Photo credit: Jackie Hildering

From the Office:

While we were away at the 18th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Quebec, there was a mass stranding of Humbolt squid in Hardy Bay (Port Hardy, to the north of Telegraph Cove).  This species of squid travels in large schools, is carnivorous and can be up to 2m and 45 kg.  They are the only squid know to have teeth-like structures on the suckers. (see image)

Humbolt's are more typically found in cold, deep waters in the Eastern Pacific.  In fact, they are named after the Humbolt Current.  Although they have been seen in our area before (there have been sightings since 2003), never have they been in such huge numbers.  There were news reports that Humbolts were stranding off teh north-eastern coast of Vancouver in early August.  We know that these strandings continued into late September, thanks to our dear friends Pat and Bill Haley who shared pictures of the squid on the beach in Tofino (near Schooner Bay).

In early October, Humbolt squid reports started coming in from Northern Vancouver Island pilots (thank you Gord Jenkins) that the animals were being seen near Rivers Inlet, to the north of Port Hardy.  The ultimate mass stranding in Hardy Bay began on October 17, 2009.  Why all these huge squid?

It is speculated that the population of Humbolt squid is increasing due to the overfishing of large predatory fish such as tuna, marlin and swordfish.  It appears that the range of this larger population is expanding which is likely related to climate variations and food supply e.g. hake, pilchard and herring. 

Why do they strand?  No one yet has definitively been able to answer this.  The big storm just prior to October 17th may have carried them into Hardy Bay where their death may have been related to the temperature of the water or that the water in the Bay had a higher concentration of fresh water.

Our head naturalist took the pictures of the decaying squid.l  She may have missed the stranding event itself as she was in Quebec, but was not going to miss the opportunity to collect some of the Humbolt squid's beaks for educational purposes (such as for use in the Whale Interpretive Center).  She reports that the smell of the decaying squid is almost as bad as the dead sealion she recently helped Captain Jim retrieve from the ocean bottom.  All in the name of environmental education........

Photo credit: Jackie Hildering

From the Office:

The weather allowed us to get out on the water today with the aim of getting insight into humpback behaviours in the fall.  There were at least 7 animals in the area - 3 known animals ("Freckles", "Moonstar" and "Corporal"; 2 animals new to us and 2 for which we could not get ID photographs.

Our humpback mission was interrupted by the sudden appearance of whales with pointier dorsal fins  . . . mammal-eating ("transient ") killer whales. There were at least 8 of them and thankfully Jared Towers of DFO was in the area to ID them.  T037 and T034 were identified as well as a new calf in the group.  We don't think the transients made a kill in the time we observed them but  they did travel past Pacific white-sided dolphins , Pacific harbour seals and Steller sea lions. 

Just a few hours on the water on a day in October and we see all this.  It really makes us reflect on how much we miss in these months where the weather makes it more challenging to be out on the water.  

We'll keep you updated as the weather allows. 

Photo Credits; Jackie Hildering


Captain Jim, Jackie and Mary attended the 19th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals in Quebec City.  It was an amazing week  gathering with many friends and talks about the latest research happening around the world with marine mammals.  Post conference we spent several days on the north east shore of the St. Lawrence River.  On the way we stopped where the Saguenay River enters the St. Lawrence at Tadoussac, Quebec and naturally we went whale watching. 

We saw more minke whales in one place (14 plus) than we have ever seen before.  They were actively feeding with over 200 grey seals as well in the same area.  The seals were impressive as they porpoised as a group through the water.  Several beluga whales were also at the mouth of the river, heading out into the St. Lawrence.  We then headed east towards the research lab 'Meriscope'.Our friend Dany Zbinden, gave us a tour of the facility and then we went on the water and encountered more minke whales. The next day Jackie went out on the water again and this time they did encounter two blue whales and two fin back whales.  We are still trying to peel her off of the ceiling!  On the way back to Quebec City, crossing the Saguenay on the ferry we again had a nice look at several belugas blowing bubbles and possibly feeding.  We had a fabulous two weeks in this 'belle' province.

We have been checking OrcaLive and we are looking forward to getting back to the activity in Johnstone Strait and beautiful British Columbia!

Photo Credit : Jackie Hildering



From the Wheelhouse:

Today we provided a trip to the rest of the international students from Nanaimo and Ladysmith (yesterday we had the first 1/2 of the group).  This was the final trip of the season but not for lack of wildlife!  This is one of the most vibrant times of the year, as is evident by everything we saw today.

