Latest Sightings

Cover Image: Pacific White Sided Dolphins flying through the air! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Pacific White-Sided dolphins are commonly seen in the waters around B.C. These dolphins spend much of their time at the surface of the water, allowing us to view many of their behaviours. They can be seen…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions Many Transient Orca were observed during the past week, most of them in upper Georgia Strait, Discovery Passage, and the eastern half of Johnstone Strait. A few of them were observed hunting their prey. Many Humpbacks were seen, predominantly in Sutil…
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Cover Image: Humpback taking a deep dive! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours A few of the Northern Resident Orca pods have been coming into Johnstone Strait and working their way down towards Nodales Channel, but not staying for too long. They are checking on the fish runs. Transient Bigg’s Orca, the…
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Cover Image: Humpback Whale Breaching Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours During the past week, many Humpback whales were seen of which a few were observed breaching. For a full-body breach, a Humpback must expend high amounts of energy to gain enough speed underwater to allow them to leave the water vertically.…
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Cover Image: Killer Whales blowing by heavy vessel wakes Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Over the last reporting period, many Orca were seen most of which were Transient Orca. On at least two occasions, Transients were seen hunting their prey. There were a few sightings reported of Northern Resident Orca in Johnstone Strait. A large…
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Cover Image: Humpback Whale, Geometry Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions Whales can be very active and noticeable at the surface of the water. Active Humpback whales may be breaching, lunge-feeding, doing tail lobs, or doing pectoral slaps. On occasion, Humpback whales could also be seen doing very little such as milling in…
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Cover Image: Humpback showing off it’s flippers! Robin Pears, Campbell River Whale Watching Many Humpback whales are present and can be seen in many waterways, most notably Sutil Channel and upper Georgia Strait. There are a few mother-calf pairs in these areas and a few Humpbacks were observed breaching. One Humpback was playing with a…
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Cover Image: Rissos Dolphin in Nodales Channel Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours On July 22, a few Risso’s dolphins were observed in Nodales Channel and they were travelling with some Pacific White-Sided dolphins. Risso’s dolphins are usually found offshore in deeper waters and are rarely seen travelling through inland waterways. Adding…
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Cover Image: Humpback diving mid-channel! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours An individual Humpback whale can be identified by studying its tail, usually by taking a photo of it such as our cover image. The colouration pattern of the underside of the tail plus the shape of the trailing edge of the…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales in Discovery Passage Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours There are many species of Cetaceans that breach. Here in B.C., the species most commonly seen breaching are Orca and Humpback whales. Sometimes, one may be lucky enough to see synchronized breaches by two whales, such as…
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Cover Image: Humpback Breaching! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours There have been many sightings of Humpback whales during the past week. Some of the Humpbacks were just milling around while many other Humpbacks were active and breaching. The full body of a Humpback whale can be seen as the whale breaches…
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Cover Image: Grey Whale near Sidney, BC LJ, Sidney, BC On June 25, a Grey whale was seen in Shute Passage near Sidney; the whale was foraging and taking long dives. On the same day, another two Grey whales appeared near the south end of Quadra Island in Georgia Strait. The Grey whale population along…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whale fin slicing through the water! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours An adult male Orca can be identified by its dorsal fin that can grow up to 2-meters tall. Their dorsal fins can be seen from a significant distance away (i.e. a few kilometers away). The…
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Cover Image: Humpback Whale Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours During the past week, many Humpbacks whales were observed in upper Georgia Strait and various inland waterways. Over two-thirds of the sightings reported to us were of Humpback whales. Some of the Humpbacks were seen foraging and some were seen just milling…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours During the past week, many pods of Transient Orca were seen in various inland waterways, notably around Quadra Island and Sonora Island. A couple of pods of Transients were seen hunting their prey. Many Humpback whales were sighted as well.…
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Cover Image: Humpbacks swimming in synchrony! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Over the past few weeks, the number of Humpback whale sightings has increased in the upper Georgia Strait area and in Discovery Passage. Some of these Humpbacks were breaching and also observed were a few mother-calf pairs. Many Transient Orca…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales travelling close to shore! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Over the past two weeks, a diversity of Cetaceans was observed in Georgia Strait and many different waterways. Many pods of Transient Orca were seen but none of them were in large pods as observed in…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales near Powell River Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Many pods of Transient Orca were seen over the past reporting period. Normally, pods of Transient Orca include 4 or 5 individuals but there have been some larger pods of Transient Orca observed numbering between 10 to 20 individuals. This observation…
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