A killer whale’s inverted Tail Lob – while on its back, it raises its flukes above the water’s surface and brings them down with force. This type of behavior is often viewed when the whales are in close contact with their pod or grouped together with other pods and seems to be a form of communication. Whether tail slapping is a friendly or an aggressive form of behaviour is not proved beyond a doubt but a majority of the times it seems to be a playful thing especially within the Northern Resident Whales that are in our viewing area. The sound that echoes after a tail slap can be very loud.
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.
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