Note: Sightings are posted 5-7 days after the trips.
September 22nd was a cloudy and calm day. We headed out on our semi-covered boat, Kula in search of whales and we found Zigzag near Valdes Island! Zigzag was doing lots of deep dives and flukes. After hanging with Zigzag for a while we found Divot and Strike near Galiano Island. We stuck with them for a little while since they weren’t that active and we found Zigzag again who was travelling south.
Read MoreToday our boats headed out into the strait searching for some whales. We found Heather and her calf Neowise in almost the same spot as the day before. There was a third humpback near by feeding and hanging out near our boats, but Neowise was the centre of the show, as usual.
Read MoreWe found Heather (BCY0160) and her calf Neowise hanging out in the Strait of Georgia not too far from home today. We also encountered the T60’s traveling past the south end of Prevost and Salt Spring islands.
Read MoreOn the 19th we left the harbour without any sightings for the day, but luckily for us the smoke had cleared and there wasn’t any fog so the visibility on the water was good. We managed to find a mother calf pair of humpback whales just south of Gabriola Reef! We identified these two animals as Kappa (BCX0158) and her calf from this year. Her calf is easy to recognize due to its skin condition and pointy white dorsal. We saw this pair on September 11th so their unique markings are fresh in our memories!
Read MoreIt was a foggy day when we left Nanaimo Harbour, but we didn’t let that stop us! We ended up finding both transient orca (The T065Bs and the T123s) and two humpback whales (Anvil and Graze) in the Strait of Georgia!
Read MoreOn September 16th, we found two humpback whales that were making a scene! It was Split Fluke and her 2018 calf Valiant! These 2 were pec slapping and diving as the Orcas headed past them. At this point the orcas were disappearing into the smokey haze around us. Occasionally a small black fin could be made out in the distance but it was evident that the SRKW’s had places to be, hopefully places full of salmon.
Read MoreOn September 11th, after a bit of a search, we located a humpback whale and her calf travelling off of Galiano Island in the Strait of Georgia. This mother was identified by her dorsal fin and fluke as Kappa (BCX0158) in the Keta Coastal Conservation humpback whale catalogue (www.ketacoastalconservation.org).
Read MoreOn September 10th we had a very exciting encounter - we had a T-party with the T037A’s and the T100’s! After leaving the T-party, we also spotted two humpbacks nicknamed Fader (BCY0195) and Split Fluke (BCX1068) travelling through the Strait of Georgia.
Read MoreAfter leaving the Nanaimo Harbour on the 9th our vessel, Cascadia, headed south through the Gulf Islands on a tip that orcas were heading north through the Pender Islands. We arrived outside Active pass just in time to find the T18’s and the T65B’s traveling up the channel.
Read MoreOn September 8th, we were lucky enough to find three humpback whales! We first found Orion near Bowen Island. Orion was doing deep long dives so we didn’t stay there too long. We headed towards Galiano Island where we found Mammoth and Slate.
Read More6 orca were spotted off of Bowen Island and 4 humpbacks off of Thrasher rock, all in one trip. What an adventure!
Read MoreOn September 5th our open boats Keta and Cascadia headed out to find some whales. We found Heather (BCY0160), her 2020 calf Neowise, Divot (BCX1057), and Split Fluke (BCX1068) Just off of Gabriola Island only 20 minutes outside the Nanaimo Harbour. This isn’t the first time we’ve come across this particular group of Humpbacks. These ladies and little Neowise have been making their rounds near Gabriola, slowly moving North, for the last week or so.
Read MoreOn September 4th we caught word of humpbacks out in the Strait towards Vancouver. When we arrived on scene, we spotted two whales travelling together. This duo, “Snoopy” (BCY0770) and “Mammoth” (KEX0023) were travelling together for a bit before they split apart.
Read MoreThe T10s, a pod of two whales, were traveling north separately. T10, the matriarch, is nicknamed “Langara” and is estimated to be born in 1963! She has a very unique dorsal fin that has a deep nick at the base. Her surviving offspring, T10C who is nicknamed “Bones” was born in 1999 and has a very big dorsal fin! The size contrast between these two became much more noticeable when they later joined up and started traveling and hunting side by side.
Read MoreOn September 2nd we once again spotted “Raptor” with her calf “Harpy”. We visited this duo the day before just a bit further south than where they were spotted this day! Raptor has a very unique dorsal fin which makes her a bit easier to tell apart from other humpback whales. If you’re lucky enough to get a peek at Raptor’s fluke you’ll see what look like Raptor claw marks on the right side - just like in Jurassic Park!
Read MoreWe had a Double Species day down at Apex, and we observed the T049A’s hunting porpoise. What a fun trip!
Read MoreIt was a beautiful calm day when our open boat Cascadia left the dock at 1pm to search for whales. After less than an hour we located a shy lone humpback whale just north of Entrance Island.
Read MoreWe found orcas off Entrance Island and two different groups of humpbacks in the Strait of Georgia, including a rare sighting of a mother with her 2018 calf!
Read MoreA double species day with 4 humpback whales and a pod of killer whales! What a great day on the water.
Read MoreKeta, Cascadia and Kula headed out on the morning of the 27th, full of excited passages. We traveled south through Dodd’s Narrows and continued through the Gulf Islands, our eyes peeled for any signs of whales. We heard of a pod of Orcas near Cowichan Bay and we were very happy to find the T65B’s traveling along the shoreline.
Read More
