It was an authentic Westcoast day. A little rain doesn’t stop the whales and it didn’t stop us. With our Pacific Northwest fashions on: complimentary rain jackets and pants, we were toasty warm and dry. We ventured south and west to search near race rocks.
We had spotters on deck looking for any sign of wildlife, we were hoping to see the tell spout or blow of a whale. As a spotter it’s always a moment a pride to be the first to spot a whale. Today that honor went to one of our passengers whose keen eyes beat even us seasoned whale spotters. The passenger had spotted a blow on the port side. As we told captain Ian about the sighting, we were surprised by another blow directly in front of us. The whales were all around us.
These were Humpback Whales. We had some great views of the Whales dorsal fin and tail as they made multiple short dives. We connected the dots between multiple whales, enjoying their massive size and gracefulness in the water.
After a long encounter with the whales it was time to move on. We headed for race rocks ecological reserve where we found Harbour Seals, Oyster Catchers and Harry the otter. Overall a great trip.
The clouds broke for the evening giving us an amazing backdrop of layered clouds and pale blue sky for our tour. We ventured south and west again. This time we joined up with another Whale watching boat that had several Humpback Whales within a kilometre all around it. It was amazing to see a pair of Humpbacks just 150 metres away with another one blowing off in the distance. You can really tell how much the whales like spending their time here off our coast. So many are here to feed after their winter in the tropical waters off Hawaii and Mexico where food is scarce.
The highlight of the evening trip was when the whale breached unexpectedly. It followed its first breach with a few half breaches creating several large splashes and exciting everyone on board. As the sun peaked through the clouds we had a wonderful sunset cruise back to the harbour. We stopped on the way at race rocks. The harbour seals were still lounging on the rocks, this time we saw a baby seal pup with its mother, very cute.
What a great day on the water with so many humpbacks all around.