Humpback Hummingbirds & Snow Nov 21 to Nov 25 Sightings

With the snow, it's been difficult to see the water and most people spent most of the time just trying to stay warm. It was bitter cold, yet there are three hummingbirds at the feeder! These little guys are Anna's hummingbirds and there are a few of them that stay in the Powell River area all winter. All I know is that I'm amazed that both the hummers and the humpbacks haven't left for warmer climates. I assume the one from the previous days is still the one known as Crescent, but there's no confirmation. The hummers aren't named.

Nov 23 - 25 Scanned between snow and bits of fog, but nothing confirmed. Not sure if I only saw some spray from winds or if there was a Humpback blow.

Nov 22 - 1 Humpback was seen around the Powell River Mill by the "hulks" breakwater.

Nov 21 - 1 Humpback was reported to have spent most of the day between Lund and Savary Island at least till close to 5pm.

Humpback Whale Sightings Nov 17 to Nov 20

Nov 20 - Confirmed sighting of 2 humpback whales heading towards Lund from the bottom of Savary Island at around 4pm. No idea if these are different animals or not.
At around 9pm 3 distinct blows were heard tight in to shore by Sevilla Island off of Lund. Humpbacks will find a safe place to rest, and were probably between the rock just of the island and Sevilla Island itself since they were not on the move.

Nov 20 - Morning scans of the water. I could have sworn I saw two distinct blows, but never saw the type of whale. This was between Rebecca Rocks and Harwood Island heading towards Vivian Island just on the west end of Harwood - all just off of Powell River.

Nov 19 - Unfortunately, no sightings. There were a lot of birds around Atrevida Reef as well as around Rebecca Rocks to Harwood Island.

Nov 18 - Only saw one blow and back briefly. Again, I assume it's still the same humpback whale. Guess timing was off from scanning the waters to spotting whales.

Nov 17 - Looks like Crescent the humpback is still around - thought I saw a second blow?? A later report said they were watching and had a lovely breach - great shore sighting!

Crescent the Humpback Whale Nov 14 to 16

Nov 14 right through to this morning of Nov 16 - BCX1258, the Humpback whale known as Crescent is still feeding in and around the area from Texada Island, Harwood Island to Sliammon First Nations and Powell River on the mainland.

The Sliammon First Nations operate a fish hatchery and the creek would certainly attract many small fish to feed on the carcasses of spawned out salmon making a great feeding area for this Humpback whale.

Thanks to those calling me right away with the information on where she's travelling. It allows me to actually get some work done rather than staring out the window looking for her. Please keep those calls coming so we can keep an eye on her and her travels.

Nov 14 - 2 Harbour porpoises at around 1:45 pm spotted by Grief Point foraging in the tide lines - nice to finally see some around again. The porpoise sightings are being overshadowed by the excitement of having a Humpback staying in our area.

Humpback Whale Crescent Sightings Nov 13 & 14

Nov 12 (the rest of the day from my prior post) did manage to produce one view of the Humpback whale known as Crescent BCX1258

Nov 13 and 14th (it's early on the 14th) Crescent the Humpback whale is still cruising around the area from Texada, Harwood, and Powell River. Doing long dives, it's a bit of patience to spot her, then she comes up for a few breaths before another long dive. At 10am this morning she was angled towards the hulks in front of the Powell River mill.

I'd love to hear if anyone else is spotting her - where and when.

Humpback Whale Sightings Nov 11 to Nov 12

Nov 12 - Although we're not done with the day yet, the Humpback whale appeared again just out from shore in front of Powell River this morning. It was headed towards Willingdon beach doing long dives then coming up for three or four breaths and another long dive. Hopefully it's getting some good feed.
This whale is nicknamed Crescent and it's officially known as BCX1258 and is definitely the same one as on Nov 10th - thanks to Jackie Hildering and Christie McMillen for the assistance in the identification.

Nov 11  - with the winds and rough sea state, I had no reports and did not spot anything myself

Humpback Whales Sightings Nov 10

Nov 10 - Just as I finished posting yesterday's lack of whale sightings at 9am, I looked up from the computer to see a Humpback whale surfacing just out from the Powell River shore. After logging off the computer and grabbing camera gear, I went to see if I could get some identification photos.

