September 28, 2026 - Humpbacks in the Strait, and Hunting Orca in the Harbour!
It was a classic West Coast day as we had an open boat and our semi-covered boat leaving Nanaimo to start their search of the Salish Sea. The search began with both boats heading out into the Strait of Georgia, facing waves as they looked for the whales spotted from shore earlier in the day. Although this search for whales didn’t prove fruitful this time, the scenery along the way was worth the wetness. Not only is the coastline and rugged forest beautiful in the overcast weather, but we also passed Entrance Island, a lovely little island at the north end of Gabriola Island with one of the last manned lighthouses on the coast. The white-and-red buildings stood out beautifully against the dark clouds.
With no whales to be found out here this time, we turned our bows south, taking a more protected route through the Southern Gulf Islands as we searched along the way to Porlier Pass. This time, when we entered the Strait of Georgia, we found beautiful, calm seas. Our boats spread out to continue the search, and both were rewarded with humpback sightings. The semi-covered boat came across a pair of whales, Snoopy/Gibbous (BCY0770) and Nalu (BCY1072), feeding along Galiano Island, while the open boat found their own pair, Frankenstein (BCX1358) and Aerie (BCY0938), feeding near Porlier Pass.
It’s no surprise that we find humpback whales feeding most of the time we observe them off the coast of BC, since we are in their feeding grounds. Humpback whales have two distinct times in their year: feeding and building fat reserves over the summer months, and migrating south, where less available food means they rely on the fat reserves built during those summer months. To build that fat layer, humpbacks spend nearly their entire day feeding, consuming approximately 3,000 pounds of food each day. This number becomes even more impressive when you consider that humpback whales are filter feeders, meaning that they feed on very small animals. In the Strait of Georgia, research shows they typically feed on krill, though small schooling fish sometimes make the menu as well. Each krill only grows to about an inch long, meaning that they might need to consume a million of these animals each day. They do this by taking in nearly 20,000 Litres of water with each mouthful and pushing it out through the 400 Baleen Plates that hang from the roof of their mouths. When we see them disappear below the surface, they are chasing this food to rebuild their energy.
Towards the end of the season, when they’ve been working on building that reserve for a while, you start to see behaviours shift from feeding non-stop to more social breaks, and both boats got to briefly see this today, with Snoopy lifting his rostrum up out of the water while following Nalu, perhaps trying to spur her into socializing, and Frankenstein got slightly curious about the boat, giving it a closer pass before continuing on his way.
After their initial humpback encounters, both boats headed back toward Nanaimo, since a pod of orca was reported not too far from there. While they tried to return to the Islands, the open boat spotted one more pair of humpback whales for one set of surfaces, Watson/Cerulean (BCY1461) and Arial (BCY0767). As we had seen before, these whales were feeding in the area, and when they dove to chase prey, we took the opportunity to head back toward Nanaimo. We are so glad we did, since catching up to the pod of orca turned out to be the highlight of an already exciting trip.
We first found the whales as they travelled inside Departure Bay, taking Newcastle Channel toward Nanaimo Harbour itself. Seeing whales in the harbour isn’t super common, although some pods are more likely to spend time inside there than others. When we saw who was travelling through today, it came as no surprise, since the matriarch of this pod was named after Nanaimo herself, given how much time she and her family spend here! It was the T049As, along with two members of the T050 matriline.
T049A Nan ♀ (1986)
T049A3 Nat ♂ (2011)
T049A4 Neptune ♂ (2014)
T049A5 Nebula ♀ (2017)
T049A6 Charlie II ♂ (2022)
T049A7 Nimbus (2026)
T050B1 Blakeslee (2012)
T050D Lyrical (2011)
After passing through the narrow channel, these whales seemed to attempt to hunt as they entered the sailboat anchorage area in the Harbour. Their attempt was unsuccessful; the whales continued south, leaving the main harbour and entering the Nanaimo River Estuary zone. Here, the action really started. The whales moved much more quickly, porpoising through the water in pursuit of their prey before striking it out of the water and sending the Sea Lion flying through the air from the force of the impact. This is one of the techniques orca use with larger prey like this: hitting and stunning the animal, or using the impact of their own bodies landing to stun it. We saw plenty of attempts at this while we watched the group hunt, with breach after breach erupting from the water as they moved quickly around. This type of surface activity is most common (and most exciting) during hunting, although they often do it during socializing events as well. These movements take a lot of energy, so they need a good reason, and hunting a larger prey source like a sea lion is a great one. The extra energy spent pays off if successful, since the sea lion likely weighs around 800 pounds. That’s a fair amount of food, considering each animal here needs to consume about 150-300 pounds of food, depending on age and gender. Compared to the Harbour Seals, which are only about 100-300 pounds, this is a substantial meal.
Eventually, their behaviour shifted from hunting to sharing prey and celebrating afterward, spending longer periods beneath the surface dividing up their catch. Although not all members of this group are directly related, they still share this meal together, especially since they all contributed to the hunt. It was a special sight to get to witness these whales working together for their next meal, and all the exciting activity that went along with it, especially right in our own Harbour.
