Stubbs Island Sightings

A mature Bald eagle against the backdrop of a green rain forest. (image is cropped) Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

There are many shades of green on the North Island. Its green because of all the rain and today we had some when we left the dock, then it stopped and we had beautiful weather until we were about to head back to Telegraph Cove when it started to rain again.

A small group of Pacific white-sided dolphins in Blackfish Sound. (image cropped) Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Despite a few raindrops, we enjoyed finding a small group of Pacific white-sided dolphins in Blackfish Sound just beyond the Plumper Island group. The water was flat calm and the dolphins were circling around one spot. They did not display any of their acrobatic skills today but it was sure nice to see some of these exciting creatures.

A little further along on the North shore of Hanson Island, a guest from Germany spotted a Bald eagle in a tree. As we approached for a better view, we spotted three more eagles. Two of the four spotted were immature and had not yet developed their distinctive white head and tail feathers which appear at about four or five years of age.

As Captain Wayne took us through some narrow passages between Swanson Island past Farewell Harbour and into the mouth of Knight Inlet. We have only seen a few Steller sea lions today with one feeding on a fish by slapping it around on the surface giving us a idea how they consume their meals.

A group of harbour seals hauled out on the White Cliff Islets. (image cropped) Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Near White Cliff Islets there were about 20 to 30 harbour seals hauled out on the rocks watching nervously as we quietly drifted by in our attempt not to disturb them.

As we headed across Blackfish Sound towards Vancouver Island and Telegraph Cove, we could see a heavy grey cloud bank with lots of rain ahead of us. We wound our way through the Plumper Islands and stopped while the onboard naturalist played some whale sounds and explained what we often do see in this area for orcas and humpbacks.

Heading across Johnstone Strait on the last leg home, we were pleased to find a group of Dall’s porpoises breaking the flat calm surface as raindrops fell around the Lukwa.

Captain Wayne’s ‘Quote of the Day’ – “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas Alva Edison

Next trip – Sunday, May 26, 2013 – 1:00pm

We spend a lot of time making sure our guests have a safe and enjoyable experience while on our tours. Part of the training for our deckhands/naturalists includes a day on the Lukwa practicing their rescue skills.

Jess conforts a person rescued from the chilly waters while Allison and Kyle observe and assist where required.

Jackie Hildering (The Marine Detective) spends several days each year reviewing marine mammal knowledge and our safety and emergency procedures onboard our vessels.

The crew debrief after person overboard practice. (Left to Right: Jackie Hildering, Kyle, Allison, Jess, Captain Wayne Garton)

We  strive to have highly educated staff available to you so that these trips can be even more worthwhile and enjoyable for you.  We are very fortunate to have three new members join our team this year:

Alison – has lived on Vancouver Island all her life and has spent a great deal of time on the water and has a degree in Biology from the University of Victoria.

Jessica – has an Honours degree in Biology from Canada’s East Coast and has come all the cross country to join us this season. She recently worked doing boat tours in Vietnam.

Kyle – recently graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Fish, Wildlife and Recreation program. We are glad he has great deal of expertise about salmon – a species so important to everything you will see today.

Jess and Alison use a life ring to get a person in the water around to the swim grid in order to assist them onboard to safety.

Captains Wayne Garton and Geoff Dunstan are an important part of the training on board and safety systems.

Telegraph Cove was a happening place this past weekend with the annual Top Island Econauts Dive Club event. Over sixty scuba divers were in the Cove and underwater enjoying the ‘sights’.

We had a delightful group of guests for our first wildlife viewing trip of 2013 on Monday afternoon.

Some harbour seals watching us carefully. Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Captain Wayne was at the wheel guiding the M.V Lukwa around the Plumper Islands and into Weyton Passage where we found a group of harbour seals hauled out on their usual rock. All together there were about 40 seals between Weyton Island reef and White Cliff Islets. We briefly spotted a few Dall’s porpoises on the way across Johnstone Strait but they were keeping their distance.

