This sunny afternoon on the water held great promise for finding whales. As our semi-covered vessel, Kula, set out into the Strait of Georgia, we were greeted by serene seas and sunny skies. The weather was in favour of spotting some spectacular marine life!

As we headed south along the eastern side of Gabriola Island, our Captain and the guests soon spotted something promising on the horizon: Two humpbacks! We had found Deca (BCY1229) and Camelot (BCY1458)!

Both whales are relatively young. Deca is the 2020 calf of Squint (BCY0685) or about 5 years old, and Camelot is the 2021 calf of Fallen Knight (BCX0915) or about 4 years old. The pair were observed diving and surfacing in unison, often fluking together before slipping beneath the surface for dives lasting approximately 15 minutes. Their synchronized movements were a great sight, and on occasion, one would surprise us with a dramatic breach followed by an impressive splash!

As our time with Deca and Camelot came to an end and we began to ease away, another humpback was spotted in the distance. This lone whale had brief surfaces with relatively shallow dives, only staying underwater for around 5 minutes. Once we got sight of the humpback’s fluke, a photo identification shot revealed it to be Iota (BCY1466)! Iota is another young whale. Iota is the 2022 calf of Phi/Corona (BCX1416), or around 3 years old. Phi/Corona is a female humpback that frequents our waters here in the Strait of Georgia and Clayoquot Sound (the west side of Vancouver Island).

The humpback whales that visit British Columbia’s coastal waters migrate here for their summer feeding, returning to their winter breeding grounds in Hawaii and Mexico. During their time in B.C., they feed mostly on krill, as well as small schooling fish and copepods. In a season, humpbacks migrate upwards of 15,000 kilometres! During their migration and breeding down south, humpbacks won’t feed until they return to their summer feeding grounds. This means that they can go up to half the year without eating! During a humpback’s migration, it’s estimated that a humpback will lose one-third of its body weight!

Once our time was up with Iota, we decided to continue our adventures south to check out some Sea lions on a small rock outcrop east of Valdes Island.

Upon arrival, the large male Steller Sea Lions stood out among the smaller juveniles and females. Steller Sea Lions are the largest species of Sea Lion! Steller Sea Lions exhibit a trait called sexual dimorphism, meaning that males and females of the same species have different characteristics, with males growing three times larger than females. Mature male Steller Sea Lions weigh upwards of 2,500 pounds and reach up to 11 feet long, whereas females max out around 800 pounds and reach 8 feet long. The rocky outcrop they haul out on has been dubbed “Stinky Rocks” by those who visit to watch the wildlife. For those unfortunate enough to be downwind of this island, they get to find out why this name fits so perfectly! Since there are so many animals eating, sleeping, feeding, and defecating together on one small rock, the smell is as bad as you imagine it to be…

After we passed through the calm and protected waters of the southern Gulf islands, we stopped to watch some lingering California Sea Lions hauled out on a long boom. These California Sea Lions are slightly smaller than the Stellers and are beginning to migrate out of our area. The California Sea Lions hang out here and feed during the salmon run in the fall and stay until the Herring spawn in the spring. Around mid to late spring, they will make their way down south to California and Mexico to breed on soft sandy beaches, returning to the cold coast of British Columbia in time for the salmon run. This year, we have a couple of stragglers still hanging around, but they will be out of our area soon.

In addition to marine mammals, we had quite a good day with the birds! The noteworthy species we saw included multiple Bald Eagles, countless Cormorants (Pelagic and Double-Crested), Black Oystercatchers, and a lone female Rhinoceros Auklet!

See our photos below! They were taken by Jordan Robinson, the Marine Naturalist on board Kula.

June 7, 2025, 3:30 PM - A Trio of Young Humpbacks off of Gabriola Island!