Tag Archives: Whale Watching

Interesting Guest Photos

seagulls on herring ball
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A flock of seagull – who cares? Most guest do not care until they are whale watching and the guide explains the importance and then many pictures are taken. The importance is the herring and the diving ducks feeding on herring. The herring get into “balls” which revolve inside out as a means of defense and the ball is forced to the surface by the ducks and this attracts the seagull which in turn attracts your guide and more important the humpback whales. The result is shown on the March 3, 2014 posting showing a whale lunge feeding. As a guide I locate the herring balls with the help of the seagulls and then park the boat within a reasonable distance from the herring ball and wait. Thank you James O’Donoghue for another interesting photo.

 

Interesting Guest Photos

lobtailing humpback whale
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Another photo by Gary Wilson showing a humpback whale tail lobbing or slapping. Most of the behaviour of Humpback whales remains a mystery, and tail lobbing is no exception. We have watched Humpback whales raise their huge fluke out of the water and slap it on the surface multiple (ten to twenty) times. It seemed playful, but no one knows exactly why Humpback whales perform this action. It is thought that it may have something to do with communication. The tail lobs apparently can be heard for a long distance underwater.

 

Interesting Guest Photos

whale spraying herring
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Whale watching tours from Grizzly Bear Lodge on Knight Inlet’s Minstrel Island travel about fifty minutes to the viewing area. The viewing area being Johnston Straits between Vancouver Island and mainland British Columbia. Over the past several years the number of humpback whales in this area has increase from three or four per trip to sixteen to eighteen. It is an area with an abundance of feed in the form of herring. The above photo by Gary Wilson of Australia shows a humpback lunge feeding on herring. The whales come up beneath a ball of herring with mouths open and try to capture ALL the herring but as this photo shows they are not always successful. You will notice that it is a common enough occurrence that the duck do not seem to be to concerned.

 

Whale Watching Safari – 5 of 5

resident orca pod
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After leaving the sea lions and entering Blackfish Sound the orca we saw earlier in the day appeared this time in the sunshine. Blackfish Sound is an appropriate name for this area as that is the name used by the locals and the only name I knew growing up for what are now called killer whales and orca. Names the result of advertising for tourism. The name is not really important what is important is the majestic appearance of these mammals and the thrill obtained with the first sighting on a tour.

Whale Watching Safari – 4 of 5

stetter sea lions
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bald eagle
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As the day progresses on a whale watching safari the sun tends to burn off the fog and normally by noon it is necessary to position the boat to get the sun at our back for better photos. Mid-morning we have a break in Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island and although we have a good picnic lunch and cold drinks on board guest often want a hot drink and especially to use the bathrooms. Heading back across Johnstone Straits to resume out wildlife viewing we stop by Stubbs Island and enjoy the Steller sea lions sunning on the rocky islands. Close by in the trees are many bald eagles posing for photographs.

Whale Watching Safari – 3 of 5

dolphins
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dolphins close
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Not bad for a one handed shot over the bow of the boat while driving with the other hand. The only way to get any decent photos of the pacific white-sided dolphins is to point, shoot and pray. Less than hour after we left the orca of yesterday’s post we came across this pod of close to three hundred dolphins which were feeding in Parsons Bay. They scoured the shore stopping to feed on several occasions providing opportunities for some interesting photos. I have being wildlife guiding at Grizzly Bear Lodge for more than ten years (all the lodge’s guides have been working at the lodge that long) and I think dolphins still put on the best show as they are within a meter of the boat with their nose often in the prop wash from the motor.

Whale Watching Safari – 2 of 5

orca
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more orca
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This was a normal “foggy” morning in August when we first found this pod of orca in Johnstone strait. The posting on February 17 will show the same orca in the sunshine later in the day. If you remember from my previous posting these photos were taken with a small waterproof Pentax (an optio, 6.0 megapixels with three times optical zoom) point and shoot so these orca came quite close. The first photo was when they appeared out of the fog and we shut off the motor and waited while they approached the boat. Again the guest photos are much better than mine are as I was also using the hydrophone to listen to their calls. If you check the December 26, 2013 posting you will see how close the orca came to the boat while they were listening to our hydrophone.

Whale Watching Safari – 1 of 5

lunge feeding
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flat lunge feed
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For additional photos use the “Categories” “Whale Watching” on the right. Also select “Google Map of Itinerary” under “Pages” to locate the whale watching area. The boat ride to the area of Johnstone Strait between Vancouver Island and mainland BC, where most of the whales watching take place is about 45 minutes long. If there is a low tide in the morning we normally see black bears on the beach and harbour seals on the small islands. There are four whale watching companies operating from Vancouver Island in our area.  We are in radio contact and this cooperation makes locating the whales much easier. If orca or humpback whales are in the area someone will find them and report their location.  The above photos were taken near Bold Head located in Blackfish Sound adjacent to Johnstone Strait. The first showing a humpback whales lunge feeding which in when a whale comes up beneath a ball of herring and tries to capture the whole herring ball in one mouth full. The second is another lunge with the white pole in the left of the photo being the antenna of our boat. This provides some perspective as to how close we sometimes are to the feeding whales.

Pacific White-sided dolphin Airborne

airborne dolphins
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The pacific white-sided dolphins are seen quite often on both the grizzly bear tours and the whale watching safari. These dolphins are present in First Nation’s middens dating back 2,000 years, but they were rare in B.C. during the 19th and 20th centuries. Starting in the 1980’s, Pacific white-sided dolphins started to become more abundant in inshore waters and inlets along the B.C. coast. It’s possible that their long absence was related to a change in ocean temperatures and a shift in their prey distribution. Dolphins travel in groups throughout their lives. We usually encountered groups of 50 to several 100 animals, although some groups have been seen with 1,000 or more individuals in our viewing area. As the photo demonstrates these dolphins are energetic and quite active and are frequently seen leaping, belly flopping, and somersaulting. They are strong, fast swimmers and enthusiastic bow riders, often staying with moving vessels for extended periods.

Humpback Pectoral Fin

pectoral fin
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Humpback whales are common in the waters between Vancouver Island and the BC mainland. A normal viewing day from the lodge will encounter more than a dozen whales which often put on dramatic displays of breaching, lobtailing and fluking. In the case of this photo slapping a pectoral fin like a tail.  Comparing it to yesterday’s post one can see way from a distance it could be mistaken for an orca. An interesting fact is that the humpback whale’s large pectoral fins have been the inspiration for the development of new aerodynamic technology to help fast-moving helicopters, maintain lift and increase maneuverability. The bumps on the pectoral fins of humpbacks have been used as inspiration before, in the development of turbine blades used in wind turbines, hydroelectric turbines and ventilation fans that increase efficiency.

Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/318932#ixzz2kqka5vV3