It was another beautiful day on the water, the sun was starting to peek through the clouds, and the winds were nice and calm, leading to excellent conditions for whale watching. We left Nanaimo, our keen eyes scanning the water for whales, and our anticipation high as we were eager to see what we would find today.

The encounters started when one of the boats spotted the distinct blow of a humpback whale in the Strait of Georgia, where they had started their search. It turned out to be a mom travelling with her calf, Zig Zag (BCX1193), and her calf! Zig Zag is one of our “regulars” here in the Salish Sea, returning to our waters year after year. She is very easy to distinguish from other whales, thanks to some very distinct patterns on her tail. She is an X-type whale, meaning that less than 20% of her tail is covered with white pigmentation. Part of the white that is present is what we look for to identify Zig Zag: Three white spots in a triangle on the left side of her tail. Zig Zag herself was being quite playful as we spent time watching her and the calf. As she lifted her tail for each dive, she would finish with a flick backwards, which was always great to watch! Her calf followed very closely, staying glued to mom’s side even as Zig Zag disappeared beneath the waves, likely diving to feed on Krill in the area. We know this is what is likely making up the majority of Zig Zag’s diet right now, since we got to see something very special: poop! Since the poop was a rich pink colour, it means she has been enjoying a krill feast lately!

Seeing these two travelling together is not only great for us, but also an important sign that the populations of humpback whales in the area are on their way to recovery. Mothers returning with their calves is one of the primary ways we observe population growth, although sometimes adults also decide to switch feeding grounds and migrate to the Salish Sea instead. Since they have high Site Fidelity, this calf will also return to the waters around Nanaimo in subsequent years, as we have observed from seeing Zig Zag’s past calves, Scuba and Schooner, who have been regulars since their birth.

In even better news for the population of humpbacks, this wasn’t the only cow-calf pair that we ended up spotting today. As one boat got to see Zig Zag and her calf, the other boat found their own pair: Split Fluke (BCX1068) and her calf! Split Fluke is another one of our regulars, having been spotted in the area each year since she was a calf back in 2006. Now she has already brought three other calves of her own to the area, with this cute little one being number four! Split Fluke is named after her main identifying feature: a big split in her tail that happened to her when she was younger. This is thought to be caused by an attack from orca, likely during their very first migration, although it could also be caused by entanglement or a ship strike. The important thing is that she recovered from her injury without any issues and continues to thrive in the area since! She is also known to be a very good mother, as evidenced by one of her calves, Valiant. Valiant was also attacked by an orca when she was young, but luckily, Split Fluke did a great job defending her. Humpback moms will fight for their offspring very passionately, doing things like tail throws, breaching, and pectoral fin slaps to deter their predators: the Transient Orca. Not only are they thought to be more social than we once thought, but humpbacks also have some empathy, so protecting their calves is very important to them, not to mention the amount of energy that pregnancy and nursing take from mom! This calf won’t always have mom here to protect it, though, as they will only spend one year with mom before they are on their own. Luckily for this calf, by the time it reaches our waters, the risk of predation is usually over, as it is too big for the orca to be successful now.

Believe it or not, this wasn’t the final cow-calf pairing we saw today either, as Kappa (BCX0158) and Kappiroto (BCX0158calf2025) were spotted towards the end of the tour by one vessel. Again, Kappa is one of our regulars, and we love seeing her! She has a very spunky attitude, usually lifting her tail very high out of the water as she dives, making it easy to view the beautiful underside of her tail. She is also an X-type whale, so her fluke is mostly dark, but it is covered in stark white scarring, one of which forms a little “Κ”, which she is named for! Her calf seems to have adopted some of this spunky energy as well, as it has already started to lift its own tail, allowing us to see the underside from time to time. This is quite rare with calves, as it takes a while to develop the muscles to lift such a heavy tail. They also don’t have much reason to do it, since the tail lifts are to help them dive deeper for food, and this calf would still be getting most of its food from Kappa’s milk. It’s good to start practicing, though, since it won’t be long until it’ll be fending for itself.

It wasn’t only these six whales that were spotted during the morning, though; there were also two individual humpbacks travelling solo, one spotted by each of our boats out today. The first whale was a very familiar individual named Honu (BCX1856), and the second was a relatively new addition to the Salish Sea, Barge Boy (KEX0078). Both of these whales seemed to be feeding in their respective areas, lifting their tails before dipping below the surface for a few minutes. Just like the cow-calf pairs, these two are very important indicators of a healthy humpback whale population. Barge Boy was first seen by us only last year, but he was too large to be a returning calf from the previous year. This likely means that they were born to a whale that returns to a different feeding ground, and decided that the nutrient-rich waters of the Salish Sea might suit them a bit better. Honu, on the other hand, had been resighted year after year. Their return each season is also important for tracking the population.

In addition to all of the humpback whales, we also got to see some of the Pinnipeds in the area, mainly the Harbour Seals. These adorable little rock sausages were hauled out on the rocky shoreline of two different islands: Seal Island and Snake Island! It was fun to watch them bask in the sun before it was time to return to Nanaimo. Seeing all the wildlife today was an incredible sight, especially knowing how important those whales were to the ever-increasing populations of humpback whales in our area. Hopefully, we will continue to see these familiar fins for years to come!

Please enjoy all the photos from the tours included below, taken by the Marine Naturalists onboard Val Watson and Jordan Robsinson!