A soaring bald eagle looking for a fishy meal. Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Our visitors from Germany and Italy were all delighted to see approximately 8 Bald eagles along the way. One eagle was soaring over the water looking at something that might have become lunch but it must have swam down too deep in the water for the eagle to try to catch. There were a few Harlequin ducks spotted today and about forty or more White-winged scooters flew by just inches above the flat, calm water.

We spotted a black bear lifting rocks on the beach at low tide looking for crabs. Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

While cruising quietly around the north side of Swanson Island, someone spotted a black bear on the beach. Often this time of year before the salmon start spawning and the berries ripen, black bears will cruise along the beach at low tide turning over rocks with their strong paws as they search for small crustaceans to munch for lunch.

The largest of the sea lion family, the Steller sea lion. Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Before we headed back to Telegraph Cove, our onboard naturalist spotted a group of Stellar sea lions quietly resting on a rock near the Plumper group of islands. We estimate about 25 of these large sea lions were sleeping quietly and hardly lifted a head as we went by, TWICE. One of the dive boats had reported divers being buzzed by some sea lions the day before. That might explain why the seas lions were so tired after all that excitement!

Just as we approached Telegraph Cove, Dall’s porpoises were spotted nearby so we went for another look and this time these fastest of the marine mammals came racing over to a bow ride in the wake of the Lukwa. Everyone was eagerly leaning over the railing to catch a glimpse of these speedy cetaceans.

There seemed to be smiles on everyone’s face after that encounter as we headed back to our dock in the Cove.

Captain Wayne’s “Quote of the Day”
‘Persistent prophecy is a familiar way of assuring the event.’ George R. Gissing.

Next trips – Friday, May 24th, 2013 @ 1:00pm
Sunday, May 26th, 2013 @ 1:00pm

We have confirmation of the name for our new boat! It took nearly a month for Ship’s Registry in Ottawa to approve it.
It is ‘Kuluta’ which in the First Nations of Kwak’wala means porpoise.

http://www.firstvoices.com/en/Kwakwala/word/414fa3b497e02416/porpoise

The name was submitted along with over 170 entries in our ‘Name the New Boat’ contest. The winner of the contest is Tyson Carswell who is a student at the University of Victoria and is looking forward to taking some of his fellow students out for a truly West Coast experience.
The name ‘Kuluta’ struck a cord with the owners of Stubbs Island Whale Watching as very appropriate for several reasons. As a Kwak’wala word it embraces the First Nations heritage of the region and maintains the naming legacy used for our other ship, the ‘Lukwa’ which means ‘a place in the forest’.
Also the reference to porpoise is very appropriate as one of our favourite marine mammals to see on our tours is the Dall’s porpoise which is the fastest marine mammal able to attain speeds of 55 kilometres an hour. The Dall’s porpoise also puts up a signature ‘rooster tail’ spray as it races through the water as does the ‘Kuluta’ with its surface piercing drives. The surfacing piercing drives are special in that they are quiet underwater so we don’t contribute to the noise pollution that whales have to put up with from boats using other types of propulsion.
The 40’ aluminum catamaran hulled ‘Kuluta’ is faster than a Dall’s porpoise able to do speeds in excess of 30 nautical miles an hour (55 km/h) with her twin Cummins diesel engines and ASD-10 Arneson surface piercing drives. The ship will carry up to 42 passengers and three crew from her new base of operations in Telegraph Cove starting later this month.

This is our new addition to the 'fleet'.

We need your help to come up with a name for our new (second) whale watching boat. The M.V. Lukwa will always remain our main vessel for viewing whales and other marine mammals from our location in Telegraph Cove but often it is full. With this second vessel, we will have room for up to 42 more guests on our tours.

The new vessel was built in 2006 by Armstrong Boats and was used in Victoria for whale watching until we purchased it this past December. Its a very stable and fast aluminum catamaran hull with lots of room to stand up and view the wildlife or sit in the cabin or on the sundeck.

We feel that a a new name that suits the area will make it feel welcome in its new home in Telegraph Cove.

