It was a beautiful morning with all three of our boats heading out to find whales. We made our way across the Strait of Georgia and it seemed appropriate that we stumbled across our whales close to the Sunshine Coast. Our two open boats started the morning by hanging out with a trio of Humpback Whales further out in the Strait while the semi-covered boat travelled alongside two families of Transient Killer Whales closer to shore. After our time with each group was up, the boats switched places so all guests could enjoy both species of whale.

Today, our trio of humpbacks consisted of Nuage/Beak (BCX1606), Niagara (BCY0057) and Specter (BCX1333 calf 2023). Beak and Niagara were lifting their tails beautifully, showing off the markings we use to ID them. Specter was feeling a little lazier today but was kind enough to give us a small peek of their tail, just enough to ID them too. Up until recently, it was believed that humpbacks were solitary animals but more and more often we see them associating with each other. We think that initially their population numbers were so low we that it was rare to see them together. Over the course of the last century, the whaling industry is thought to have reduced the number of humpbacks by around 90%. Thankfully since the ban on whaling, the species is recovering well and we get to reap the rewards with encounters like today.

Our two orca families consisted of the following five whales:

T086A3 Tyndall ♀ (2011)
T086A3A (2024)

T124A2 Elkugu ♀ (2001)
T124A2A Agafia ♂ (2013)
T124A2B Litton ♀ (2016)

It’s always a treat when we get to see a bouncing baby in the group and today was no different, with Tyndall’s calf receiving a chorus of “aww”s as they travelled alongside mom. Elkugu is a great choice of companion for Tyndall, having raised two children of her own as well as having helped her sister, Sabio, raise a little one. She’ll be a wealth of knowledge for new mom Tyndall to learn from.

After leaving the whales, there was still a lot of other wildlife to explore! Two of our boats headed to the White Islets where the Stellar Sea Lions were causing a commotion. The Harbour Seals were much more dignified, quietly watching us as we passed by. It’s also a popular spot for bird species, with cormorants stretching out their wings and a particularly cute sighting of a gull with some fluffy chicks today. Our other boat made their stop at the Gabriola Bluffs where they got to see a Bald Eagle eyeing up the cormorant nests.

It seemed the whales weren’t quite finished with some of us. Our open boat Cascadia stumbled upon another humpback whale on their journey home across the Strait. They didn’t show off their tail and disappeared after one surface so this whale remains a mystery to us. The calm waters also meant we could easily spot the Harbour Porpoises as they passed us by.

Our semi-covered boat found three additional whales before they made it back to Nanaimo! The first was a humpback named Fader (BCY0195). Their second discovery caused a lot of excitement on board as it was Humpback Whale Anvil (BCZ0410) with a brand new calf!

Each year Nanaimo plays host to The Great World Championship Bathtub Race. Last year was particularly eventful when one of the boats almost collided with a Humpback Whale - Anvil! Today’s sighting means we now know she was pregnant at the time. Our guests speculated about possible names the new baby could have relating to last year’s incident, including Bathtub, Soaker and Rubber Duck. Rubber Ducky was a particular favourite with the staff so it’s what we’ve adopted for the time being until this little one receives their official name.

After an exciting day on the water, all three boats returned to Nanaimo with smiles and a healthy sun glow.

Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Hayleigh Hilbert and Vanessa Vereschahen took amazing photos throughout today’s tour which have been included below.