The BC Cetaceans Sitings Network says they've received 10 reports of a Humpback whale swimming in the waters around Bowen Island in the past three weeks. They are not sure if it is the same Humpback that someone reported from the Squamish area in May, or from the Sunshine Coast between Gibson's and Roberts Creek throughout the summer. The Cetaceans Sitings Network, which is a part of the Vancouver Aquarium, compiles data based on whale sitings throughout coastal British Columbia. Photos are critical to tracking and identifying whales. By comparing and contrasting the ridges along on the tail, or the coloring of the whale, biologists can make a match and sometimes, track whales on their various journeys.
Heather Coulthart snapped the above photo at the end of September. She says her and her husband, Barry Adams, were drinking coffee at their home on Woods' Road at 8:30 in the morning when they saw the whale moving slowly along the shore in Grafton Bay. They decided to head out in their small boat to see if they could get a better look.
"We made our way to the south end of Hutt Island and saw the whale surface in Collingwood Channel between Bowen and Keats. We were the only boat in the water, and quite far away from the whale," says Coulthart. "It started flapping its fins, which looked like they were 15 feet in length, and then we saw its tail fluke go up, and then it breached. We keep pinching ourselves and asking, did that really happen?"
Doug Hooper from the Stop the Docks Campaign sent in the photo below of Orcas sited off of Cape Roger Curtis. The photographer prefers to remain nameless.
The BC Cetaceans Sitings Network says they've received 6 reports of Orca sitings from Bowen since the beginning of the summer.
To make a report, call 1-866-I-SAW-ONE (1-866-472-9663), or email [email protected].
