August 13, 2024, 10:30 am - 21 different humpback whales in one morning!
What a morning! Between our two boats, we ended up seeing a total of 20 individual humpback whales on this morning's departure, which is a new record for our company! One of our boats ended up seeing a different group of whales than the other two, but rest assured that they both were getting a healthy helping of Humpback soup! The single boat ended up spotting blows in the distance while on the way to the other report and found a group of three humpback whales travelling together. These three were Strike (BCX1675), Sage (BCX2073), and Arial (BCY0767)!
After that, this boat found 5 more whales, this time a group of three and a pair of whales travelling together. The group of three was Scuba (BCY1225), Beak (BCX1606), and Trooper (BCX1854). At one point during our time with them, Trooper breached fully out of the water when a tugboat got a little bit close, perhaps a warning that they were there.
Close to these three, there was a pair of whales who had been travelling together a lot lately. It was Graze (BCY0523) and Mantis (BCX0936)! All of these whales seemed to be mostly focused on feeding in the area, doing longer dives and surfacing sporadically due to the direction changes under the water as they hunted their food.
Once this boat had finished its time with the humpbacks, they headed back towards Nanaimo, making a quick stop at the Gabriola bluffs to see the birds that were nesting there.
The other two boats ended up down near Porlier Pass, where there was another large congregation of whales. This must be a great feeding area, given that there are nearly 20 whales in this area alone 13 of which we got ID photos for, spread across a few miles. We ended up being able to just shut down our boats for most time having the various pairs of whales surfacing around the area. The whales that we were able to ID were as follows, with any pairs listed together.
Kappa (BCX0158) and Orion (BCX1251)
BCX2120 and Polyphemus (BCZ0342)
Taurus (BCY1080) and Scratchy (BCY1022)
Kelpie (BCY1276) and Watson (BCX1068calf2021)
Incognito (BCX2053)
Olympus (BCX2075)
Wolf Eel (BCY0940)
Professor X (BCX1965)
Eeyore (BCY1221)
Again, most of the behaviours seemed to indicate that these whales were feeding, and there must have been tons of food here to sustain all of these whales. It was a fun challenge seeing all of these whales at once, trying to get photos of the dorsal fins and tails. The tails are the easiest thing to use to ID them, given that it’s nearly 20 feet across. This leaves a lot of surface area for the scarring and pigmentation details to become apparent. You’ll notice in the photos below the huge amount of variation in the whale’s tails.
After spending time with whales, these boats also stopped at the Gabriola Bluffs for the nesting birds, with an additional look at Stinky Rocks to see the seals and sea lions.
The photos from the trip taken by the onboard marine naturalists are included below. Des Poier and Hayleigh Hilbert have photos from the two boats that watched whales near Porlier Pass, and Vanessa Verschahen has photos included afterwards of the whales watched by the single boat further into the Strait.
A pectoral fin waving in the air. Photo by Des Poier.
Wolf Eel creating a fluke waterfall. Photo by Des Poier.
The underside of Wolf Eel’s tail. Photo by Des Poier.
Eeyore’s tail fluke. Photo by Des Poier.
Orion and Kappa diving together. Photo by Des Poier.
The underside of Watson’s tail fluke. Photo by Des Poier.
Taurus’s tail. Photo by Des Poier.
Incognito flicking his tail. Photo by Des Poier.
“Professor X” diving. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Kappa’s dorsal fin. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
The underside of Olympus’s fluke. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Orion lifting his tail beside Kappa. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
The tip of Kappa’s tail. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Taurus going for a dive. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
A fluke waterfall from Taurus. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
One of the whale chin-slapping the others. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
The underside of Wolf Eel’s tail with another’s dorsal fin close by. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Orion lifting his tail with Kappa’s nostrils behind. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Kappa lifting her tail to dive. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
The underside of Kelpie’s tail. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
The underside of Taurus’s tail. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Polyphemus’s tail. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
BCX2120 going for a dive, with Polyphemus’s dorsal fin on the left. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Incognito’s dorsal fin. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Scratchy arching on the left, with Taurus’s tail on the right. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
The underside of Scratchy’s tail. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
The underside of Kelpie’s tail. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
The underside of Watson’s tail. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Fighting among the Sea Lions. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
A couple of Poopy sea lions. Photo by Des Poier.
Harbour Seals watching us with curiosity. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Adorable Harbour Seals on the Fucus. Photo by Des Poier.
A harbour Seal pup nursing from it’s mom. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Pigeon Guillemot swimming around. Photo by Des Poier.
A bald eagle watching us from the treetop. Photo by Des Poier.
Cormorants on the rock near the Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Hayleigh Hilbert.
Arial’s dorsal fin. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike’s dorsal fin. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Th underside of Sage’s tail. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Sage holding their tail sideways. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Arial arching for a dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
One of the humpback’s rostrum. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Right up the nostrils. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The underside of Graze’s tail. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Mantis going for a dive. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The very blurry confirmation shot for Beak! Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Trooper Breaching. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
The underside of Scuba’s tail. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Strike creating a fluke waterfall as she dives. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
Bald Eagle at the Gabriola Bluffs. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A cormorant family at the Bluffs. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A very ugly baby cormorant. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
What you looking at? Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.
A couple of young Cormorants. Photo by Vanessa Vereschahen.