Tag: Nanaimo

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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Cover Image: Humpback showing off it’s fluke whilst travelling north Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Over the past few weeks, a few Humpback whales were observed. As the spring season becomes warmer and warmer, more Humpbacks will appear in upper Georgia Strait and inland waterways. Some of them may be mother…
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Cover Image: Pacific White Sided Dolphins Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Spring has arrived and with warmer temperatures comes abundance of life. The number of sightings of Cetaceans has increased during the past few weeks. Many pods of Pacific White-Sided dolphins were spotted, with some pods numbering around 50 members. These dolphins swim really fast…
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Cover Image: Orca blowing at sunset Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC During the past two weeks, the majority of reports we received were sightings of Transient Orca. Many appeared around West Thurlow Island near the east end of Johnstone Strait. Some of the pods of Orca were observed near Campbell River and others near Powell…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales near Quadra Island Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Over the past few weeks, there were many sightings of Transient Orca spanning from Nanoose Bay and Powell River up to the eastern end of Johnstone Strait. On March 6, there were many pods of Transient Orca…
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Cover Image: Pacific White Sided Dolphins near Powell River Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC World Whale Day is on Sunday, February 22. It is a day to appreciate all Cetaceans and their importance in the ecosystems around the world. As top predators of food chains, they feed on various fish and lower carnivores. In addition,…
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Cover Image: Orca blowing at sunset! Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC In the second half of January, Transient Orca and Northern Resident Orca were observed in a number of areas. On the morning of January 25, a group of 8-10 Transient Orca made their way into Indian Arm in North Vancouver. This group was then…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whale Breaching Jess Cavanagh, Blind Channel Resort The New Year has begun with sightings of Cetaceans around various inland waterways. Transient Orca were observed in many locations, from the east end of Johnstone Strait all the way down to Nanaimo and in Howe Sound near Squamish. Orca were seen breaching…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales surfacing together Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC There have been sightings of Cetaceans around Powell River, Comox, in Discovery Passage, and in the eastern half of Johnstone Strait. Transient Orca were observed in a number of locations, and at least two sightings included mother and calf pairs. A few…
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Cover Image: Killer Whale blowing off Grief Point Park Michelle Pennell, Powell River, BC Some of the Northern Resident Orca made a short appearance off of Powell River on December 5 and it is uncertain which direction they went afterwards as no other sightings of them have been reported. There have been a few sightings…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whale T101 and her 2 boys T101A and T101B Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Humpback whale sightings still are the number one reported species with a number of them showing up together. This is similar to last year when we had them still in numbers in…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales surfacing together! Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Eventhough we are into the colder and wetter months of the year, there are still Cetaceans in the coastal waters of British Columbia but probably it is a bit more challenging to see due to the weather and…
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Cover Image: Humpback Whale in Sutil Channel Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Humpback whales are large whales, reaching lengths of up to 16-m (55 feet). One can see and realize how large they are when they expose their whole body as they breach. If you are on a boat and a…
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Cover Image: Transient Biggs Killer Whales travelling under a rainbow! Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions Once in a while, one may be lucky enough to capture a picture of a moment with a Cetacean. It may be with dolphins bow-riding next to your boat or a humpback whale breaching close by. Orca…
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Cover Image: Humpback Whale in Georgia Strait Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours Looking at Humpback whale pectoral flipper from a distance it’s difficult to realize how big they are. These limbs are one third the length of the whale, and can be up to fifteen feet (4.6 metres) long for a…
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