I had a chance to get out on yesterday’s 2:30 tour with Eagle Wing Whale Watching Tours– I wasn’t sure if I wanted to drop everything for this trip, or wait until the next day, but I had a gut feeling about this trip, so I scrambled to get everything together and I got down to Fisherman’s Wharf.
We first went to see a pod of Bigg’s (Transients) Killer Whales off Pender Island. They had been heading northbound from the Turn Point area at a fast clip but when we arrived on scene they had just stalled and made a porpoise kill – There was blood in the water which we could clearly see from out boat! There was lots of action as the kill was happening, including breaches, spyhops, tail lobs and general splashing about. After the kill they headed north again, riding the tide and coasting along (~ 4 Knots).

We left them shortly after to visit a Humpback (Big Mama – BCY0324) and her new calf from this season who were only ~5 Miles away. They were moseying around Moresby Island. Big Mama was likely showing her ‘little’ one the area, and familiarizing them with the neighborhood for future migrations.

After that, we headed only ~1.6 miles southeast to where J Pod was crossing to Henry Island. They were also riding the tide like the Transients and just slowly drifting along. They showed some curiosity and play behaviour – Lazy spyhops and tail lobs. J2 “Granny” was in the midst of the group along with many other favourites – J27 “Blackberry,” J34 “Doublestuf: (And the rest of the cookie gang), J26 “Mike.”


An amazing trip – I am SO glad I listened to my gut!
-Marcie
This story was adapted from a blog post, read the original here
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