The first very large whale I spotted quickly slipped past me and since it was so calm, it's huge blow could be seen from quite a distance as it made it's way Southward past Grief Point. Since it was doing long dives, I was going to head back to the harbour, but spotted another Humpback right in front of me. In the almost 4 hours I was with it, this humpback didn't fluke (show it's tail), but I managed to get a couple of hump photos by Harwood Island that show some unique markings. See the photos below. I need help with the identification, it's not one that I've seen before. Please let me know if you can figure it out. I left it around 2pm heading southwest between Texada Island and Rebecca Rocks.

It was so calm and sunny out there. No sightings so far today Nov 11th.

Information and Sightings Nov 4 to Nov 9

It's been a slow few days. I may have been wishful thinking Nov 7 when I saw what looked like 5 to 6 blows travelling in an Orca-like pattern. Grabbing binoculars I stayed scanning the area for a while, but never saw another blow, so I'd have to say it was a non-report.

The bird activity between Sentry Shoal and Rebecca Rocks just out from Powell River has been huge, with thousands of birds grouped up. Not having enough time to take a run out there on the skiff, I was unable to tell if there were any marine mammals pushing the feed to the surface, or if it was only some diving birds.

I have been asked to explain about the subscription to this blog and how it works. You can subscribe by typing in your email address in the box to the right. It can be any email address where you'd like these updates to be sent. You will receive a verification email requesting a reply to confirm that you actually would like this information sent to your inbox. Once you've authorized the receipt of these emails, you will start to receive them as an email sent directly to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me susan@whalesanddolphinsbc.com  

Whale and Dolphin Sightings Nov 1 to Nov 3

Nov 3 - 1 Humpback around 10am by Northeast Point off of Texada Island. It was facing Northward, but since the general direction gathered from the earlier reports puts it making it's way slowly in a Southerly direction, it may not be coming back to this area. Anyone with photos of it's hump and / or tail flukes, please drop a note - let's see if we can identify this whale

Nov 3 - 1 Harbour Porpoise was feeding between Harwood Island and Mystery Reef, just South of Savary Island

Nov 3 - 100+ Pacific White Sided Dolphins were first spotted around 8am close to the Texada Ferry and Powell River Ferry Terminal. They stayed relatively close to shore and continued towards Grief Point, which they rounded by 9:30am With the calm weather, I received comments about hearing all their amazing blows as they past the South Harbour.

Nov 2 - The Humpback whale was spotted sometime during the day close to Dinner Rock just South of the Iron Mines and North of Atrevida Reef. - between Powell River and Lund. 

Nov 2 - 4 Pacific White Sided Dolphins on the 9am Lund Water Taxi run between Lund and Savary. They bow rode for a short period of time then headed NW.

Nov 1 - 1 Humpback spent most of the day feeding back and forth around the Iron Mines just South of Lund. There were some dolphins around it also. Rumour mill has it as having been in the area for a few days....people, please let me know.

Sightings Oct 31 to Nov 1

Nov 1 - With hopes of spotting the dolphins again, I scanned the waters when I could, but spotted nothing. I'm told by the Cetacean Sightings Network team that there had been no sightings reports from this area other than mine. I can't watch the ocean all day and would love to hear of any sightings from you

Oct 31 - 30 plus Pacific White Sided Dolphins were chasing feed in their high speed chase patterns then stopping to feed. They were spotted off the Willingdon Beach around 12pm and worked their way towards Grief Point in front of Powell River. They were moving pretty quickly with stops to feed in between.

Oct 31 - Not a large group of Pacific White Sided Dolphins were spotted around 11:20 am close to the Texada shore just above VanAnda. Due to the distance, I couldn't get a number or direction on them. The only reason I knew they were dolphins was by the leaps.

Oct 31 - 6 either Dalls or Harbour porpoises were foraging closer to Harwood Island at around 9 am and then later were spotted close to Powell River's South Harbour breakwater. Lots of bird activity now, so the feed must be in.