It was another bright sunny morning as we set out in search of some whales! Our boats traversed through Dodd Narrows and into the beautiful Southern Gulf Islands. After searching around some of the islands we made our way towards the Georgia Strait. It was a little wavy out in the Strait but that seems to be the way our humpbacks like it! We were fortunate enough on this tour to see all kinds of activity from 1 individual in particular named Crater/Mensa (BCX1565). Crater was breaching, tail slapping, chin slapping and pec slapping the entire time we were with them.

During the spring months, humpbacks begin trickling into the colder waters of the Salish Sea. They’ve spent months in either Hawaii or Mexico breeding and calving. When they make these long journeys they go on a 4-6 month fast as there is little to no food for them in those warmer waters. When they return in April-June they are ravenously hungry eating anywhere between 3000-5000 pounds of food daily! Over the next several months they work hard to pack on the pounds before leaving us once again in the fall. Because the whales are often busy feeding, we don’t always get to see some of the more extreme behaviours that these behemoths exhibit. Knowing all this we were extra excited during today’s tour to see Crater displaying such a wide array of behaviours! When we see this kind of behaviour the question always arises, if they are supposed to be conserving energy and putting weight on while they are here, why would a whale like Crater be actively expending so much energy??

The answer is actually very simple - Crater was likely communicating with the other whales in the area. Tail-slapping, pec-slapping and especially breaching are very loud! The sound of the whale’s body slapping the surface of the water can be heard for several kilometres under the water. Crater was probably communicating but the question that’s always on our minds is “What are they saying?” Unfortunately, we don’t speak whale so we will never know for sure but some theories could be “I’m over here!”, “I’m really fit and healthy!” and “Look how big I am!” While we don’t have confirmation on whether Crater is male or female, at over 11 years old having not had a calf yet, there’s a strong possibility that they are male. It’s likely Crater was showing off for Split Fluke (BCX1068) who is a confirmed female Crater was travelling alongside. They were also travelling with 2 other whales of unknown sex that were identified as Graphite (BCX2077) and Grizzly (BCY1330) (a new-to-us whale!).

While Kula was hanging out with Split Fluke our Zodiacs went a little further north with Split Fluke’s newest calf Cerulean/Watson. Cerulean is Split Fluke’s 2021 calf. Calves spend up to a year with their mom learning where and how to feed before venturing out on their own. Split Fluke has done a wonderful job raising Cerulean as this little whale has now spent several years feeding and migrating on their own! Humpbacks display something called “feeding fidelity” which means they typically return to the same spot year after year to bulk up. Because of this, it’s not surprising that Cerulean was in the same general area as Split Fluke as this is where she would have taught them to feed. What was a little more shocking was seeing a whale named Grizzly in the area. Grizzly is slightly older than Cerulean but this is the first year we’ve encountered this whale. Grizzly’s mother is a whale that feeds in Alaska and this is where Grizzly would have been taught to return to year after year. We don’t know why Alaska whales end up in our waters perhaps they followed other whales here or maybe they made a wrong turn and decided to stay because the eating is good. Whatever the reason, we aren’t complaining. The more the merrier!

Speaking of the more the merrier, we were fortunate to see a wide range of other wildlife like river otters, harbour seals, sea lions, cormorants and even turkey vultures! You can see the wonderful photos from this morning’s tour below by Marine Naturalists Aly Kohlman, Hayleigh Hilbert, and Lucy Willis!

August 1, 2024, 10:30 am - A tail slapping good time!

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