The sun was shining overhead when our two vessels, Kula and Cascadia, left the Nanaimo waterfront and set off into the Strait of Georgia. We got everyone on board and settled in as we set off in search of some of the remarkable whales and wildlife that call these waters home.

The day's first destination for Cascadia was a fan favourite - a haulout known lovingly as “Stinky Rocks”!

Even though it's called that, there were many things one could appreciate about this little rocky area. The rocks were crowded with Harbour Seals and Steller Sea Lions, all of them using the sunshine to relax and get some much-needed rest. It is by no means uncommon to see pinnipeds pulled up on these rocks, where they can save energy between trips to feed in the surrounding waters.

A Bald Eagle was keeping watch of the area, perched high up on the rocks and looking down at the water below. Because of its position, the eagle had a good view of the area around it, maybe looking for an easy meal in the shallows.

At the same time, Kula kept going farther into the Strait of Georgia to search for whales. This proved fruitful, as soon the crew saw clear signs of a pair of humpback whales travelling together ahead.

They showed themselves to be very capable deep divers as we observed. The length of their dives was about 16 minutes, which is a long time to spend underwater! Although humpback whales can hold their breath for much longer, dives of this length might indicate that the whales were feeding at great depth, feeding on krill or small schooling fish below.

This advantage of their deep-diving was of some benefit to our Naturalists, though, since when a humpback whale is about to disappear for a long dive, it usually raises its tail well above the water. This then enabled us to get a good view of the underside of one of the whale's flukes, thereby confirming that one of the whales present was Vanta (BCX1730).

Vanta's companion, on the other hand, was being significantly trickier to ID.

Although it appeared at the same time as Vanta, this whale repeatedly dove without showing us the typical view of its flukes, which is the usual area used for identification. Fortunately, humpback whales have more than one characteristic which can be used for IDs. Here, a very special scar on the whale's dorsal fin, together with the distinctive shape of the fin itself, provided us with sufficient evidence to confirm that it was Meqe’ (BCZ0492)!

Since both whales spent a great deal of time below the surface, there were few moments of us seeing them at the surface. Instead of staying with these two and spotting them between their long feeding dives, Kula chose to carry on with the search. There was still a lot of ocean to explore!

Later on, Kula spotted another two humpback whales halfway down Valdez Island. Then, something amazing appeared in the distance as the crew drew closer - a massive humpback whale suddenly leapt entirely out of the water, also known as a breach!

Breaching is one of the most spectacular behaviours that a humpback whale may do, but it is also often one of the briefest. This was one of those times, as the whale did not breach again and quickly sank below the surface and vanished out of sight. Yet it appeared that the commotion had drawn the attention of another humpback whale nearby, as soon as another whale was seen taking to the skies in a similarly impressive behaviour known as cartwheeling!

Cartwheeling is a remarkable behaviour in which a humpback whale launches the rear part of its body out of the water in a wide, sweeping arc. While it is exciting to see any part of a humpback whale come out of the water, there is something especially memorable about watching it effectively throw its tail end into the air.

In fact, this vigorous display provided the Naturalists with precisely what they needed to identify the whale, as the unique fluke pigmentation swept into view. This acrobatic individual turned out to be Anvil (BCZ0410)!

Anvil is a whale well known to our team - or more precisely, she has a well-known fluke. Humpback whales are usually recognized by the distinct patterns of pigmentation, scars and markings on the underside of their tail flukes. These patterns are, in effect, the whale's fingerprint, enabling naturalists and researchers to distinguish different individuals.

Following a short period of mischief, Anvil once again settled down and went back to being a textbook example of usual humpback behaviour, travelling and diving away.

As the afternoon progressed, Kula and Cascadia started heading back towards Nanaimo. Since the Strait of Georgia lay out around them, there was ample opportunity to reflect on a day full of remarkable wildlife sightings, including sleepy Harbour Seals and Steller Sea Lions lying in the sunlight, deep-diving humpbacks, a surprising breach, and Anvil's wonderful cartwheels. A little bit later, both vessels returned to Nanaimo Harbour, thus ending another enjoyable day of exploring the Salish Sea!

Photos from this tour were taken by Marine Naturalists Evan Hessels and Jordan Robinson - please enjoy!

July 30, 2026, 10:30 AM - Humpbacks in the Strait