It was a beautiful, sunny day as we had two of our vessels leaving the Nanaimo Harbour. Since there was some wind out in the Strait of Georgia, we tried our luck in the Southern Gulf Islands to start the search. This was lucky for us as we shortly found a pair of humpbacks travelling together near Ruxton Pass.

When we first found this duo, they seemed to be resting during their travel, gentle breaking the surface of the water with their dorsal surface before dipping back below for a longer interval. Eventually, we saw them lifting their tail up out of the water, allowing us to identify them as Achilles (BCX2075calf2023), travelling with Turkey (BCY1157)! This is the first time we have seen Achilles since the first year they were born, when they were still travelling with their mom, Olympus! Achilles is part of a rather famous family line, as her Grandmother, Big Mama, is arguably one of the most famous humpbacks in the Salish Sea. This is because she is such a prolific mother, having brought an astounding 8 calves back to the Salish Sea, who themselves have brought her 7 grandkids and 5 great-grandkids. This huge number of whales in the family line is fantastic for population recovery in the area, especially since whales have such high site fidelity. This is just a fancy way of saying that they return to the same place year after year, so all these kids and grandkids are likely returning to the Salish Sea, just like Big Mama!

Turkey is a little bit more of a mystery, not having any known mother, and showing up in the area for the first time in 2018. We haven’t seen much of Turkey during this time, just the odd sighting here and there for the past couple of years. What we do know about Turkey is that they are a survivor of entanglement, as shown by the scarring on their tail. Their peduncle (or base of their tail) shows masses of scar tissue likely gathered where a line was digging into their skin. The chunk missing from the left side of their tail fluke is also likely from the same entanglement event. Luckily, it seems Turkey was able to shake this entanglement, freeing themselves and healing over time. Although very sad to see, it’s also quite common. An estimated 80% of the humpback whales in BC have some sort of man-caused scarring, be it from entanglement or from ship strikes.

There are lots of things being done to help decrease the chances of these issues occurring for the humpback whales. Public education is one of the main ones, since if people know how to act around the whales, and how to predict if they might be present, the likelihood of there being a negative interaction decreases.

Today we were just happy to stay and watch these two travelling through Stuart Channel for our time with them, before it was time to leave and search for other wildlife.

The first stop we made was with Harbour Seals, where there was a large group hauled out on the rocks near Norway Island. These relatively small pinnipeds (only weighing about 300 pounds) love to spend time on the rocks that aren’t too steep, since they don’t have much mobility on land. They are mostly built for speed and maneuverability in the water, which leaves their movements on land a little awkward. Even if it’s a little funny to watch, this time out of the water is super important for maintaining their body temperature, since the waters around Vancouver Island stay quite cold year-round.

At this haulout, we also spotted a Great Blue Heron that was apparently looking for lunch. These tall birds will patiently wait by the water's edge for a fish to get too close, and then they will strike! We didn’t see it have any success, but even just seeing them standing by is always impressive, just due to their sheer size.

Speaking of big animals, next up was the Steller Sea Lions. These are the largest species of sea lion in the entire world! The males, in particular, are the ones that get larger than the others, weighing in at up to 2,800 pounds! The females max out closer to 800 pounds, which is still quite impressive. There were a lot of them spending time together on Stinky Rocks today, fighting over their personal space while walking across the backs of others. They are quite amusing to watch going about their day!

With a final stop at the Gabriola Bluffs to view the nesting birds there, the tour came to a close, but what a tour it was! We felt lucky to see all the wildlife we did. The marine Naturalists onboard, Aly Kohlman and Jordan Robinson, captured some great photos throughout the tour, which can be viewed below!

June 10, 2025 - Spending time with Humpbacks Achilles and Turkey in the SGIs