August 7th - Can't get enough humpbacks!

Our trips on August 7th were filled to the brim with a ton of super friendly humpbacks! We are so thankful to be getting more and more humpbacks returning to our waters year after year. These gentle giants were once in a lot of trouble with whalers hunting them and a lot of entanglement happening in fishing gear. Luckily in Canada commercial whaling is no longer allowed giving these whales a break, but entanglement still remains an issue. These animals don’t usually notice when there is something small like the line of a crab trap in front of them and can swim right into them. Sometimes the gear will then get caught in either their mouth or get wrapped around one of their fins. If you ever see a whale that has fishing gear trailing behind it or you see a rope wrapped on them give the BC Marine Mammal Response Network hotline a call at 1-800-465-4336.

These giants can also have issues with boats since they can surface unpredictably. Thats why its so important that if you see a blow, go slow! It helps to keep the animals happy and healthy and allows us to be seeing more and more of them in the area. Check out some of the amazing photos below to see how great these animals really are!

BCZ-CS513 “Anvil” at the surface. She has a bump on her side that makes her easy to pick out in a crowd. Photo by Cheyenne Brewster (10:30).

Anvil mid tail slap! Photo by Cheyenne Brewster (10:30).

Photo by Cheyenne Brewster (10:30).

This angle really shows how big these animals are! Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

Too many whales for our telephoto lens! Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

BCX1210 “Slate” and her calf. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (10:30).

BCX1210 “Slate” (front) and BCZ0298 “Split Fin” (back). Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).

Fire breathing humpback alert! This blow caught the sun just right to make it a reddish-orange. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).

BCX1210 “Slate” (right)and her calf (left)! Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).

Here we have BCX1210 “Slate”, her calf, and BCZ0298 “Split Fin” surfacing together from left to right. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).

Slates calf waving at our boat with it’s pectoral fin. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).

Here are some tubercles on the face of this humpback! These are basically oversize hair follicles on the humpbacks chin. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).

Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).

Slate (behind) with her calf doing a side swim! Here you’re looking at the bottom on the calf with its pectoral fin by its side. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher (3:30).