We had light winds and some nice cloud cover as we pushed both of our zodiacs off the dock this afternoon. We had one of the boats go down into the Gulf Islands while one went over the North end of Gabriola Island in an attempt to broaden our search for whales.

One of the zodiacs came across a couple of humpbacks first. These two whales have been hanging out for about a week now and both have gorgeous white tails! These were Geometry (BCZ0338) and Stingray (BCZ0409). Most often, we see humpbacks travelling alone or in pairs, and as the season progresses we see more groups of three. While we have our theories on why humpbacks group up like this, technically nothing has been confirmed. Humpback whales were hunted extensively in British Columbia between the 1860s and 1967. Luckily in ‘67, they received protection under the International Whaling Commission, but by then, over 14,000 humpbacks had been taken out of British Columbia waters, 10,000 of which were hunted by the Coal Harbour whaling station in Vancouver. Big Mama (BCY0324) was the first humpback to show up after they were protected. Her first sighting was in 1997, and she still returns to our waters every year! However, that means that humpback whales here have less than 30 years of research on them. We know a lot compared to what we did, but there’s a lot more that we don’t know! We notice that social dynamics can be very fluid, with some whales staying together for a day, and some whales staying together for weeks. Will we find out why? Only time will tell.

The zodiac with Geometry and Stingray also got to see Tempest (BCX0837) and her new calf! Thanks to Happywhale, we know Tempest goes to Mexico to breed and have her calves, so this little one was also born down there!

Since our other zodiac went a slightly different way, they saw a few different humpbacks! One of which was Ghost (BCX1333). Ghost was doing long dives and moving quite a bit while she was underwater, so it was a little bit hard to track her. We got a few surfaces and photos and then decided to move over to some blows we saw in the distance. While we were on scene with these whales, there appeared to be three of them. They were also a little bit hard to photograph, but we got beautiful views of them in the setting sun and rippling waves. These whales were Polyphemus (BCZ0342), Smiley (BCY0995), and Mantis (BCX0936).

Both of our boats also got to see a pair of killer whales today! These two whales have been hanging around for the past few days. Before this week, they mostly visit either Victoria or Port McNeill when they come to BC. These whales are a sister-brother pair and were moseying their way down the Strait of Georgia side of Valdes Island.

T030A Sequoia ♂ (1986)
T030C Salix ♀ (2005)

Sequoia and Salix were pretty close to a place we call Stinky Rocks! So once we came to the end of our time with the whales, we got to go see the wildlife over there! Stinky Rocks is a favourite haul out of Steller Sea Lions and Harbour Seals. We got to see both here, hanging on to the last of the sandstone rocks at high tide. We also had just enough time to stop at the Gabriola bluffs to see some cormorants.

It’s not every day we get to see both humpbacks and orcas in one trip, even if both are in the area. A double species day paired with our other animals is grounds for us to call this an A+ trip!

The photos from today were taken by Marine Naturalists Val Watson and Lucy Willis.