Do you have some ideas? Our group of judges, Heike Wieske, Geord Dunstan and Roger McDonell are looking for a name that reflects the region, character of the boat, history of Stubbs Island, or native culture. Remember that it should be easy to say and we will be using it a lot on the VHF radio so it has to transmit well.

To enter is easy. Just send us you suggestion to contest@stubbs-island.com and if we choose your suggestion then you will win 10 trips on board the boat you have helped name. You can come ten times yourself or just bring nine friends once. What a party that would be.

You can enter as many times as you like but only one name suggestion per e-mail. In the case of multiple entries that are the same, we will draw a name from the hat of those matching entries. The contest is open now and runs until March 15th, 2012.

Thanks for your help. We are looking forward to the upcoming season starting on May 18th.

Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Our 2012 whale watching season came to a close today, and what an ending!  This morning we had the North Island’s Young Naturalists on board, getting some education on the marine life in the area.  They also had some great views of the humpback whales, including a full breach completely out of the water!

Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

That combined with hundreds of Steller sea lions, lots of sea birds and the calm, sunny weather made for just an amazing trip.

This afternoon’s trip had guests from all over the world being treated to T-shirt weather – a definite rarity in October here on Northern Vancouver Island.  We were very excited to see the whale known as ‘Conger’ with its mouth gaping/skimming the water in one location, using it’s pectoral fins to scoop feed into its mouth!

Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Other humpback whales that we were able to identify this afternoon were ‘Cutter’, ‘Argonaut’ and ‘Freckles’.  There was also a large group of Steller sea lions everywhere you looked harassing the humpbacks, which led to some trumpeting from the giant whales.

Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Thank you to all of the visitors we had over the 2012 season, and we look forward to seeing you again in 2013!

The Stubbs Island Whale Watching Staff

Captain Wayne’s Quote of the Day: “Money can’t buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.” – Spike Milligan

Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

Is it really October? The beautiful weather we’ve been having has been making us wonder! It’s been so calm and sunny that if it were a little warmer we’d think it was July or August! Today the humpback whales were absolutely amazing! We noticed 2 whales in one area opening and closing their giant mouths almost at the same time as they fed on the surface.

Photo Credit - Zoe Schroeder

There was lots of tail and pectoral fin activity as these 2 whales bobbed up and down in the water with their mouths gaped wide open. They were then joined by 3 others, and we were able to observe a lot of feeding and social behaviour as well as hear some trumpeting! Guests and crew were speechless with all of the activity happening. We were able to stay in one spot for about an hour and 20 minutes watching this incredible behaviour!

Photo Credit - Zoe Schroeder

Captain Wayne said that this encounter was a first for him, and after 3379 trips out on the water as a Captain for Stubbs Island Whale Watching that’s saying something!

Guests with video cameras were able to capture some Discovery Channel worthy footage with super sound too! This behaviour continued with Steller sea lions in amongst the humpback whales.

Photo Credit - Roger McDonell

We also had some tremendous bird sightings, which included: 10 Pacific Loons, 10 marble murrelets, 10 rhinoceros auklets, 100’s of common murres, 4 bald eagles, 20 pelagic cormorants and some Western Grebes. 100+ harbour seals hauled out on a rocky island while others swam in a nearby kelp bed rounded out a superb day!

Today was our Naturalist Zoe’s last tour of the season, and with sightings like this, boy did she ever go out with a bang! We want to thank Zoe for being so dedicated and passionate this summer, and hope that she has a terrific winter!

Captain Wayne’s Quote of the Day: “To most of us the real life is the life we do not lead.” – Oscar Wilde

Next Available Tour:

Saturday, October 6 @1:00 p.m.**

**Last trip of the season

Photo Credit - Wendy Nielsen from Nanaimo, BC

It was another super day in the Telegraph Cove area! As you may have noticed our weather has been incredibly sunny and wind free, which is quite surprising for October! We departed Telegraph Cove with another group of International students from the Nanaimo School District on board, and there was activity from start to finish!

