We once again had three boats leaving Nanaimo to search the Salish Sea in the afternoon of the 5th. Having three boats out is great since it means we can split up and cover more area in the search. We did just that, with two of our boats going south and a third heading east over the top of Gabriola Island. One of the southern boats went out into the Strait of Georgia via Gabriola Pass, while the other went further south towards Porlier Pass. We searched all of these areas, hoping to find a fin in the waves, and were rewarded when one boat spotted a white tail fluke sinking below the surface.

This whale was Neptune (BCY1021)! Neptune was first documented here in British Columbia in 2016 and did not have calf coloration at this time, so they are likely older than eight years old. We aren’t sure Neptune’s gender yet either, since they haven’t been documented with a calf before, and we haven’t seen enough of their ventral side. When we get a photo of the underside of a humpback whale, we are looking for a small lump known as a Hemispherical Lobe which is used to determine their sex. Females will have this grapefruit-sized bulge at the end of their genital slit while males do not. We can usually only see this if they are doing a high tail slap or a breach which can be difficult since these activities are not only rare, but seeing it without water obstructing it is even more uncommon.

Today, Neptune was hanging out alone in the Strait of Georgia, likely feeding on some yummy krill. Unfortunately, humpback social dynamics are still mostly a mystery to us due to heavy whaling between the 1860s and 1967. They estimate that up to 14,000 humpbacks were taken out of British Columbia waters at this time, leaving very few humpbacks unharmed. No one saw a single humpback for 30 years until the first whale (BCY0324 Big Momma) returned in 1997. Because of this, we have less than three decades of research on them. They used to think that humpbacks were solitary creatures since they were most commonly spotted swimming solo, but as time has gone on it’s becoming more common to see them in pairs, or sometimes even larger groups.

To minimize our impact on the wildlife we watch we try not to watch a whale for any longer than one hour, so it eventually came time to say goodbye to Neptune and head out to look for more wildlife. One of the other wildlife stops was at a little place we like to call Stinky Rocks. This is a favourite haul-out site of Steller Sea Lions and Harbour Seals! Both of these species are part of the Pinniped Family, meaning they are flipper-footed animals. There is quite a difference between these two species with the Sea Lions being much bigger (about 2-10x the size depending on sex) and much noisier! It’s rare to hear a peep from the Harbour Seals while you can hear the Sea Lions from half a mile away! Today there were also some black Oyster Catchers sharing the rocks with these marine mammals.

We had one last stop as we neared the end of our tour. There is a nest in the treetops along Gabriola Island that belongs to a pair of Bald Eagles. Bald Eagles mate for life, and it seems that this pair are very successful. We have been watching them during the summers for the last couple of years and each year they have successfully raised at least one chick. This year there is just a single eaglet that we gave the nickname Greyson, since when we first got his photo he was still fluffy and grey with down feathers. He has since grown out of that phase and is looking more like an adult, save for the white head and tail. They won’t have that iconic look until they are 5 years old and will stay mostly brown until that time. Greyson has quite a bit of growing to do, we can’t wait to see how he progresses!

Below you will find photos from the tour, captured by Marine Naturalists Val Watson, Lucy Willis, and Hayleigh Hilbert.

July 5, 2024, 3:30 PM - Humpback Whale Neptune in the Strait