The seas were stunning, the sun was shining high, and our full fleet was excited to start exploring the Salish Sea! Today’s journey took us northward, up past Nanaimo. Our three vessels spread out, covering a large portion of the waters as they went, scanning the horizon for any of the telltale signs of whales.

Suddenly, Cascadia saw blows and dorsals east of Neck Point. They began approaching and pulled their camera out to start identifying the individuals. This process is incredibly important, as we have two different ecotypes of orca that can be found in our area: the Transient (Bigg’s) orca, and the Southern Resident orca (SRKW). The Transients are considering a growing population, with their numbers increasing yearly, with a total population estimate of 300-350 individuals. Sadly, the Southern Residents are a stark contrast - their numbers continue to decline each year, and they are considered critically endangered, with their total population sitting around 74 individuals recently. Once we had compared the dorsal fins and saddle patches of these individuals to our catalogues, we confirmed that they were the Southern Residents - specifically, J pod. This distinction is important, as we do watch the Transients, but we must immediately leave the Southern Residents after documenting a sighting of them to help preserve their ecotype. With the ecotype confirmed, we continued on our way, heading further north and departing the Southern Residents. We hope that, with a combination of habitat conservation, prey conservation, reductions in underwater noise levels, and pollution cleanup, the Southern Residents will one day be able to recover.

The fleet once again spread out, coasting up past the Winchelsea and Ballenas Islands, scanning the whole route as they went. With every day a new adventure, you never really know where whales will show up! Just a bit further past the Ballenas Islands, our vessels caught sight of more blows, followed by flukes (tails) as the spotted whales began to dive. This pair of Humpbacks was busy zig-zagging and diving, likely feeding on krill in the deep waters. Once more, our Naturalists began the task of identifying our individual whales. Generally, for humpbacks, the underside of their flukes is used; however, the dorsal fins can also be used. After snapping some shots, we confirmed these two as Kappa (BCX0158) and Kappiroto (BCX0158 calf 2025)!

Kappa is considered an older whale in our humpback population, with her first sighting dating back to the 1990s! She, alongside other famous humpbacks such as Big Momma (BCY0324) and Houdini (BCX0022), marked the start of an event we have lovingly dubbed the ‘Humpback Comeback’. Once hunted relentlessly for their blubber and baleen, humpbacks became incredibly rare to see along our coasts. They were so rare, in fact, that many scientists believed them to be extirpated (locally extinct). The emergence of a small group of humpbacks returning to our waters in the late 1990s was groundbreaking, and it became even more impressive as the years progressed. Every season, these gentle giants would come into our area, spend the summer feeding here, and then depart for their incredible migration to their breeding grounds in either Hawaii or Mexico. This cycle continued, year after year, until the population began to flourish. Now, hundreds of humpbacks return to the inner waters of the Strait of Georgia every year, with numbers predicted to continue to increase. In a matter of 60 years, the seas went from quiet and desolate to bustling with whale activity.

Kappa has been seen with three confirmed calves over the years: in 2020, 2022, and now in 2025. While it is likely she had calves before these three, historical data regarding humpbacks and their relations are very sparse from the early 2000s. Thankfully, with more thorough records and educational materials now available, humpback ancestry is being more thoroughly tracked. We are excited to continue watching Kappiroto grow up for years to come, and to hopefully see more beautiful babies from Kappa as well!

After spending some time with these two, we headed out and continued the day’s adventure. Not far away, though, we located another pair of humpbacks, with one of them excitedly breaching and tail slapping on the surface of the water! Once again, we excitedly began the task of identifying this pair, as we curiously wondered who the little airborne wonder was. We confirmed these two as Valiant (BCX1773) and her 2025 calf (BCX1773 calf 2025) - in other words, another mother and calf pair!

Valiant’s calf seemed very energetic today and was repeatedly slapping their tail away on the surface of the water. We are always very excited when we spot young calves travelling along with their mothers, but this pair is extra special, as this little one is Valiant’s first confirmed calf. Born in 2017 to Split Fluke (BCX1068), Valiant is now 8 years old - a fairly standard age for when females bring back their first calves.

Valiant earned her name due to the intense scarring she has on her flukes. These scars, known as rake marks, are likely from orca trying to pull her away from her mother when she was young with their teeth. As she grew, the marks became more distinct, and they now show off her ‘valiant’ success at surviving what could have been a deadly encounter.

Valiant’s fluke - from Keta Coastal Conservation Catalogue

After spending some quality time with Valiant and her bouncing baby, we had to say our goodbyes and started heading back South towards Nanaimo. We had a couple more stops in mind, though, as we always try to maximize the number of species we can see on a tour!

The fleet continued towards Snake Island, hoping to find some Harbour Seals nestled up in the rocks.

Along the way, Keta located one more humpback slowly circling along, travelling and occasionally fluking. While their identity currently remains unknown, we are hopeful that with some further digging, we will learn who this little whale was!

The tide was very low as our boats began to circle Snake Island. With many nooks and crannies where seals can haul out, it’s always a bit of a game of hide and seek to see where they might be that day. Today, our seals were piled up on the shore closer to Gabriola Island, soaking up the sun and snoozing away. After taking a few peeks at them, we continued onward to a nearby buoy. Here, several Steller Sea Lions were resting, blissfully unfazed by the loud bell dinging directly above their heads. For a final stop, the vessels headed over to a pile of log booms outside Harmac, a large pulp mill on the outskirts of town. Here, our third and final common pinniped species could be seen - the California Sea Lions! Similar to the Harbour Seals and Stellers, the Californians were also spread out, snoozing and enjoying the warmth of the sun. The seasons are beginning to change, and the leaves are starting to turn, so they need to make the most of each and every warm day they can at this point! After wrapping up our time with the Californians, our vessels headed back into Harbour, wrapping up another excellent day exploring and enjoying the wonders of the Salish Sea!

Please enjoy these photos taken by Marine Naturalists Cheyenne Brewster, Aly Kohlman, and Hayleigh Hilbert!

September 11, 2025, 10:30 AM - Babies in the Strait