Beautiful conditions greeted us as we boarded our two open vessels, Cascadia and Keta. Onboard Naturalists Hayleigh and Evan chatted about what the day had in store for us, where we planned to start searching, and what to look for in terms of potential whale activity. After a slow departure from the harbour, we picked up speed… and then almost immediately slowed down again. Just ahead, a big blow had broken the surface – there was a humpback whale just minutes from our dock!

We always say that every tour is a new adventure, as none of our whales are equipped with trackers or tags, but today was a perfect example of how we never truly know where they will show up from day to day. Sometimes we have to travel an extensive distance before we encounter our first whales, while other days they are truly “in our backyard.”

After getting into position, we raised the cameras and began working to identify this lone individual. They arched their back and brought their flukes high out of the water, leading to a perfect ID shot opportunity. On top of that, they also had a very uniquely shaped dorsal fin, with a ‘scoop’-like notch out of the top edge. With these two identifying features, we confirmed that this was Kata (BCY1218).

Kata is a relatively new whale to the area, with his first sighting only being in 2021. Since then, he has had many encounters throughout the Salish Sea, and thanks to Happywhale, has also been cross-matched to the Hawaii breeding grounds. He was already at least a juvenile at the time of his first sighting, travelling alone. Humpbacks do not show any clear indication of age, and unless we see them in their first year of life travelling with their mother, we very rarely know how old they truly are.

We enjoyed some time with Kata before heading on out to continue exploring around. Making our way out of the harbour (for real this time!), we travelled out and along Gabriola Island’s shoreline. Not too long after, another blow and then fluke was spotted travelling along. Once more, we got into position, and once more, we began working on identification.

Diving down, lifting their fluke up, this whale was identified as Cassiopeia (BCY0796). At 23 years old, Cassiopeia is one of our older documented humpback whales. The species was nearly extirpated from the area after whaling activities decimated the population. Commercial whaling was officially banned in Canada in 1972, and for the next few decades, it was considered rare to see one of these gentle giants cruising along. Come the late 1990s, that began to change when a few well-documented individuals were spotted. Big Momma (BCY0324), Kappa (BCX0158), Houdini (BCX0022), and a few others were documented travelling through the area in the summer, before leaving at the end of the season. They would return in the following years with calves and others in tow, and since then, the population has made an incredible recovery, in an event now lovingly dubbed the “Humpback Comeback”.

Keta still had one more encounter in store for them, though. Coasting down along Valdes Island, we could see a large swatch of blows on the horizon. We slowly made our way over, and soon, we could see many humpbacks all around. They were travelling in smaller groups amongst themselves, and after grabbing some photos, we concluded that there were at least three distinct groups present: Nike (BCX1377), Aerie (BCY0983), and Graze (BCY0523) were travelling together; Hecate (BCX0470) and Hecate’s 2026 calf (BCX0470calf2026) were together; and Bond (BCX1640) and Thunderbolt (BCY1517) were together. These small groups moved in unison, travelling along and fluking as they plunged into the depths. These whales were likely busy feeding lower in the water column, eating as much as they could, as the feeding season is very rapidly coming to an end. Occasionally, they slapped their giant pectoral fins on the surface of the water, causing a loud THUD above the surface.

The day wasn’t over yet, and we had a couple more interesting areas to explore. As we made our way closer to shore, we went to a haulout cheekily referred to as Stinky Rocks. The tide was very high, meaning most of the rocks were submerged, but a few stubborn seals and sea lions remained. The Harbour Seals carefully balanced, just out of the water, were doing their famous ‘banana pose’ as we drifted by. The Steller Sea Lions were busy pushing each other around, fighting for the scraps of rock that were breaking the surface.

We had one last stop in mind as we departed from the haul-out. Zooming on back towards the harbour, we crossed towards Harmac. The log booms were covered in more sea lions, most of them our other commonly spotted species, the California Sea Lion. These logs are a very convenient haul-out, as unlike the rocks at Stinky, they will never be submerged no matter the tides.

It had been a lovely morning exploring and learning about the humpbacks, but soon, it was time to head back to harbour. We glided back up the coast, and after a short trip, Nanaimo was back on the horizon. We disembarked and chatted about the day, from the humpbacks to the seals and sea lions, and how blessed we felt to see them in their natural habitat.

Photos by Marine Naturalists Hayleigh Hilbert and Evan Hessels - please enjoy!