We saw killer whales (fish-eaters; the A30 and A36 matrilines with A12); at least 9 humpback whales; Pacific white-sided dolphins; Dalls porpoise; harbour seals and many Steller sea lions.  We could even see chum salmon on the surface of the water which testifies to there being very good reason for the "resident" killer whales to still be in the area (chum salmon are their 2nd favourite species).

To describe a few of the highlights:

• Getting a good look at the mature male killer whale ("Craycroft" / A32) while he was fishing.
• Pacific white-sided dolphins interacting with the fish-eating killer whales as well as riding in the bow wake of the boat.
• Three humpbacks travelling tightly together and appeared to be socializing with incredible acrobatic displays. We saw these whales, that are as big as school buses) leaping out of the water and lobbing their enormous heads at the surface.  Thanks to the effort we have put in over 5 years to ID the humpbacks, we know that it was two juvenile animals ("Pultney" /BCZ0297 and "Twister") interacting with an adult female ("Chunky"/BCX0081).

Team Stubbs Island Whale Watching is now off to the biannual international marine mammal conference (in Quebec City) to hear the latest science on our amazing neighbours.

Photo credit: Jackie Hildering

From the Wheelhouse:

Today we had the great joy of showing our beautiful backyard to the international students who are spending time at the following Vancouver Island secondary schools: Ladysmith; Dover Bay and Nanaimo District.

And oh boy was Nature kind to these ambassadors from Germany, Thailand, China, Brazil, France and Spain.  

There were huge concentrations of small fish in the area (Captain Jim noted that he couldn't recall ever having seen so much feed on the sounder).  The result was that we had feeding harbour porpoise, Dall's porpoise, Steller sea lions and humpbacks all in the same area. Of course, there was so much bird activity too.

Some of the great highlights were watching the humpback "Ripple" (BCX1063) breach out of the water (see image) and seeing "Freckles" repeatedly lunge feed.

But, that's not all. We also watched the A30 matriline of fish-eating killer whales forage for salmon.  They did this in an area with a lot of current and we even saw them surfing on the waves in this area.

The students certainly left with a solid sense of why this is Beautiful Britsh Columbia.

Photo credit: Lisa Abernethy

From the Wheelhouse:

It was a gorgeous day for the last tour of the season.  Sunshine and calm seas as we left Telegraph Cove.  Due to the cold night and first frost of the year, there was a fog bank towards the mainland and as we ventured into the fog this afternoon we had great luck in finding 'Stripe' the humpback whale swimming just off of Donegal Head. 

There were lots of Steller sealions around and we encountered some Pacific white-sided dolphins, Dall's porpoise and a few harbour seals.  When we left Donegal Head we cruised into Blackfish Sound hoping it would be a little clearer.  We were fortunate to encounter KC and one other humpback whale which we didn't identify.  The waters are rich with feed at this time of the year and the bird activity is quite spectacular. 

We would like to thank all of our staff both in the office and on the boats.  It take all of our 'team' to make things happen and we wish all of them a restful winter.  To all of our guests this season we hope that you enjoyed your visit to Broughton and Blackfish Archipelagos and to our home - Telegraph Cove.  Thanks everyone who supported the Whale Interpretive Centre and we look forward to another amazing season in 2010.

We will update the blog throughout the winter months as we hopefully encounter some of the marine mammals that come by and any exciting events that Mother nature brings our way.

Cheers;

Jim and Mary Borrowman (and Buddy too)

Photo credit: Jackie Hildering

Photo credit: Captain Jim

From the Wheelhouse:

Stubbs Island Whale Watching sponsored the Young Naturalist Club of Northern Vancouver Island today (see group photo) and nature was kind to them!  For the first time ever, we saw 6 humpbacks directed at the same mass of small schooling fish.  The frenzy of birds, fins, tails and trumpetting sounds of whales was nothing short of sensational and dizzying.

They saw the humpbacks lunge feeding and tried to help us in identifying the whales as individuals.  Not an easy task today with  the number of humpbacks and the intense activty. This really is the most exciting time of the year for humpbacks.

They also saw Steller sea lions, a baby seal and yes, fish-eating ("resident") killer whales.  The 3-big brothers (the A36s) again were with A12.  What a wonderful opportunity for these local young nature lovers to learn about their backyard and how to better care for it.

