For our 2pm whale watching tour on June 20th, we heard reports of ‘humpback soup’ near Bowen Island, but we decided to take a quick detour west to see if we could spot other wildlife first.
Along the shorelines of the Gulf Islands, we found a group of Steller sea lions hauling out. Steller sea lions are the largest sea lion species in the world, with the males weighing up to 2,400 lbs when fully grown. Two of these full grown bulls were lounging on the rocks as we observed them and about thirty other sea lions.
The Steller sea lion breeding season has begun, so it will become less common to see breeding adults in the Salish Sea over the next few months as they travel north to their rookeries. When females do give birth, their newborn pups can weigh up to 50 lbs at birth. That’s a big baby!
After admiring the sea lions, we travelled north to find the humpback whales. In true ‘humpback soup’ fashion, we found eight humpback whales socializing. We observed plenty of surface active behaviour, like tail-lobbing and pec-slapping. One particular four year-old whale, referred to as Anvil’s 2022 calf (this whale has yet to be named!), seemed to be having a blast as they tail-lobbed repeatedly.
As we departed, we watched four flukes disappear under the water in quick succession, as four whales dived in almost-unison. We later identified these whales as (BCY1222) Hammer, (BCX1773) Valiant, (BCY1276) Kelpie, and (BCY0996) Chinook. Guests are often impressed to see Valiant, as her fluke is covered in scars from an evident killer whale attack when she was a calf. We also identified (BCX2152) Astroboy and (BCY1461) Cerulean as members of the humpback soup that day!
July and August are prime humpback whale season, so if you want to experience the magic of watching these wonderful baleen whales, now is the time to book!
