Another beautiful morning greeted us as guests and crew piled on board our vessels, excited and ready to start the adventure. Each day is a fresh start, since none of our whales have any trackers or tags that give us a clue where they might be. We let intuition and experience guide us as we sent our three vessels out into the Strait of Georgia, heading east into the open waters of the strait in search of whales.

We look for a few clues while we search for whales. It might be anything from unusual splashing, spouts in the distance, or the tall dorsal fins present on orca slicing through the water to the presence of sea birds feeding on the same food as the whales. All our whales are constantly on the move and could appear anywhere, so being alert is important not just to find and watch them, but to protect them as well.

We headed toward an area that typically provides plenty of food for our whales, thanks to a dramatic change in the sea floor topography that mixes the water column and introduces nutrients. It was around here that we spotted the first signs of whales: a tall, bushy blow rising on the horizon, a sure sign that humpback whales were around. As we got closer, we confirmed this by seeing the dark bodies of two whales moving through the waves. They soon arched and lifted their tails to dive. The underside of these tails is what we hope to see to be able to identify the humpbacks most easily, and it allowed us to confirm that these two were Zig Zag (BCX1193) and Mantis (BCX0936) travelling together.

These two have been enjoying each other's company for over a week, showing that humpbacks can sometimes have longer-term associations. It used to be thought that the humpbacks were solitary animals, but now it’s just as likely to see them travelling alongside other whales as it is to see them alone. Later in the tour, one of the boats actually spotted a lone humpback travelling further south in the strait, Valiant (BCX1773), which highlights this point perfectly.

All the humpbacks spotted during the tour today were feeding as we watched them, which is great since they need to build a large fat reserve for their migration back south to Hawaii or Mexico by the end of the year. Watching them move their massive bodies so effortlessly through the water was great, but eventually it came time to leave them to it.

A report from shore led us back towards Nanaimo since there was a pod of orca reported to be headed towards Dodd Narrows, so we decided to check that out. Boy, were we glad we did, since we ended up seeing the T101s moving north through Northumberland Channel.

T101 Reef ♀ (≤1969)
T101B Lagoon ♂ (1997)

These whales have been a common sight for us lately, which we would never complain about, since they are such a lovely pair of whales. It was only recently that they were reduced to a pair rather than a trio, as one member of their pod has been missing for the last month. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the whale is gone; sometimes they might strike out on their own for some period of time, but he was also getting a bit older, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he passed.

Most of the time, when whales die, their bodies sink, feeding the deep-water ecosystems and leaving us wondering what happened to him. Orca won’t be officially ruled deceased until enough time passes since the last official sighting, but it becomes more likely when we see the rest of the normally tight-knit group multiple times, as we have been here.

Only time will tell if Rush will ever reappear with these two, but in the meantime, it seems Reef and Lagoon are content to spend time together and have been making a good team. After some time with them, we left them behind once more to continue their travels. We headed south to Stinky Rock from here, enjoying the scenery of the Southern Gulf Islands as we went. At Stinky, we were treated to a variety of wildlife, including Steller Sea Lions, Harbour Seals, and many different bird species. It was a great way to end the trip.

Please enjoy the photos taken throughout the tour by the onboard Marine Naturalists Evan Hessels, Aly Kohlman, and Hayleigh Hilbert.