Our guests this afternoon had a repeat of the morning's activity with beautiful sunshine and calm seas.  A tremendous day on the water!

Next available tour:

Sunday, October 04, 2009 at 1:00 pm  - Last tour of the season

Photo credit: Lisa Abernethy

From the Wheelhouse:

Just before the tour was ready to leave Telegraph Cove we received a report from Bill and Wendy on Pearce Island that there were transient killer whales heading towards the Cove. A big thanks to Bill and Wendy!  When we left the dock we didn't have much success in finding the transients, but just as we were heading to look at humpbacks, Mr. Farquhar from Scotland spotted a blow by Stubbs Island!  

Alas it was the transient (marine mammal eating) killer whales.  They were somewhat spread out and looked to be foraging.  We had a great look and just as we were about to leave .....3 breaches!   It was truly incredible. 

Not only did we transients, we were also fortunate to encounter 6 humpback whales who were feeding, breaching, trumpeting and interacting with a Steller sealion.  There were lots of tail flukes!  We positively ID one as 'Freckles' and another as 'Pultney'.    A tremendous amount of seabirds in the area.  Today we counted at least 50 Pacific loons and we saw some fortail petrels.

All in all another wonderful day on the water.

Next available tour:

October 3, 2009 at 1:00 pm
October 4, 2009 at 1:00 pm - Last tour of the season

Photo credit: Jackie Hildering

From the Wheelhouse:

Humpback vocals!  Today we recorded the vocalizations of humpbacks underwater! 

The interaction witnessed today and the resulting chance for us ot learn and record observations was amazing. For more than 2.5 hours, Steller sea lions were leaping around 3 humpbacks that we know were "Slash" (BCY0177), "Pultney" (BCZ0297) and "Twister" (no DFO identification number but this is the animal that was twice entangled in prawn trap nets this past spring).

The interaction appeared to be that the sea lions were "provoking "the humpbacks, the humpbacks trying to get away from the sea lions, making loud trumpetting sounds, flailing thier tails and fins and changing directions repeatedly.  The left image shows a sea lion leaping over "Twister". Image on the right is also "Twister".


We were able to get the hydrophone in the water and heard that these behaviours were associated with the humpbacks making a great variety of calls.  We will be sharing these recordings and our observations with researchers.

It is amazing that in a span of about 7 years, we have gone from rarely seeing humpbacks to now seeing them daily knowing them as individuals which allows us learn from them as we watch  them interact. There were at least 5 other humpbacks in the same small area including "Freckles", "Corporal" and "Moonstar".

Next available tour:

Friday, Oct 2, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Saturday, Oct 3, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Sunday, Oct 4, 2009 at 1:00 pm (Last tour of the season)

Photo credit: Noor-un-nisa Koller

Photo credit: Jackie Hildering

From the Wheelhouse:

Today, we had so much biodiversity and interesting behaviours that the trip has our head naturalist of 11 years on sensory overload. A special thanks to 13 year old Noor-un-nisa Koller for her photo of the A36s.  She has been coming to Telegraph Cove each September for the last 7 years!

The intriguing behaviours started with the resident (fish-eating) killer whales. A12 was interacting with the A36s, much tail-slapping and sudden direction changes. A37 ("Plumper") not only spy-hopped out of the water to his midriff, he also breached fully out of the water.

There were at least 5 humpbacks in the area.  "Slash" (BCY0177) and "Pultney" (BCZ0297 - first ID photo this season) were together and were trumpeting repeatedly.  Again, there was the intriguing behaviour of intense repeated tail-slapping by a humpback. "Ridge" (no DFO ID) was with another animal and repeated slapped the water with much trumpeting going on between these animals as well.

At one point, our passengers had the dilemna of watching the Dall's porpoise hydroplaning around the boat or watching the tail-slapping of the humpback.

Steller sea lions could be counted on for intrigue as well.  We re-sighted an animal with an enormous tumour on its face and another animal branded by scientists, the branding suggesting it originated from Oregon.

On the bird front, Captain Jim sighted what may be a gannet (never before seen in our area). We also had a parasitic jaeger attacking a gull.

This really is SUCH a vibrant time of the year.

Next available tour:

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Friday, Oct 2, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Saturday, Oct 3, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Sunday, Oct 4, 2009 at 1:00 pm  LAST TOUR OF THE SEASON