Another whale-y great day here in the Salish Sea! We headed out to the Strait towards an area becoming well known to us as Humpback feeding troughs, just outside of Porlier Pass near Valdes Island. We were very fortunate to find an abundance of humpbacks today, including Scuba (BCY1225), Beak/Nuage (BCX1606), Wormhole (BCX1275), Moresby (BCY0324 calf 2022), Graphite (BCX2077), and Harpy (BCZ0503).

We also got quite a bit of activity to watch today! 10-year-old Beak was feeling a bit slap-happy, showing off those nice long pectoral fins. These fins are massive and can reach up to 5m long when fully grown. They are also the reason behind the Humpback’s scientific name, Megaptera novaeangliae, which means “big-winged”. Not only did we see some slapping, but some belly-rolling as well. Looks like Beak was one excited guy! This kind of behaviour can be demonstrating play or excitement in the humpbacks, and can also be used as a form of communication between animals. This behaviour is especially important in the winter breeding grounds, where showing off is important in both males and females. Females will pec slap to encourage competition between males and effectively “rile them up” while also signalling their own readiness to mate. Males may also participate in big behaviours like pec slapping and breaching, as a way to flirt with females and show off their strength, while warding off other males in the area.

Besides showing off, these pec fins can also be used in the feeding process as well. In a 2019 article published by Kosma et al., Humpbacks in southeast Alaska have been seen “pectoral herding”. This involves using their pectoral fins to further corral fish and direct them while feeding, to make it easier for the whale to catch them. They can also use these giant airfoil-esque wings to disrupt the water flow, making it difficult for the fish to swim away. The final sneaky tactic these clever mammals use is dependant on the lighting conditions during feeding. On sunny days, the humpbacks can use the white ventral part of their pectorals to reflect the sun and effectively “flash” the schooling fish, causing them to swim away from the light and towards the open, dark mouth of the humpback. While they don’t get the hunting credit that orca do here in our waters, they still demonstrate complex feeding strategies that are super cool to learn about!

We love spending time with our humpback friends, and got to see a nice variety of humpbacks of various ages and fluke types! After our time was up, we headed to Stinky Rocks to see our pinniped buddies! We love observing the Steller Sea Lions as they congregate in their harems, they always have so much to say! The Harbour seals nearby are quite a bit more docile, preferring to quietly sunbathe in the calmer waters. Sometimes we luck out and see quite the menagerie st Stinky Rocks, and we got to see the River Otters today here as well! Other species we saw today include turkey vultures, cormorants and gulls!

Photos by Marine Naturalists Vanessa Vereschahen, Lucy Willis, and Hayleigh Hilbert.