Whale Watching

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

We only had one night in Telegraph Cove, as they were all booked up for the second night, so we stayed in nearby Port McNeill, which was going to be our next destination, and was only a thirty-minute drive away. But we had to come back in the morning, as we had another trip booked, this time with Stubbs Island Whale Watching.

Fin whale skeleton, Telegraph Cove

We had arrived a bit early, and used the spare time to take a look around the Whale Interpretative Centre. As I mentioned before, it is small, but it is interesting, and has lots of information about how they identify the different orca pods in the region, as well as some skeletons of whales and other sea mammals.

Sea otter skeleton, Telegraph Cove

In all honesty, we weren’t feeling as enthusiastic for this trip as we might have been. The boat is a bit bigger than yesterday's, with more people on it, and we had had such good sightings of orcas yesterday, that we didn’t really think that this trip would match up.

Jellyfish, Telegraph Cove

Not that there was anything wrong with the trip. We set off straight away to find the orca pod that was in the area. It took a while, as they were quite a way out, but when we arrived it was a large pod, and they allowed us to get nice and close, with a couple of them coming right up around us briefly.  There was a zodiac nearby, and the orcas treated them to a really close encounter, which would have been great for them being so low in the water.

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

It is lovely to see the orcas all around, and so close by, but sadly they weren’t feeling playful today, so we didn’t really get any spy hops, and no breaches, which is a bit of a shame. It was still great, it’s just that we were spoiled yesterday.

Our guides today did give us a bit more information about the orcas and their situation, which was both interesting and worrying. They showed us the results of some tests that they ran to check on the level of microplastics that the orcas are absorbing into their bodies.

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

The microplastics, about the size of coffee grains, are ingested by everything from plankton to orcas, and as well as damaging the creatures internally, they can also make them think that they are not hungry, which can cause them to starve. Of course, because the orcas eat the smaller marine life, they ingest the microplastics in their bodies too.

Microplastic pollution

The bottles in the picture show a representation of the levels that they found. The smallest amount is the acceptable level. The middle amount is the level that is found in the orcas in this area, at the northern end of Vancouver Island, where the human population density and pollutants are lower. The largest amount is what they found in orcas at the southern end of the island, closer to Victoria and Vancouver.

The levels are quite concerning, and they seem to be reflected in the life expectancy of the orcas. The females are living to around 70-80 years old, but the males are only surviving to about half that age. The experts believe that the pollutants are the cause of the shorter lifespan in males, and that the reasons that the females are no affected, is that they unwittingly pass on the pollutants to their calves when they give birth.

It is sad to see the damage that we are doing to the habitat of these lovely creatures, and indeed that we may still be endangering their existence. We had been feeling a little awkward about keep insisting on not being given a straw in a drink, but this just renewed our resolve to keep on with that, and feeling even more determined to minimise our use of all plastics.

Eagle, Telegraph Cove

After watching the orcas for a while, we set off in search of other creatures, and came across a big flock of birds feeding on the water, including a couple of eagles, which we watched for a while.

Humpback, Telegraph Cove

Our next encounter was with a humpback, which hovered on the surface briefly before giving us a nice tail fluke as it dived back down again.

Humpback, Telegraph Cove

Squiggle the Humpback, Telegraph Cove

After that, the guides took us over to an area where they had spotted a second humpback diving. They positioned the boat a little way from where they thought it would emerge, and we all gazed expectantly off into the distance, waiting for it.

Squiggle the Humpback, Telegraph Cove

Then, all of a sudden, it appeared, not off in the distance, but literally right next to us.

She was so close, that we actually felt her bump the boat. Needless to say, we were thrilled to have her pop up so close.

Squiggle the Humpback, Telegraph Cove

She hovered for a moment, presumably thinking “Bugger, where did that lump of metal come from?”, and then ducked down and passed under the boat, popping up on the other side. It stayed on the surface briefly, giving us an excellent view of her slightly mangled dorsal fin that had led to her being named Squiggle, and then flicked up her tail and dived down.

Bald eagle, Telegraph Cove

Of course, with having the zoom lense attached to the camera, it wasn’t easy to get her properly into the frame for photos, but that wasn’t really the point. It was great to see her so very close. In any case, we did better than the professional photographer on board, who had one of the huge fixed zoom lenses; he had no chance of taking any pictures that close up. Like us though, he was just excited to have seen her there.

We finished off the day with a bald eagle that was drying itself out on some rocks.

Telegraph Cove

In the end, what had started out as a nice, but unremarkable trip, became an unforgettable one, simply due to that one close encounter with a humpback called Squiggle. And that is the nature of wildlife watching.

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

Orcas, Telegraph Cove

Telegraph Cove

Bald eagle, Telegraph Cove

Telegraph Cove