July 16, 2024, 10:30 am - Gentle Giants in the Strait
All three of our boats headed out in gorgeous ocean conditions this morning looking for the telltale signs of whales. Our boats travel around 30-35 knots, or 50-60 kilometres per hour. After perusing the Strait of Georgia for a bit, we found humpback whale Dandelion (BCY1107), who was likely munching on what the Strait had to offer.
Our waters are filled with plankton - tiny little plants and animals that tend to make the water a bit murky. The plant type of plankton is called phytoplankton. It feeds the zooplankton, the animal type of plankton. That in turn will feed bigger animals like krill, which feeds the Humpbacks. Plankton is the basis of the food chain in the oceans, so they would not be able to function without it! Phytoplankton also photosynthesizes to produce oxygen we use every day. It plays an important role, not just in our oceans, but for us humans as well!
Both Humpback and human were using phytoplankton while we were on scene with Dandelion. We watched him for a while, but ultimately decided to leave him to do his whale things and search for some more whales.
It wasn’t much longer until we found another Humpback. This time it was Corona/Phi (BCX1416) and her new calf! Moms and calves leave the breeding grounds later than a lot of other whales, so we were very excited when we saw this whale had a calf.
This is Phi’s third calf. Humpback whales will typically have a calf every 2-3 years, sometimes with gaps of up to 10 years between calves. Phi however has had a calf every two years since her first. It was wonderful getting to watch these two, but all too soon our time was up with them. We headed off to see if we could pick up another humpback before we had to head back to the harbour.
We came across one more humpback on our tour this morning, Crater/Mensa (BCX1565). We stayed just long enough to get an ID, but ultimately decided to leave them to their whale things due to their long dive times.
Whales aren’t the only things we saw today. As long as time allows, we also stop for other wildlife. Today we happened across some moon jellyfish and paid a visit to our Bald Eagles on Gabriola Island!
All in all, it was an amazing day to be on the Salish Sea! Check out the photos today that were taken by Marine Naturalists Vanessa Vereschahen, Hayleigh Hilbert, and Des Poier.
BCY1107 Dandelion surfacing with their unique dorsal fin shape. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
A beautiful side profile from Dandelion. Photo by Hayleigh Hayleigh Hilbert
Dandelion going on a dive. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Dandelion’s blowholes. Baleen whales have two, while toothed whales only have one! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Dandelion creating a fluke waterfall. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
A different angle of those blowholes! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Dandelion’s flukes! Their dorsal fin is pretty distinctive, but flukes are primarily what we use for identifying humpbacks. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
BCX1416 Phi. Photo by Des Poier.
Phi’s calf! Such a cutie. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Phi and her calf. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Phi’s calf deciding to play around a little bit. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Phi’s calf poking it’s nose out of the water. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Someone’s pectoral fin. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Phi. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Phi and her calf about to go on a dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Phi’s calf going on a dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Phi’s gorgeous flukes! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
BCX1565 Crater. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Crater arcing for a dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A Moon Jellyfish. These particular ones won’t actually sting. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Guests watching the whales from our semi-covered vessel Kula. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Captain Rodrigo, Naturalist Vanessa, and our guests on our open boat Cascadia. Can you see yourself? Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Vancouver across the water. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
A Bald Eagle watches us in the trees. Photo by Des Poier.
Greyson deciding to hide behind a branch. Photo by Des Poier.