A brilliant day viewing Humpback Whales with bow-riding porpoises and eagles fishing!

It was a beautiful day, made all the more wonderful with the happy knowledge that Plumper ~ A37 is alive, having been reported yesterday afternoon fishing alongside his brother Kaikash up in Fredericks Arm, an Inlet 35 miles NE of Campbell River. It was wonderful news to hear! Having viewed the A36's for the past 27-28 summers, and the A36 brothers bonded together, especially since their mother's passing, we have never seen the brothers separated for more than a few km apart while they have foraged and travelled in our local waters. Even in more recent years since Cracroft has gone, when we have seen Plumper and Kaikash travelling together and with A12 as well, they were not ever more than a few km's apart. This recent happening with Kaikash sighted alone and with Plumper nowhere in sight has been worrisome for many of us, attached as we are to this magnificent orca. With so much sadness in the world, the news of him being alive, feeding on salmon and with his brother is happy news indeed! Our day today was a beautiful one! With a report of orcas travelling east past the rubbing beaches and continuing on further to the east, pushed along by the flooding current we ourselves travelled in through Weynton Passage and against the flood and were soon surrounded by bow-riding dall's porpoises who seemed to be everywhere we looked, near and far and soon too, a humpback whale blow was seen in the top end of Blackfish Sound. The whale was taking long dives and as we waited, two more humpback whales were seen in the distance in Blackfish Sound the two of them passing us in wide circles. At one point as we sat quietly with our engine off and drifting while enjoying the quiet pristine beauty of our surroundings, a humpback whale surfaced suddenly beside us! What a treat and one that was not expected or dreamed of happening our passengers exclaimed, it was a fabulous surprise for all of us! A stellar sea lion, we observed on several occasions eating a salmon it had caught surrounded by gulls, all of them were looking for and fighting over any scraps left floating. Looking further north another humpback whale was seen with its fluke disappearing into the quiet and calm waters that we all enjoyed today. We travelled through scenic island waterways looking at large gatherings of bald eagles sitting high on treetops and then later saw many of them fishing over a herring ball. We had a good look at a nest where an eaglet could be seen sitting up high with a parent adjacent on another branch and then we saw yet another humpback whale feeding, followed finally by another, bringing our count today to six. The last humpback whale, Slash, arrived out of nowhere into Weynton Passage and was seen making her way towards a herring ball that gulls and eagles were fishing on. Also seen: a black-tailed deer, river otters, harbour seals, rhinoceros auklets, belted kingfishers, common murres, red-necked phalaropes, glaucous-winged, herring and mew gulls.

Today's penned comments: What a wonderful day! That humpback really got our heart rate up and the porpoises riding the bow wave! Thanks a lot! Lars, Ellen, Ente, and Susanne ~ Sweden

We had a spectacular day of sun, some rain, beautiful views and wildlife - tea and scones topped it off. Thank you for showing us your "bubble"! Stephanie ~ Seattle, Washington