The weather is starting to cool down, but the sightings sure are not! Heading off aboard our open Zodiacs, Cascadia and Keta, we set off out and up along the coast. The Salish Sea has been extremely busy with whale sightings recently, and our hopes were high as we set off and began our day’s adventure.

In no time at all, we had located our first whales of the day. A smaller individual surfaced beside a much large one in tandem. It was a mother and calf pair! Occasionally fluking as they went, the pair spent most of their time simply travelling along as we observed. However, after a bit, the calf became rambunctious and began rolling onto their side, cheekily slapping at the surface as they went. Similar to human babies, humpback calves are known to be quite energetic, and often get up to mischief as their mothers simply move around and feed. Photos of the pair’s dorsal fins and peeks at their flukes let us confirm this as the well-known pair Ghost (BCX1333) and her calf Lil’ Boo (BCX1333calf2026). Both vessels enjoyed seeing the little one play alongside their mother for a bit, before we decided to head on out and begin searching once more.

This time, the boats split up and headed in different directions to cover more ground. This route was very successful for both vessels, who found multiple encounters of their own!

Just North of Gabriola Island, Keta found another pair of humpback whales travelling together. One very distinct dorsal fin could be spotted amongst the pair, and used in conjunction with the fluke photos captured by Naturalist Hayleigh, it was confirmed that this was Graze (BCY0523) and Mathematician (BCY0785). These two are well-known whales, with repeated sightings in our area for many years in a row. The pair travelled slowly and gracefully, arching as they plunged into the depths.

Closer to the Sunshine Coast, Cascadia found a lone humpback whale foraging. It only took a single dive for us to recognize this individual’s highly distinctive top fluke - it was Niagara (BCY0057)! Born in 2000 to famous humpback Houdini (BCX0022), Niagara has returned to our area for over two and a half decades. We hope to see him again for many more seasons to come.

Out in the heart of the Strait of Georgia, Keta found two more humpbacks. Once more, a young calf was seen travelling close to its mother. This pair was being quite fluke-shy, but not to fret, the mother’s unique dorsal shape and scar were enough for us to confirm their identity. This was Divot (BCX1057) and her calf Petrie (BCX1057calf2026). Petrie has quite an interesting appearance right now, with a dappled greyish pattern that is significantly lighter than a usual humpback. We are seeing this fairly often in calves right now and aren't entirely sure what is causing it. However, most of them tend to lose the condition as they age. We hope the same can be said for Petrie!

After a few surfaces with Divot and Petrie, Keta departed once more. We saw some splashes a bit farther out, and we were eager to check it out. Once in position, we saw what the ruckus was about – a small whale was lunge feeding along the surface on their side, snapping their jaw shut as they took in mouthful after mouthful of seawater and prey. Lunge feeding is an amazing technique to witness, as it is uncommon to see the hair-like plates known as baleen in a humpback’s mouth any other way. Baleen is used for filter feeding and was once used extensively for products needing rigidity but also keeping some flexibility, such as carriage whips and corsets. Thankfully, whaling is now banned in most countries, and we have alternatives we use for these products now.

As the whale continued zipping along the surface, we caught a brief view of the corner of their fluke. With this, we were able to confirm this individual was Vector (BCX2485).

While Keta enjoyed the lunge feeding action, Cascadia was with yet another group. These whales were confirmed to be Zig Zag (BCX1193) and Manta (BCZ0155), and further away on the horizon, Trooper (BCX1854) was seen travelling along as well. Zig Zag and Manta were fluking high into the sky as we observed them, diving down deep as they went. Keta and Vector were just a bit further off, and soon they were visible to both groups. Vector continued feeding away, skimming the surface repeatedly.

It had been a very fruitful afternoon, but it was soon to start heading back towards the harbour. Cascadia, however, still had one last whale encounter ahead.

As they were coasting along, another group of humpbacks was spotted off of Gabriola Island. They didn’t stay long, however, they confirmed the pair to be Raptor (BCY0458) and Uluka (BCX1702), another well-known duo in our area.

Every encounter with a whale is interesting, but we rarely see only whales when we are out and about. Near Halibut Bank, where Vector, Zig Zag, Manta, and Trooper had been seen, we saw many Steller Sea Lions lazily scratching and cleaning themselves on the bright yellow ODAS buoy. Closer to the British Columbia mainland, Harbour Seals and more sea lions were piled high out of the water, snoozing the day away at the White Islets. Several bird encounters also happened throughout the trip, including a Gull carrying a massive salmon head away for its dinner!

Back on the Vancouver Island side of the Strait, we soon headed back into Nanaimo Harbour. It had been a beautiful day full of many beautiful encounters, and we were eager to grab a warm beverage to cozy up to and chat about the day!

Please enjoy these photos taken by Marine Naturalists Hayleigh Hilbert and Evan Hessels.