Tag Archives: Whale Watching

Orca spyhopping

Killer whale spyhopping

In a good spyhop the orca / killer whale has about half of it’s body out of the water. This is more of an orca backstroke where it was passing the boat and rolled over and stuck it’s head out of the water. The description of what is happening is not important because the picture is interesting and unique.

 

 

Humpback Whale Close

Humpback Whale Tail

If I recall this photo correctly it was one on the few times I have seen a humpback whale passing under our boat. We often eat our picnic lunch in the same area that the humpbacks are feeding. Of course at lunchtime the motor is off and we drift quietly. It is common at this time for whales to surface near the boat but this was the rare time when it continued and we could see it under the boat.

 

Steller sealions at rest?

Steller sea lions

This was one of those rare times when the sealions were actually resting and not roaring and climbing over each other. But if you look closely you do not see any young sealions only the adults. It is the young that come out of the water and want to move to the top of the rock what cause all the problems and noise. The quiet only lasted five minutes and it turned to chaos and better opportunities for photos of roaring sealions.

 

 

Everybody gets a Killer Whale

research vessele

The above photo shows an orange zodiac very close to the orca and this is permissible if you are a research vessel however it should be flying a “research” flag. The photo below shows what happens if you wait patiently in the right place, the killer whales come to you.

Killer whales close

 

 

 

Tail led to Lunge

Good Tail for humpback

Our viewing area for humpback whales is off the mouth of Knight Inlet. On a flood (rising) tide the herring move toward the shore and this brings the humpbacks from deeper water. The herring are forced into tight schools known as “herring balls”, which vary in size of a basketball to the size of a small boat. The humpback whales dive deep (above photo) to come up beneath the ball with mouth open (photo below) and that is lunch. I say lunch because that is normally what we are doing while we watch the whales, eating our picnic lunch.

Humpback lunge feeding

 

 

 

 

Humpback Whales Feeding

Humpbacks Lunging

The humpback whales that migrate between Hawaii and Alaska have started to find that there is an abundance of food (herring) in the waters at the mouth of Knight Inlet. Our lodge in located on Knight Inlet 32 Kilometer (20 miles) from this area and it has become the center for humpback viewing. Five or six years ago a good day with humpbacks was four or five while now an average day is a dozen. With more whales comes more competition for the food so now it is common to have several whales lunge feeding on the same school of herring and this makes your guide happy because you are happy.

 

 

Good Timing Photo

Dolphins Playing

Pacific whitesided dolphin love to play in the wake of the boat or to ride the bow wave. The most reliable way to obtain photos when you are traveling with a pod of several hundred is to point and click as many times as possible. Once you return to the lodge you can delete all the pictures of sky and water and you may have one or two keepers. The best way to enjoy the dolphins is to put down your camera and buy one of the photos that Glen, one of the guides, has for sale. This running with the dolphins can happen on any of the day trips whether to view grizzly bears, whales or a visit to the wild river on the extra day in camp.

 

 

Killer Whales pod A30

Killer Whale Pod

If you have time to refer to the posting of June 16th this is again the resident killer whale pod A30 with A72 the last orca with a notch in her dorsal fin.  The guest in the corner of the photo provides a little perspective for the closeness of the orca. On the lodges whale watching safaris we are on the water 7 to 8 hours which allows us time to position ourselves for a number of good pictures of the wildlife we view. The whale watching tours view marine wildlife such as killer whales, humpback whales, dolphins, porpoise, harbour seals, Steller sealions, occasionally minke whales, a wide variety of waterfowl, bald eagles, and frequently black bear as we travel to and from the lodge.

 

 

Amazing Humpback Whale

Humpback Whales Breaching

 

The amazing aspect of this breaching was the location and number of  breaches. We were on a whale watching safari at Cracroft point with a pod of resident killer whales that were feeding on the salmon feeding on the herring in the fast water of the tide ripe. The humpback was in the same area feeding on the herring when it started to do this lunging and coming down with a load slap. This occurred in an arc on the outside of the killer whales. The arc was over 200 meters (yards) long and the lunging was repeated eleven times in a row. It did not seem to bother the orca so it happened a second time but only eight lunges. The orca kept feeding and the humpback returned to it’s herring and the guest got a great show and pictures.

 

Pacific Whitesided Dolphns

Whitesides Dolphins

 

The June 8th posting showed our boats with a pod of pacific whitesided dolphins playing in the bow wake and the prop-wash. If you stop the boat the dolphins often stop with you and come along side the boat and that is what this picture shows. Two dolphins less than one meter (yard) from the boat.