July 17, 2024, 3.30 pm - It was humpback soup with Dandelion, Coyote, Niagara, Slice, Split Fluke, and Prowler!
Two boats pushed off the dock this afternoon and headed across the Strait of Georgia in search of whales.
Our open boat spotted the big, bushy blow of a Humpback Whale and got to work on figuring out who this whale was. All of the whales that come to our area are given a unique catalogue ID number and a nickname. There are two main ways we can identify our humpbacks. The first is by looking at their dorsal fins. The dorsal fins of our humpbacks are fairly small so usually, the easier way to ID them is by looking at the underside of their tail as they lift it out of the water. The tail flukes of each whale have a unique shape, unique markings and occasionally also scarring that allow us to identify them. This particular whale has a very unique dorsal fin, so today we didn’t even need to see their tail to figure out we were with Dandelion (BCY1107). While with Dandelion, we spotted another blow in the distance and started making our way towards it to see who else was around. All of a sudden, Coyote (BCX0837 calf 2021) breached out of the water beside us! After this impressive display of strength, Coyote came over to inspect the boat. We got a good look at their rostrum as they lifted it out of the water. The bumps on the rostrum are called tubercles and each contains a single, whisker-like hair. After a few minutes of inspection, Coyote decided they’d seen enough and gave us one final fluke as they left.
In the meantime, our semi-covered boat found another pair of humpbacks travelling together - these two were identified as Niagara (BCY0057) and Slice (BCX1057 calf 2021). These two whales were coming up to the surface for a few breaths before taking long dives underwater. This is common to see when the humpbacks are eating. Adult humpbacks need around 3,000 lbs of food every single day - that’s more than the average human eats over two years! Humpback Whales feed on small organisms in the water such as plankton, krill and small schooling fish. It’s no surprise that a lot of the time when we find them, the whales are trying to fill up on the food in our waters.
We also found one other pair of humpbacks today - these two were Split Fluke (BCX1068) and Prowler (BCX1660)! These two weren’t up to much today as they were just slowly travelling along with the occasional fluke, but it was amazing to see another 2 gentle giants regardless!
Once our time was up with our big bowl of Humpback Soup we began looking around for other wildlife. One boat headed to the White Islets to see a large group of Steller sea lions up on the rocks. The other boat headed to the Halibut Bank ODAS buoy to see a different (albeit smaller) group of Stellers snoozing away. We were also able to see some curious Harbour seals at Snake Island alongside Gulls, Black Oystercatchers (including a chick!), and Surf Birds. Our final stop was to see a majestic Bald Eagle on Gabriola Island before we turned back to home port after another great day on the Salish Sea!
Today’s photos were taken by Marine Naturalists Vanessa Vereschahen and Hayleigh Hilbert.
A little (slightly out of focus) harbour porpoise! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Dandelion getting ready to go for a dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The underside of Dandelion’s tail. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Coyote breaching! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Coyote’s dorsal fin as they got curious about the boat. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A little look at the underside of Coyote’s tail flukes, Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Niagara on the left and Slice on the right! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Niagara and Slice preparing to dive at the same time. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Niagara lifting his tail to dive. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Open boat guests watching the whales! Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Split Fluke lifting her tail to prepare to dive. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Split Fluke has a barnacle scar on her dorsal fin that we use to help ID her. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Split Fluke getting ready for s deep dive. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Prowler has a very non-distinct dorsal fin. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Prowler lifting his tail with Split Fluke surfacing just ahead of him. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
A nice high fluke from Split Fluke. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
A very high fluke from Split Fluke. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Split Fluke arching her back for a dive in the sunshine. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Look at all the water dripping off Split Fluke’s tail here. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The beautiful underside of Split Flukes tail, sporting the scars from an entanglement. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The underside of Prowler’s tail. Its a bit of a rare sight since they don’t typically lift it very high. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Prowler lifting their tail to dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The hooked notch near the middle of their right tail fluke is the main way we ID Prowler. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Can you see both species of barnacle hanging off of Split Fluke’s tail? Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Prowler going for a dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The underside of Split Flukes tail. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Steller Sea Lions at the White Islets. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
A big Steller Sea Lion on the Halibut Bank Buoy. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Look at that big sea lion! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Some Harbour Seals on Snake Island. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A Black Oyster Catcher on the sandstone rocks. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
An Adult Black Oyster Catcher with a young one of the right. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A group of Surf Birds on Snake Island. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A trio of Surf Birds. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A pelagic cormorant on the Bluffs. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
One of the Adult Bald Eagles on a nearby tree. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.