As the sun grew low, it was eventually time to leave the whales behind, and we made the short trip back to the dock. It was an amazing day on the water, reminding us that we never know where wildlife might turn up, travelling to see the humpbacks in the Strait only to end the tour with whales in the Nanaimo Harbour. Throughout the tour, Marine Naturalists Val Watson and Desarae Poier captured some amazing photos, all of which are included below!
Snoopy/Gibbous surfacing in the strait. Photo by Val Watson.
A lovely fluke waterfall from Snoopy/Gibbous. Photo by Val Watson.
Nalu going for a dive. Photo by Val Watson.
The beautiful underside of Nalu’s tail as she dives. Photo by Val Watson.
A lovely blow from Snoopy/Gibbous as he surfaces. Photo by Val Watson.
Nalu (front) and Snoopy (back) surfacing together. Photo by Val Watson.
Snoopy/Gibbous lifting his rostrum with Nalu just beside him. Photo by Val Watson.
A fluke waterfall from Snoopy/Gibbous as he dives, also featuring Nalu’s nostrils. Photo by Val Watson.
The underside of Snoopy/Gibbous’ tail. Photo by Val Watson.
A lovely high fluke from Nalu as she dives. Photo by Val Watson.
Frankenstein going for a dive. Photo by Desarae Poier.
Aerie going for a dive. Photo by Desarae Poier.
A close up look at Frankenstein. Photo by Desarae Poier.
Just look at the water cascading off of Frankenstein’s back. Photo by Desarae Poier.
A sideways tail from Frankenstein. Photo by Desarae Poier.
Aerie going for a dive. Can you spot the red in the water at the base of their tail from pooping? Photo by Desarae Poier.
The lovely underside of Aerie’s tail as they dive. Photo by Desarae Poier.
Can you see the stitch-like scars on Frankenstein’s tail that he got his name from? Photo by Desarae Poier.
Arial going for a dive. Photo by Desarae Poier.
Arial surfacing in the waves. Photo by Desarae Poier.
Watson/Cerulean going for a dive. Photo by Desarae Poier.
A California Sea Lion at the Harmac log booms. Photo by Desarae Poier.
A Steller Sea Lion giving the others a dirty look. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T049A Nan, T050D Lyrical, and T049A7 Nimbus surfacing together during the hunt. Photo by Val Watson.
More action in the hunt! Photo by Val Watson.
A big lunge after the sea lion that they’re hunting. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A3 Nat surfacing with the sea lion they’re hunting. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A Nan surfacing with T049A3 Nat. Photo by Val Watson.
One of the whales flicking their tail in the air. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A4 Neptune flying through the air while T049A3 Nat and T049A Nan surface to the right. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A3 Nat, T049A Nan, T049A5 Nebula, and T050B1 Blakeslee surfacing together while T049A4 Neptun splashes down next to them. Photo by Val Watson.
One of the whales breaching. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A Nan slapping her tail as she travels beside T050D Lyrical and others. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A5 Nebula breaching. Photo by Val Watson.
A double breach in progress with T049A6 Charlie II and T050B1 Blakeslee. Photo by Val Watson.
A big splash while T050B1 Blakeslee finishes teir breach. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A6 Charlie breaching. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A6 Charlie was completely airborne for this one! Photo by Val Watson.
You can see T049A6 Charlie’s little underbite in this photo. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A3 Nat getting in on the breaching action. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A3 Nat surfacing next to one of the younger whales breaching. Photo by Val Watson.
A lovely tail flick from one of the whales. Photo by Val Watson.
T049A7 Nimbus swimming upside down with their mouth open. Photo by Val Watson.
T050B1 Blakeslee surfacing in the Nanaimo Harbour. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T050D Lyrical surfacing in the Harbour. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T049A3 Nat surfacing with the Maffeo Sutton Bridge as the background. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T049A Nan surfacing alongside T050D Lyrical. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T049A4 Neptune breaching. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T049A4 Neptune breaching again. Photo by Desarae Poier.
Coming in for a landing! Photo by Desarae Poier.
One of the whales breaching with the Gabriola Island Ferry in the background. Lens compression makes it look closer than it actually is! Photo by Desarae Poier.
Another angle of T049A6 Charlie breaching. Photo by Desarae Poier.
I told you T049A6 Charlie II got airborne during that breach! Here it is from another angle. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T050B1 Blakeslee and T049A3 Nat surfacing beside a breaching T049A6 Charlie II. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T050D Lyrical, T049A6 Charlie II, and T050B1 Blakeslee surfacing together. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T049A3 Nat breaching on the left of a younger whale. Photo by Desarae Poier.
A lovely breach during the hunt. Photo by Desarae Poier.
T049A3 Nat breaching with another whale doing a headstand beside him. Photo by Desarae Poier.
A lovely final look at T049A3 Nat breaching. Photo by Desarae Poier.