It was a very special day early on in the season since we got to see a group of 3 humpback whales travelling together! We started the day with a vague, shore-based report that there were whales of some sort hanging out in Howe Sound. Since we work together with the other whale-watching companies in the area we figured it was best to leave the searching in the Sound for the Vancouver-based boats for now, and tried our luck out in the Strait of Georgia, swinging north up over Halibut Bank before continuing south to help out with the search for those other whales. We ended up spotting some Harbour Porpoises on our adventure in the Strait, but those quick critters were too fast for our cameras so we didn’t get any evidence of them!

Soon we found the Coastal Mountains of the Mainland of BC growing taller until we arrived at the mouth of Howe Sound. Inside the sound, the other boats that we left to search had been successful, they had found humpbacks!

We travelled through this beautiful glacial fjord until we arrived just north of Horseshoe Bay. There was quickly three big blows visible at the surface, and three matching bodies swiftly moving through the water, we had Humpback Whales!

Usually, when we see humpback whales early in the season, they will be focused on feeding rather than socializing, so seeing three travelling together was slightly unusual. It was even more surprising when we got flukes from all three of the whales! It made it easy for us to ID the animals as Graze (BCY0523), Ghost (BCX1333) and Wisp (BCX1333calf2021). Graze didn’t always give us her fluke but we had the scarred side of her dorsal fin facing us so we were able to ID her right away!

You’ll notice that Ghost and Wisp share part of their number. This is because Wisp is Ghost’s kiddo! She was born in Hawaii since that’s the breeding ground that Ghost has been cross-matched to. When humpbacks are first born they are reliant on their mothers milk and will stick close to her side until they are more independent, usually after about a year. They start in the southern breeding and calfing grounds, make the migration north to their feeding grounds, and then sometimes they migrate back down with mom, or sometimes they part ways before that. After that first year, they won’t be needing mom’s help or protection as much and therefore it’s thought that their relationship ends. It seems like there’s likely more to it though, given the amount of family associations that we see as time goes on. Things like this, having past calves travelling with mom are seen more frequently, as well as siblings spending time together. Although it’s hard to track and prove, having more research being done into the social lives of the humpbacks will be super interesting.

It wasn’t too long ago that humpbacks were thought to be solitary animals, and now it’s much rarer to see one travelling alone than part of a pair or larger group. That’s one of the most exciting things about these animals, the more time we spend with them and the more research that is done, our view of them changes entirely. I can’t wait to see what new questions will arise and be answered in the coming years.

Getting to spend some time with these three tapped into this sense of wonder about the whales, with their large blows and tails rising out of the water capturing our attention. After a while though, it was time to leave the whales to their feeding and travelling, and we headed further north into the sound to find the next set of wildlife.

We had heard from another vessel that there was a pod of Pacific White-sided dolphins nearby, so we tried our luck to find those guys next. These smaller cetaceans usually travel in larger groups and can be quite active at the surface as they chase their prey, which is small fish, around an area. This made it easy to spot them, as their hooked, grey and white dorsal fins cut through the water. We watched as this group of dolphins chased what must have been a school of fish along the shoreline, corraling them into the small bays along the way. It was another breathtaking encounter and a rare one. Usually throughout the year we only get one or two tours that see dolphins.

Leaving the dolphins to the fish, we came across a group of Sea Lions using a Ferry Terminal as a haul-out. There was lots of fighting that broke out as space was limited, unless you looked slightly to the left there was a whole other less desirable section of the dock! Again, it’s hard to guess what is going through the minds of the animals at times like that, but we enjoyed watching them trying for position nonetheless.

Then we started the journey back home, gliding over the glassy calm waters of the strait of Georgia until we found ourselves back in Nanaimo. What a fantastic trip!

The Naturalists onboard, Hayleigh Hilbert, Lucy Willis, and Val Watson captured some fantastic photos from the day which can all be viewed below!