Latest Sightings

Cover Image: An orca breaking the water’s surface! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Transient (Bigg’s) Orca and Northern Resident Orca were both observed during the past reporting period. Transient Orca feed on seals, sea lions, porpoises, dolphins, and occasionally larger whales. They tend to travel around quite extensively from day-to-day in…
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Cover Image: Humpback Whale in front of Powell River Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Breaching Humpback whales can be seen from a fair distance away; with use of binoculars, one may see whales as far as 6-8 km away. One may notice a big splash in the ocean indicating Humpbacks are breaching. Of course, seeing…
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Cover Image: Pacific White Sided Dolphins travelling close to shore! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours There are many species of dolphins that live here off the B.C. Coast. One type of dolphin that is seen regularly are the Pacific White-Sided dolphins. They travel in pods of various sizes; small pods may…
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Cover Image: Humpback Whales in Sutil Channel Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Whales, dolphins, and porpoises belong to a group called Cetacea, and they are a delight to watch out in the sea. Observers always want to capture those special moments with Cetaceans by taking pictures of these wonderful animals. Often,…
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Cover Image: Two large bulls travelling together Don Peterson, Hornby Island, BC One of the obvious and visible signs of the presence of Orca are their dorsal fins rising out of the water when they surface to breathe. Adult male Orca have dorsal fins that can be up to 2-meters tall, which is taller than…
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Cover Image: Northern Resident Killer Whales Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions During the past week, some of the Northern Resident Orca (NRKW) made their way into Georgia Strait as far south as the mouth of the Fraser River (July 16th). Then, they slowly made their way northward passing Sechelt and Pender Harbour…
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Cover Image: Humpbacks resting in Sutil Channel Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours 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,…
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Cover Image: Grey Whale near Powell River Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC On June 26, two Grey whales appeared off of Powell River, taking a few hours to swim past the town heading northward. Grey whales tend to swim on the outer coast (West Coast) of Vancouver Island but there are always a few who…
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Cover Image: Humpback – BCY0291 KC – at Browns Bay, Discovery Passage Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions Approximately two-thirds of the sightings received during the past two weeks were of Humpback whales. The number of Humpback whales present in inland waterways has continuously increased from year to year. Many of them are…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whale in Puget Sound on May 31, 2021 Justine Buckmaster, Lynnwood, Washington June is Orca Awareness Month. Orca as apex predators are important in the ecosystem and they are iconic to many of us culturally that live here in British Columbia. Consider ways to help promote their protection and conservation,…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Orca – Rocky T002C1 – travelling by Campbell River Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions Orca were observed in various waterways during the past two weeks. Orca were seen in Malaspina Strait off of Texada Island and up through Sutil Channel, Lewis Channel, and Discovery Passage. These were Transient…
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Cover Image: Humpback Whale Breaching Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Many Humpback whales have been observed in upper Georgia Strait around Campbell River and the south end of Quadra Island. Over half of the sightings received in this period were of Humpback whales. Some of the Humpbacks remained at the surface displaying various behaviours; a…
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Cover Image: Tasu – T002C – spy hopping! Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions There have been many sightings of Transient Bigg’s Orca in a number of areas around British Columbia. Some of the Orca were seen hunting, with one occasion Dall’s porpoises were the confirmed prey. On another occasion, Orca were seen…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whale, Lucy (T002C3) Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions The number of sightings of Cetaceans has increased over the past two-week period. The nice sunny weather has lead many to be outdoors; increased activities by a shoreline or by boaters has increased the frequency of sightings. Calmer waters…
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Cover Image: Pacific White Sided Dolphins escorting the Texada ferry Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Pods of Pacific White-Sided dolphins were observed in a few areas but notably, some of these dolphins were off Powell River for consecutive days at the end of March. The pods were of various sizes. Orca are the largest type…
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Cover Image: Pacific White Sided Dolpins in front of Powell River Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Over the past reporting period, a number of pods of Pacific White-Sided dolphins were observed on different days near Powell River. The pods ranged in size; a few pods were estimated to include 50 dolphins and at least one…
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Cover Image: Orca hugging the shore! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Over the past two weeks, only sightings of Orca were received. Of those sightings, most of them were of Transient Orca and there was one confirmed sighting of Northern Resident Orca. These Orca were mainly observed around Powell River, Campbell…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whale near Gabriola Island AP, Gabriola Island, BC World Whale Day is on February 21 this year! It is a day for individuals to really appreciate the intelligence, magnificence, and beauty of these marine mammals from the smallest porpoises to the largest whales. In the waters around British Columbia, over…
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Cover Image: Large pod of dolphins close to shore! Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Many people think whale-watching means getting onto a boat and going out to sea to observe dolphins, porpoises, and whales. However, another way to see these wonderful animals is from land! Cetaceans can be seen from land from many locations here…
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Cover Image: Pod of Pacific White Sided Dolphins near Powell River Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC When winter weather rolls in, it can be challenging to see the whales that still transit and feed in our waters. Baleen whale blows, such as Humpback, are generally quite a tall plume with a bit of a circle…
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Cover Image: Humpbacks singing at sunset Susan MacKay, Wild Ocean Whale Society Another year is finished and we are happy to let 2020 go into the sunset. We look forward to a better year in 2021 and from all of us in our organization, we wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year!Many…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales – T002Cs – spyhopping! Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions A behaviour observed in Cetaceans is spyhopping. Spyhopping is when a Cetacean is able to rise to the surface vertically and raise its head out of the water, such as the Orca in our cover image. This…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whale Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Autumn brings many visible changes around us on land and in the sea. Some species of Cetaceans may be moving as their prey moves to different locations with the onset of Fall. Other species may be migrating to warmer waters…
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Cover Image: Humpback calf breaching! Jos Krynen, Eagle Eye Adventures Many Humpback whales are still travelling around inland waterways and many of them can be seen easily from shore. Of the 116 sightings received, 89 of them were of Humpback whales. Many of the Humpback sightings reported the whales were breaching, some multiple times. A…
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Cover Image: Young Pacific White Sided Dolphin Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions When we look at our ocean ecosystem as a whole, it may be easy to forget about the little guys. We don’t. All whales, dolphins and porpoise that are within our oceans play a huge part in the balance, as…
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Cover Image: Constellation the humpback breaching! Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions Identifying individual animals is something of a learning curve and even those of us who are used to doing IDs over many years can have difficulty at times. Photographic evidence is extremely important to confirm an ID. With Humpback Whales, the…
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