On most days whale watching we have opportunities to obtain both the active and the sedate photos. It is all a matter of being able to position the boat to get the best photo. The only problem is that the whales do not always agree with the guide as to what is the best position so it may take several tries.
A very action filled photo with a humpback whale lunge feeding on a ball of herring. One can see the herring being sprayed out of it’s mouth and seagulls coming into pick up the wounded herring. But it is really hard to picture this as a whale feeding whereas tomorrows post is more sedate….
Unlike humpback whales the tail slapping of killer whales seems to be a playful activity of the Northern Resident Whales we watch. It can occur when they are close to your whale watching boat even if their are no other pods of orca in the area. The underside is mainly white in contrast to the black from the top of their tail. This behaviour is less frequent than with the humpbacks.
Humpback whales have extraordinarily long pectoral fins, nearly one third the length of the whale. The length and shape of the pectoral fins facilitate the graceful movement humpbacks are known for, even allowing the whale to swim backwards and turn on a dime. These long pectoral fins are where humpbacks get their scientific name Megaptera novaeangliae or “big-winged New Englander”. On foggy mornings they have been reported as killer whale dorsal fin as will be shown in the next posting….
Yes that is the spotlight on the bow of our boat. The goal was the bald eagle flying our way that was about to come down on to the herring ball where the ducks are located. The eagle was a little slow as the humpback came up for lunch. When photographing eagles, orca, whales, seal, sea lions, dolphins or any other “wildlife” it is best to adopt the boy scout motto and “Be prepared.”.
I have been guiding whale watching and grizzly bear trips at the lodge for over fifteen years and I still am impressed when a humpback whale is feeding less than 20 meters (60 feet) from the boat. As majestic as the killer whale is on the water the humpbacks with all their lobtailing and feeding are slowing becoming a favourite of our guests.
This is the reason to park the boat in the area of a bait ball but not on top of the ball. A humpback whales is very aware of its surroundings but I do not wish to test their awareness with the bottom of my boat because I think we might lose. Although it appears that this lunging humpback missed many of the herring it must have got enough to satisfy itself because there was not a second lunge.
By definition: A bait ball, or baitball, occurs when small fish swarm in a tightly packed spherical formation about a common center. It is a last-ditch defensive measure adopted by small schooling fish when they are threatened by predators. The occurrences of a herring ball is very common in the area we go for whale watching but photographs are not as common. Not common because bait balls attract whales and you do not want to be sitting over a ball of herring when a whale decides to feed. So we only approach the bait ball when there are no whales in sight and that does not happen often. See tomorrow’s post…
Today’s posted photo was takes just a few minutes after yesterdays posted photo. As a guide it is ideal to find a herring ball because herring are a humpback whales primary food. And if you station your boat near the herring a whale will come to feed. That is like “A Field of Dreams – build it and they will come”.
…breaching whales. Just because there are more whales breaching does not mean that there are more photos of whales breaching. It is still one of the most difficult pictures to obtain and until they start giving warning of a breach it will remain difficult.
Just like that another season has come to an end. We are grateful for all the wonderful staff and the guests this season. It was an excellent season and we are already looking forward to next May.
One of the highlights of the season was all of the new cubs out. It was awesome to see so many new cubs of the year and that is great news for our bear populations moving forward. We had great spring viewing and this continued through summer. On our river trips we started to see salmon arriving in August and enjoyed some great shoulder season viewing. The fish at the viewing platforms were a little late showing up this year, but viewing during late September at the platforms was great and the estuary viewing remained strong throughout the season.
Out in the whale watching world it was another year that saw large numbers of resident Orca who remained in the area right into October. The Humpback viewing was also great with large numbers feeding in Blackfish Sound. It is so amazing to have these magnificent animals back in our waters in such numbers.
Over the winter and spring we will be doing some repairs and maintenance. We rebuilt the front deck last spring, utilising cedar cut on site. We will continue with some siding, rooms improvements and hopefully a floating sauna ready for the start of our season.
2026 is already looking like a very busy season for us. We only have limited high season availability so please book early to ensure we have space for your group.
Looking forward to seeing you next year
Angus Reid
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