Photo Credit - Captain Geoff

There were humpback whales everywhere, and we were able to watch as these amazing mammals were lunge feeding and doing large tail flukes. A very interesting occurrence was when the humpbacks were trumpeting (sounds like an elephant) as they were targeted by a group of 15+ Steller sea lions. Another really neat sight was when the Steller sea lions were ‘porpoising’ after the humpback whales.

Photo Credit - Captain Geoff

When the sea lions weren’t ‘pestering’ the humpback whales they were feeding on some small schools of Chum salmon, which could be seen ‘finning’ on the ocean’s surface. 30 harbour seals, 100′s of common murres and 4 bald eagles rounded out a great trip!

Photo Credit - Captain Geoff

Today was Captain Geoff’s last trip of the season and we would like to thank him for all of his hard work and enthusiasm. We can’t wait for him to start guiding trips for us again next year!

Captain Wayne’s Quote of the Day: “If we spend our time with regrets over yesterday, and worries over what might happen tomorrow, we have no today in which to live.” – Anonymous

Next Available Tour:

Friday, October 5 @ 1:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 6 @ 1:00 p.m.**

**The last tour of our 2012 season!

Photo Credit - Jackie Hildering

This afternoon we had both the MV Gikumi and MV Lukwa out on the water. The Gikumi sailed with a group from England and Australia who were nearing the end of a tour around Vancouver Island and the Lukwa had a group of international students from Nanaimo on board. They were excited to have sunshine after a couple of days light showers.

Photo Credit - Jackie Hildering

Humpback whales were the main feature on today’s trip over ten animals located between Weyton Pass and Blackfish Sound. There were a lot of birds out on the water leading us to where the whales were feeding on schooling fish and krill.
One of exciting things we witnessed was a ‘gang’ of Steller sea lions harassing two humpback whales.

Photo Credit - Jackie Hildering

The whales were obviously annoyed and trying to shake the playful sea lions. The trumpeting and slapping of pectorals fins from the humpbacks usually indicates they are unhappy. After a while and a dive long dive, ‘Moonstar’ and ‘Ripple’ seemed to shake the pesky critters.
We also saw ‘Freckles’, ‘Conger’, ‘Guardian’, ‘Twister’ and BCX1192 (No nickname) and a few others that were not identified.

Photo Credit - Zoe Schroeder

As well as humpbacks today, we also saw 20 harbour seals, fifty or more Steller sea lions and a small group of five Pacific white-sided dolphins.
Again we had lots of viewing of birds including hundreds of common murres, more than twenty Rhinoceros auklets and about ten sooty shearwaters. Today we only saw about four or five bald eagles and maybe three surf scoters.

Captain Geoff’s Quote of the Day: “Sometimes it is more important to discover what one cannot do, than what one can do” – Lin Yutang

Next Available Tours:

Friday, October 5 @ 1:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 6 @1:00 p.m.**

**Last trip of the season

Photo Credit - Captain Wayne

This morning we had a terrific group of students on board from Sunset Elementary School. The children were treated to the sight of 10 humpback whales! We were able to identify 3 of the whales as ‘Domino’, ‘Conger’ and ‘Jigger’. Conger was being very active, and we were able to watch as this whale did several tail slaps, head stands and pec slaps.

Photo Credit - Zoe Schroeder

10 – 15 Pacific white-sided dolphins also put in an appearance, which is always quite entertaining. Then we encountered a group of 20+ Steller sea lions which were hauled out on the rocks enjoying the sunshine. It was an exciting trip with some fair sized waves that managed to get some sea spray on the kids, which they enjoyed thoroughly.

Captain Wayne’s Quote of the Day: “Don’t worry about avoiding temptation as you grow older. It will avoid you.” – Winston Churchill

(Captain Wayne’s Comment: ‘Tell me about it!’)

Next Available Tours:

Friday, October 5 @ 1:00 p.m.

Saturday, October 6 @ 1:00 p.m.*

*The last tour of our 2012 season!