Bank. These two whales were travelling together quite closely, not showing off their tails too much until suddenly there was a behaviour change, and they got a little more active at the surface, and even slightly curious about one of our vessels. Certain whales are known for this behaviour, known as “mugging”, so we weren’t surprised when we confirmed that one of these two was a youngster named Malachite (KEY0047). The friend he was travelling with was a Z whale: Slalom (BCZ0437). These two didn’t stay close to the boat for very long, just enough to satisfy their curiosity. After this they were much more interested in each other, playfully swimming close with a few directional changes towards each other. As we watched them we noticed several other blows in the distance, it seemed Malachite and Slalom led us into what we like to call “humpback soup”!

At this point, our vessels left these two whales and headed out to investigate different sets of blows. The semi-covered boat ended up with another two humpback whales: Kappa (BCX0158) and Honu (BCX1856). These two seemed to be taking advantage of all of the productivity of the area and were feeding. The other pair that the open boat found - Vanta (BCX1730) and Scratchy (BCY1022) - were also feeding in the area. Humpback whales typically feed between 50-200m beneath the surface, going for schools of small fish and Krill. Although a small amount of light can penetrate these depths, it wouldn’t be much for the deeper dives. This means that the humpbacks likely have other ways of detecting their prey. One of these is the tubercles that they have on their rostrums! These tubercles are fleshy lumps that contain one or two hairs within them, also known as vibrissae. These can help the humpback feel vibrations in the water and track down their food when they can’t see it. Since they feed at these depths, we will usually see them recovering from the dives at the surface, catching their breath, before repeating the process. It’s mesmerizing watching these gentle giants moving through the water with so much grace for their huge size. They can grow up to 17 meters long and weigh over 30 tonnes. Yet, they move seemingly effortlessly through the water.

After watching these whales, it was time to switch things up! The semi-covered boat came over and watched Vanta and Scratchy for a while, while the open boat headed over to check out some more whales that were surfacing not too far from the original pair. These whales turned out to be a very interesting duo: Hecate (BCX0470) and her 2024 calf! This was special since this was our first time seeing these whales, at least awake, on a tour before! We last saw them on October 12th, but at that point, it was hard to confirm if this was a calf, as they were logging at the surface and not travelling. While size can be used to determine if the whale is a calf, you also want to be sure they are travelling in echelon position with their mom. You can also tell a bit by the cloudy pigment on the young whale’s tail if you are lucky enough to see it. During this encounter, we got to confirm that this was a calf in both of these ways, and we even got catalogue-worthy photos of both mom and baby. What a treat!

The semi-covered boat was having its own adventure while the open boat was on baby duty. They also saw whales in the distance from Vanta and Scratchy and decided to investigate, finding Zig Zag (BCX1193) and Manta (BCZ0155). These two also appeared to be feeding in the area, but this time much closer to shore than the other whales that we had been viewing so far today. This isn’t uncommon, since the shorelines of the Southern Gulf Islands tend to be quite steep, allowing large animals to get in close without much issue. Their food can also get right close to shore, so sometimes you see the humpbacks travelling in to chase it. Some research points towards the humpbacks using the shoreline to help corral their prey in some cases, although we didn’t observe this behaviour today.

Each boat ended up with one more unique humpback encounter before the tour was over. The Semi-covered boat got two new whales who were also feeding, just east of Valdes Island: Bond (BCX1640) and Europa (BCX0854)! The open boat had found the first pair of humpback whales again, thanks to Malachite slapping his massive 5-meter-long pectoral fins against the water! He and Slalom didn’t stay this active for long and continued travelling along their way. At this point, it was time for us to continue on our way as well.

In addition to all of these Humpback Whale pairs, both boats also made some stops for additional wildlife today. Ever entertaining, the stop at Stinky Rocks led to a great time watching the Steller Sea Lions piled on each other and fighting amongst the group. We also were treated to the calmer Harbour Seals who were hauled out to the north. A quick stop at the Harmac Pulp Mill also gave us sightings of California Sea Lions which were hauled out on the log booms there.

It wasn’t just the Marine Mammals that were interesting today, we saw a ton of birds during the tour! The more common sea birds included Harlequin Ducks, Surf Scooters, gulls, and Bald Eagles, but we also got a rare visitor in the mix that we learned about after going through our photos. The open boat had seen a Petrel! These small birds are pelagic, meaning they spend the majority of their lives on the ocean, typically in more open waters than we travel. They have a special gland to help them deal with this very salty life, which filters the extra salt from their blood and expels it from a structure on their nose. You can see this in the photo below! It was a very cool encounter that we didn’t even know we had! This is part of what makes photos an important resource during research since you never know which bits of information might turn out to be important!

There was plenty of other amazing photos taken throughout the tour by the onboard Naturalists Val Watson and Desarae Poier, all of which can be enjoyed below!