Whale Watching

We’re not all about the bears, whales are abundant here too!

Killer whales and humpback whales are often seen during our wildlife tours. There are resident whales and transient whales that can be seen feeding and playing in our waters.

Bald Eagles

Bald Eagles are frequently sighted in our area. At times they can be seen in large numbers. This is usually where food supplies are high. For example this could be in areas with high concentrations of baitfish or along the rivers in the fall when the salmon are spawning. They are not migratory, but do move around with the food supply. As mentioned earlier when the salmon are spawning we often see many along the rivers, while there will be fewer along the coastline. With little need for camouflage their white head and tail feathers can be spotted easily. The female is slightly larger and her white head extends down a bit farther onto the body, but it is subtle. It takes these birds 4.5 – 5 years to acquire this unique plumage. As juveniles they are a brown colour. With exceptional eyesight and the ability to view 270 degrees they are understandably often seen in high perches and in trees near points and passageways.

Biggs Orca

In our area we have two types of Orca. We have the residents and the Biggs (aka transient). Although quite similar in size and appearance their behaviour is quite different. The resident Orca show up in the summer and usually remain in the area until the fall. The Residents feed exclusively on fish, and enter the area to feed on salmon. Their primary food source is the chinook salmon, which is the largest of the 5 species. To a lesser extend they also feed on other types of salmon, lingcod, squid and various other species of fish. They will never feed on marine mammals and despite their name tend to leave the area during the winter months. They are very social and often vocalise. On the other hand the Biggs can be spotted year-round. They feed on marine mammals with harbour seals (like the ones in the picture) being their main food source, although propose, dolphins, sea lions and otters are also commonly on the menu. These animals are much “stealthier”, traveling quickly and vocalising much less. This is because they are on the hunt for mammals which can detect their calls. The Biggs below circled this particular rock several times, but in this case were unsuccessful in catching a seal off guard.

The Biggs Orca were named after Dr. Micheal Bigg who pioneered Orca research in the area. He realised that individual whales can be identified by their dorsal fin and saddle patch. This led to the creation of a thorough catalogue of animals and their family structures, which are organised by clans, pods and matrilines.

Speedy Dalls Porpoise

dalls porpoise

When we are on our whale watching tours it is fairly common to spot Dalls Porpoise. They are often seen slowly rises to the surface, but can take off at high speeds, reaching speeds of over 50KMPH. This speed is used for feeding, socialising and for escaping Biggs Orca. The have a thick body and distinct black and white colouring. We have two species of porpoise in our area, the Dalls and the Harbour Porpoise. Although they resemble dolphins in some ways they are not closely related. Dolphins have elongated heads, forming their beak, while porpoise have a much flatter head. Dolphins have cone shaped teeth, while porpoises have spade shaped teeth. In addition dolphins tend to be seen in larger groups and are generally more social. An interesting development is that Harbour and Dalls Porpoise do sometimes interbreed, leading to a Hybrid, which has been documented in our area.

Sea Otter Sightings

The last 3 years we have been starting to view sea otters in our area more regularly. They are still often a distance away, but the sightings are increasing with some “rafts” of them developing in areas near the western portion of our whale watching trips. These animals were hunted heavily for their fur and were completely wiped out of British Columbia waters. Re-introduction occurred from Alaskan otters in the 1960’s. They have long been protected and their numbers have been steadily increasing along the exposed BC coast and are now moving back into inside waters. They are unique in that they don’t have the insulating blubber that other marine mammals use to keep warm. As a result they have dense (over 1 million hairs per square inch) fur and feed heavily. They are important in balancing the eco-system. They eat a lot of sea urchins, which eat a lot of kelp. Kelp is extremely important as it provides cover for juvenile fish and is where the herring spawn in the early spring. With the increase in these otters we are seeing a greater abundance and healthier kelp forests.

Humpback Whale Identification

ID’s of the local whales

We are fortunate to have dedicated colleges and societies in our area such as the Marine Education and Research Society. The Humpback Whales in our area are identified by both the underside of the fluke and the dorsal region. Unique pigmentation, shapes and markings allow these animals to be positively identified and catalogued. We know that the majority of the whales in our area migrate to Hawaii to mate and have their calves before returning to the colder, richer waters of British Columbia to feed. This is a familiar whale is named “Lucky”. The scaring you see is from escaping an Orca attack when she was younger. She has grown from when she was likely attacked as a calf, so the scrapes (rake marks) from the Orca teeth appear wider apart then they should, but this is just because she has grown. So wonderful to have so many of these amazing animals back in our waters.

A Whale’s Tail

humpback whales feeding

Over the past seven years our whale watching area has become a feeding area for humpback whales. In the past we were lucky it see one whale on a viewing day while now if we do not see to eight or ten different whales we think it is a slow day. The feeding aspect means there is also lunge feeding, much diving with good tail shows as well as breaching that is very hard to catch on camera.

Wildlife Babies 5 of 5

black bear cubs

Early June, so less than six months old and we find two black bear cubs while on the trip up Knight Inlet to view grizzly bears. Although we go on a specialized black bear trip on your first evening in the lodge we frequently see black bears while on the grizzly bear and whales watching tours as well as the trip to Trapper Rick’s.

Wildlife Babies 4 of 5

bald eagles soaring

Bald eagles are only achieve their white headed between three and five years and prior to that they are able to sit in trees unnoticed. When soaring high an immature eagle is a little more noticeable. Still majestic with their wing span but something is missing.

Wildlife Babies 1 of 5

humpback whale calf

Humpback whales migrate to tropical or subtropical water in the winter to breed and give birth in February and March. By the time the whales return to our viewing areas the calf’s are close to four months old and still on their mother’s milk. This calf is a larger and therefore in it’s second year. These calves are normally very active frequently seen breaching and lobbtailing.

 

 

Bald eagle swimming with a salmon

Bald eagle swimmingBald eagle with salmon

Seeing a bald eagle swim is not a common sight on our wildlife tours maybe once or twice a summer. But this morning we saw three take a salmon to shore. An eagle will catch a fish in their talon that is too heavy for them to carry and they will swim to shore with it so they can eat it. They use a butterfly like swim stroke. In the first photo it is almost to the shore and the second show the eagle lifting the fish further up the shore. In this case its mate came down and took the salmon, as it was to exhausted to fight. The happy ending was that it did get to share the fish once it recovered.