Humpbacks, Orcas, and Porpoises

We had a pretty nice morning tour despite the wet weather. After departing we encountered various groups of Dall's porpoises. With one group we drifted to a stop and floated there while they swam in circles all around us. The water was calm enough that we could hear their breaths on every surfacing. They dove and after a couple minutes we had no idea where they would come up again until pff, a little calf popped up right beside us. The animal had not quite developed the adult black and white pigmentation and was only a couple feet long which is less than one third the size of the others. It was probably only a few weeks old. It surfaced twice by itself until the others came up nearby and lead it the other way. The next encounter we had was with a huge Humpback whale known as Stripe or BCZ0004. We have come to know this animal fairly well over the last few years as he likes to spend time in the area. We had an amazing look at his huge tail as seen below. On our afternoon tour we had the good fortune of not only seeing Stripe again with other Humpback whales but also Orcas and all at the same time. It was the kind of encounter where you don't know which way to look because there are different types of whales foraging all around. It is certainly a rich marine eco-system out there and we feel privileged to be able to witness it.

Humpback whale today