Some days, the ocean hands you a double feature. This was one of them.
The day began with more shore-based whale watching. Reports of Bigg’s Killer Whales moving south along the coast had me (among other familiar faces) leapfrogging from point to point between Qualicum and Nanaimo.
Each stop meant waiting, scanning for blows, waiting, checking the camera’s battery, waiting, hearing blows, seeing dorsal fins for a few minutes close to shore, then, far out again, signaling to head back to the car to the next location.
After leaving the southern tip of Nanoose Bay, the loose plan was to reach Neck Point in time for golden hour and, with luck, catch the pod against warm light.
Instead, the orcas vanished somewhere between Nanoose Bay and Nanaimo. No more black fins, but further in the distance, larger blows appeared. Too tall and heavy to be orcas. Soon after, a wide tail fluke lifted from the water and glided below the surface. Humpbacks! For the next two hours, several whales milled a few kilometres offshore, surfacing, diving, and breaching under the cheers of a small crowd sitting all around the rocky shores of the park.
Orcas in the afternoon. Humpbacks in the evening, this turned out to be a whale of a day!
-Robin
This post was adapted from a blog, read the original here.
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