Whales Rest too!

Many Humpback whales are in the upper Georgia Strait area and other waterways further north from there. Some of these Humpback whales were seen breaching, foraging, and resting. Cetaceans need to rest and sleep; for most species of Cetaceans, one side of their brain will sleep while the other half of the brain remains conscious to maintain breathing and to watch for any danger. After a few hours, the roles of each side of the brain reverses. Since the whales are not moving when they are resting at the surface, they appear as large objects or logs in the water so some have referred to this notionless behaviour of whales as “logging”. Our cover image shows two Humpback whales resting in Sutil Channel. The image appears to show a younger, smaller Humpback whale with a larger Humpback, possibly a mother and calf pair (unconfirmed).

Two Grey whales were observed most recently on July 9th north of Powell River and possibly could be the same pair reported previously at the end of June. Many pods of Transient Orca and Pacific White-Sided dolphins were observed. One pod of Pacific White-Sided dolphins was interacting with a group of Dall’s porpoises in Nodales Channel.

The Federal Government (DFO) statement about watching whales in the wild: “To address disturbance in the presence of whales, a mandatory 400-metre vessel approach distance for all killer whales is in effect starting June 1, 2020 in all southern British Columbia coastal waters between Campbell River and just north of Ucluelet. The Marine Mammal Regulations continue to remain in effect year-round, including maintaining a minimum 200 metre approach distance from all killer whales in Canadian Pacific waters other than described above, and 100 metres for other whales, porpoises and dolphins OR 200 metres when the animal is in resting position or with a calf.”

WOWs works throughout the year, so please continue to keep your eyes open, and report your sightings to us.