Visits with Humpbacks Stitch and Guardian - July 3 Trip Report

Today started off with a look at the harbour seals and their new pups at the Stephenson Islets – lots of them around today! Most of them were on the rocks with a few swimming in the kelp. A pair of bald eagles perched on a tiny island while we watched two black oystercatchers fly by. From there we went over to the eagle’s nest where we got a good view of the nest and saw some Stellers sea lions swimming in the current. The chicks were visible in the nest and they are certainly getting bigger! They’re almost fully feathered out but still quite a bit smaller than their parents.

From there, after a few brief looks at some Dalls porpoises, we started towards Blackfish Sound in search of whales. We spotted a humpback whale near West Passage and just as we started to get closer, it launched itself into the air in full breach! After a second breach, she settled into a nap, slowly breathing at the surface while travelling towards Orcalab. Just as we were about to go spend some time with Guardian, who we could see off in the distance at Cracroft Point, she started tail lobbing over and over again. This gave us a very good look at the underside of her fluke and we confirmed it was Stitch. We stayed with her for a little while longer until she was finished and moved on to have a quick look at Guardian before heading back towards Alert Bay. On our way home we came across a few more Dalls porpoises, this time they were feeling playful and delighted the guests with some bow-riding. It was an exciting day on the water!