Due to the wild fires raging through British Columbia during the summer, the Strait of Georgia had a reddish haze which led into really thick smoke choking out the sun in the first week of August. During this week there were far, far fewer whales around than there had been even the week prior. I am not qualified to say this was the cause of the whales’ absence but being as no other variable had changed I am inclined to say this was at the very least a major contributing factor. In the 8 days with choking smoke, I saw whales 3 out of those days with only one sighting being orca and two being humpback whales. However, those sightings were some of the most memorable, partly due to the lighting provided by the smoke and partly by the fantastic aerial display put on by a mother and her calf (which I will write about in future).

This shot was taken in the northern reaches of Howe Sound, and despite the lighting looking like late evening, this was actually around 12:00 pm. It was a very unique experience and it seemed to be another planet entirely, which unfortunately may become more of a common occurrence due to the ever increasing temperature of our planet.

-Damien