It was another beautiful day to spend out on the water during this morning’s trip. The sun was shining and the waters were calm as we started our search out in the Strait of Georgia. There has been a lot of luck out here for the last few days, so we decided to see if our luck would continue today.

As we were travelling, we spotted the telltale sign of whales in the area: the large, bushy blows of a humpback whale! As we got closer, it seemed that this whale was feeding in the area, lifting their tail high into the air as they did so. This high fluke allowed us to easily ID them as Checkmate (BCY1104). Checkmate has some very distinct scarring on the left side of their tail flukes. You might notice the three slicing scars, one of which looks like a chess piece, likely where the name “Checkmate” came from!

When naming humpback whales, what you usually reference is something on the bottom surface of the tail that gives a clue as to who you are looking at. Sometimes these names are assigned by the first person who gets a photo of the underside of the tail, sometimes the researchers apply it, and other times it can be a part of an educational group that takes part in the naming process.

Checkmate has been spending time in the waters around BC for the past 10 years, first being spotted in 2015. Humpback whales have high site fidelity, meaning that they tend to return to the same area year after year. This means that we get quite familiar with the humpback whales that return to the area around Nanaimo. The next group of whales that we saw after our time spent with Checkmate were also some familiar fins. It was a group of three spending time together this time: two of whom cooperated enough for us to get an ID, while the other one remains a mystery. The two we confirmed were Harpy (BCZ0503) and Chandelle (BCX2140), and the third didn’t have a distinct enough dorsal for us to figure out.

These three were less focused on feeding than Checkmate was; instead, they seemed to be feeling more social. Not just with themselves, but for a brief moment, they seemed to include us in their escapades. The three surfaced close to our boat before quickly drifting away, leaving us with a sense of awe at just how gigantic these animals are. We typically watch the humpbacks at a distance of at least 100 meters, although we usually give them a bit of extra space since they surface unexpectedly when they are feeding. When close encounters like this happen, it’s important to remember the rules: shut your engines off and wait for them to swim away. If a boat were to panic upon having a humpback come too close and start its engine trying to get away, it would not only increase the chance of hurting the whale with the propeller or because of the sound, but it could also hurt the people too. Humpbacks are close to 17 meters in length when fully grown. So if they get startled or scarred, if they act out in this fear, it can cause quite an impact on the boat.

The slight curiosity with these whales passed very quickly, and they continued on their way, focusing their attention back on each other. We enjoyed watching these three for a while before we moved on to our third and final humpback group, which was Zorro (BCX0380). Zorro is a great example of what can happen to whales if they come in contact with boats, since the entire left side of the tail has been lost. There is another whale in the area to met the same fate last year, Schooner, who is also now missing the left side of their tail. Both of these animals are true examples of the resilience in humpbacks and the amount of damage they can survive. Sadly, it’s estimated that upwards of 80% of the humpbacks in our water carry some kind of human-based scarring, either from ship strikes or entanglement.

Getting to see Zorro swimming so strongly despite the missing piece is always a great time. But all good things must come to an end, so we left all the humpbacks behind us and headed over to an area known as Stinky Rock. Stinky is usually a great place for spotting the two species of pinnipeds that are common in our waters: the Steller Sea Lions and the Harbour Seals. While both are “flipper-footed mammals” (named due to the iconic flippers that they use to move around), they are very different from each other. Not just due to their size, but the Stellers can also move around better on land, and they are quite noisy. While the sea lions are growling away, making quite the fuss, you hardly ever hear the Harbour Seals making noise.

The final stop on the trip was on Gabriola Island, stopping to see the Bald Eagle nest there. The young eagles had their wings stretched out, leading us to believe that we would see them moving from branch to branch in not too much more time, which is the next step on their path to fledging. Seeing the young animals growing up is one of our favourite things about this time of year. Returning to the harbour, we were thrilled with all the different whales and wildlife that we spotted today! The onboard Marine Naturalist, Hayleigh Hilbert, captured some great photos, which are available below.

June 19, 2025, 10:30 AM - A handful of humpbacks in the Strait of Georgia