August

T011A, Rainy, doubles back towards the boat around Ahous Point. This male Bigg's killer whale was born ~1978.

Around 4 nautical miles from shore I photographed this peregrine falcon as it hunted red-necked phalarope. This is the silhouette created as it flew towards Flores Island with the sun behind it.

A previously undocumented humpback whale, "Spike" that has been frequently sighted in the inlets close to Hot Springs Cove. Spike is named for the spike on the right fluke.

A red-necked phalarope creating ripples as it spins at the surface to create an upwelling. By spinning and pumping its feet it draws food to the surface when it catches using its bill.

This image, to me, captures the raw power of humpback whales as they force themselves out of the water. This humpback rolled or cartwheeled a handful of times before it resumed its travel westwards.

T028, a female killer whale born ~1972 travels through Templar Channel towards the Tofino Harbour.

Bar (CSG298), a male grey whale, lifts his tail as he dives in Cow Bay. This whale has been genetically tested, confirming that he is male. He has been seen a number of times durting August, between Rafael Point and Cow Bay.

"Big Momma" is a black bear that has held a territory in Barkley Sound for a number of years. Female bears tend to hold smaller territories than males, usually on the shoreline. They may allow their female offspring to establish overlapping territories, but male offspring will be pushed out.

This is T146D, an 11-year old Bigg's killer whale. According to research, T146's offspring don't always travel with their mother, or each other. On this encounter T146D was travelling with the T109s and the T028s.

On a calm afternoon in Sydney Inlet, Spike surfaces to breathe.

T077A, a lone male Bigg's killer whale born in 1996. T077A is another killer whale that doesn't travel with his family. His mother, T077, still regularly travels with his 4 siblings.

Bar (CSG298) surfaces feeds in Cow Bay. This feeding strategy is usually used when grey whales feed on crab larvae. The baleen plates you can see here overlap with each other. When the whale closes its mouth it uses its tongue to push the water out, filtering it through the baleen and trapping the prey they are looking to eat on the inside.

T109A "Runaway" with her 2018 calf T109A6. T109A6 is the sixth born offspring of Runaway. Aside from T109A1 all of Runaway's offsrping have survived. On this day she was with T109A3, T109A4, T109A5 and T109A6. Her oldest daughter, T109A2 was in the area within a couple of days, travelling with her two offspring. Incredibly we had visitation from the entire T109 lineage visit this August.

A male Steller sea lion in golden hour light in Barkley Sound.

T011A "Rainy" swims away from the boat between Vargas Island and Tree Island.

This is a grey whale we have nicknamed "Domino" for markings on its starboard side. Previously undocumented this individual now has the code CSG1023. It has the unusual habit of "peeking" when taking its final breath before diving, allowing me to capture this image of his or her eye.

This image shows a Bigg's killer whale hunting. This is T109C, a female born in 2002. She and her 2 offspring combed the Lennard Island kelp forest and reefs for over an hour. Lennard Island is a large harbour seal haulout, and this prey item makes up around 50% of Bigg's killer whale diet.

"Spike" takes a breath on a windless evening in Sydney Inlet.

T109A4 and its sibling as they move through Clayoquot Sound.

The tail of Big White (CSG27) as she dives at Rafael Point. This whale is a female grey whale and last produced a calf in 2017. That calf has been seen this year, and was even seen side by side with its mother for a few brief minutes in Cow Bay.

Here is the tail of Big White's 2017 calf. Known as Snowflake for the large amounts of white on the rostrum, this whale is known to researchers as CSG973. This white on the rostrum isn't the best identifying feature, as most young grey whales have large amounts of white colouration in this area.

A tufted puffin floating around on the outside of Cleland Island. I'm not certain, but I believe this to be an adult bird that is starting to lose its yellow plumes and starting to transition to winter plumage. Like many birds tufted puffins transform into this plumage for the breeding season and then have a duller plumage for winter.

Another previously undocumented humpback whale in Clayoquot Sound. This individual has a black underside to the tail, which often makes it harder to identify. In order to try and match this whale the trailing edge of the flukes will be used. So far I can't find this animal in any of the catalogues available.