Humpbacks Victory (BCZ0345, F) and Merlin (BCY1033, M) scoop up fish by the hundreds. It's the time of year when a male’s thoughts turn to things other than food. In recent years we’ve been seeing some pre-courtship behaviour before they head south!
Chrystelle Côté Photography
#Wild4Whales

A common murre frantically flaps out of the way as Lynx (T060E) surfaces. Lynx and his brother are well-known for chasing murres and other seabirds for sport!
Chrystelle Côté Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #ExploreBC #TopPredator

A humpback pectoral flipper seems to glow in the foggy light. Fun fact: these flippers, which can reach 4.5-metres or one-third of the whale’s body length, are the largest appendages in the animal kingdom!
Carol Limido Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales

When humpbacks begin a dive, usually one of them goes first and the other follows. But every now and then, they both fluke up at the same time—like this! This is BCX2325 (left) and Cinder (BCX1749).
Chrystelle Côté Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #FlukesUp

27yo Neilson (T049C) is what we call a lone male. His mother died years ago and even though he has two surviving sisters, he’s chosen a solitary life. We rarely see him mixing with other Bigg’s families.
@salishseaphotos.bsky.social
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales

Fall in the southern Salish Sea is the annual turkey vulture migration. In late September and early October, hundreds (thousands?) gather into kettles—swirling vortices of birds—to get the lift they need to glide across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
@salishseaphotos.bsky.social
#Wild4Whales #TUVU

The T060 brothers travel along San Juan Channel, always on the prowl for a quick meal. Onca (T060D, left), and Lynx (T060E) have been touring the southern Salish Sea for the past few weeks!
Chrystelle Côté Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #ExploreBC #Orca

What seconds before had been a large baitball of small schooling fish—probably herring—disappeared in one large gulp thanks to a hungry juvenile humpback.
Shorelines Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #ExploreBC #SalishSea #FeedingFrenzy

3yo Tide (T046B1C) breaches as his family socializes in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Tide’s older brother was Tl’uk, who was famous for his pale-coloured skin. Tl’uk died in 2021 at the age of 3.
Chrystelle Côté Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #Spyhop

Merlin (BCY1033) does his version of the twist as he breaches in Becher Bay, west of Victoria.
Carol Limido Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #Breach

An excited Holly (T099B) “porpoises” through the water during a seal hunt.
<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vtxnz36k5oxivytc2nvbcycw" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@tomflip.bsky.social
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #ExploreBC #TopPredator

From a distance this male elephant seal looked like a a deadhead log…until we saw the eyes, whiskers and that namesake schnozz! Elephant seals spend most of their lives at sea and will rest vertically at the surface like this between dives.
Sam Stutz Photography
#Wild4Whales

Imagine our surprise when this young humpback finished a lunge, then opened its mouth to reveal this struggling bird! Humpbacks can’t swallow something this large, so the only option was to expel the unwanted bird—which did manage to get out!
Carol Limido Photography
#Wild4whales

The T099 and T036A1 families charge off to new adventures after spending the day with a third family. The whale leading this charge, matriarch Bella (T099), is the auntie of the T036A1s!
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Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #TopPredator

“Pssst, want to see my imitation of a banana?”
Shorelines Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #HarbourSeal #BananaForScale

Twenty-five-year-old Stanley (T123A) and family cruise through Satellite Channel near Salt Spring Island.
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Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales

Killer whales and humpbacks seem to get all the love, while sleek minke whales quietly go about their business. We see these small baleen whales mainly on the shallow banks to the southeast of Victoria.
@salishseaphotography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales

Even fog can’t hide the distinctive dorsal fin of Chainsaw (T063)!
Carol Limido Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #ExploreBC #Legendary

Sometimes the land mammals distract us from the marine mammals!
Sam Stutz Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales

This was one of many tail lobs and cartwheels by a humpback known as BCX2247!
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
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#Wild4Whales #ExploreBC

The T046B family continues to expand. This is a new calf travelling alongside Tread (T046B1)! There are now three kids in the family age one or under!
Carol Limido Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #ExploreBC #Orca

Sept. 18, sunset tour, 4 Ever Wild: Ten-year-old Tsakani (T046B1A) does a spectacular spyhop as she and family members hunt a seal. Judging by this photo, Tsakani is eating very well!
Tomis Filipovic Photography <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:vtxnz36k5oxivytc2nvbcycw" class="hover:underline text-blue-600 dark:text-sky-400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@tomflip.bsky.social
#Wild4Whales #Spyhop #ExploreBC

Mandarte Island north of Victoria supports some of the largest breeding colonies of cormorants in British Columbia. These young birds, plus one bedraggled adult, are all pelagic cormorants!
Carol Limido Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #PECO

Humpback Cinder (BCX1749) demonstrates the challenge of telling dark flukes apart! Sometimes it’s easier to look at the scalloping on the trailing edge, which is unique to every humpback!
Chrystelle Côté Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales

Ollie the sea otter is on the move here, swimming forward on his back and grooming as he goes!
Shorelines Photography
Photo taken with a telephoto lens and cropped.
#Wild4Whales #OllieTheOtter