August 4, 2024, 3:30 pm - Another Bowl of Humpback Soup!
It was shaping up to be another lovely afternoon as we had our boat leaving Nanaimo. The morning tour had found humpback whales not too far from home, and other boats in the area had already found some for the afternoon as well. We started to head in that direction, keeping our eyes peeled along the way. It wasn’t long until those boats came into view on the horizon, with the blow of humpback whales becoming visible as well.
As we approached, it became clear that there was more than one humpback whale here, there was actually 4! Thanks to some activity at the surface and some close looks at them, we were able to identify these whales as Harpy (BCZ0503), Sage (BCX2073), Graphite (BCX2077), and Kelpie (BCY1276)! These four seemed to be focused on socalizing with each other, and didn’t mind that the boats were also around. It can be tricky watching the humpbacks sometimes, as they can be unpredicatible on where they will surface. Thankfully, we have training and regulations that come into play in situations like this. The whales seemed to be enjoying spending time around the boats, closer than the regulated 100m watch distance. When they do this, we have to have our engines shut down as to not cause entra noise for the whales, and to not cause them any harm through the movement of the propellers. This was basically how we spent our whole time with this quartet of whales, sitting with engines off, enjoying the look at the social behaviour of these giants.
Different whales seem to have a different comfort level around boats, and two of these whales are known for their curiosity towards them. It’s no surprise to us that they didn’t seem bothered by us! Once the whales got far enough away from us and our time was up, we were able to start up again and motor away.
Happy with our amazing time with the whales, we started to make our way towards a known sea lion haul out known as Stinky Rocks! There we were able to find a whole bunch of pinnipeds in the area including the very loud and entertaining Steller Sea Lions, and some of the smaller, more calm Harbour Seals. Although in the same family time spent with these two different species is like night and day due to their behaviours. Both are fantastic in their own way though!
On the way back towards Nanaimo, it seemed that fate had more whales in store for us, as we spotted the tall blows of more humpbacks not too far in the distance. As we approached, it became clear that it was a cow-calf pair, quickly IDed as Tempest (BCX0837) and her 2024 calf. These two seemed to be travellign as we were watching them, with tempest lifting her fluke up out of the water before they would dip below the surface for a few minutes. Tempest may have been feeding while they travelled but this young calf would still be relying on Tempest’s milk! It is very nutritious, and very full of fat. About 70% fat to be exact. It’s nearly like a thick, pink yogurt, pink due to the krill that they are eating.
We didn’t spend too long with these two before continuing our journey. Would you beleive that there was still more whales for us?! We came across one final pair, this time IDed to be Dalmatian (BCY0994) and Ghost (BCX1333). We again only stayed long enough to ID these whales before it became time to return to Nanaimo. It was a fantastic day with some great photos taken by the Marine Naturalist onboard Aly Kohlman.
Sage’s fluke.
Kelpie’s fluke.
Graphite’s fluke.
Harpy’s fluke.
Graphite’s fluke.
Kelpie diving.
Tempest’s fluke.
Dalmatian’s fluke.
Ghost’s fluke.
Harpy’s dorsal.
Kelpie’s dorsal.
Kelpie diving.
You can see the whale’s tubercules here!
Cruising through the surf!
Graphite’s dorsal.
Kelpie’s dorsal.
Harpy - she has a couple funky markings on her skin.
Graphite.
Someone looks very comfy!
A sleepy seal in the sun.
A big yawn from a sleepy Steller sea lion.