It’s time to start talking about the largest frequent whale inhabiting the waters of Vancouver Island. Humpback whales are easily identified by their humps and long flippers. Based on global
estimations, the population of humpback whales is 18,000 to 20,000. Humpback whales' migration is seasonal. In other words, they feed in temperate cooler waters since food is scarce in warm waters, and they will come back to warm regions for reproduction. They are migratory. However, there’s an exception. In the Arabian Sea, humpbacks live year-round and never leave the area which means no humpback whale migration. Unlike killer whales, mama humpback will stay with its calf for a year and nurse it and then the calf will leave.
Long ago, Humpback whales have the largest population in the waters around BC. However, commercial whaling was their end. Starting from 1903, coastal whalers came to the coasts of Vancouver Island and started killing humpbacks for
commercial whaling. It continued until 1966 when humpback whales were introduced as an endangered species and banned killing or hunting them. Now, after half of a century, they started to return to the waters of British Columbia. People would call it the “
Humpback Comeback.”
The funny thing is the humpback whale song. In other words, they are the singer whales. That may be why people seek the location to go whale watching in which humpback sighting is assured with the bonus of humpback whale song. These magnificent whales would sing for about 10 to 20 minutes with low vocal registers, different frequencies and amplitude. Gender doesn’t have a role in their singing ability. Both male and female whales sing; however, males are louder. They even have some kind of vocal groups, and scientists would say that males do the singing to hit on females during mating season. Who knows!?
Considering the facts that we already mentioned, it can be claimed that humpback whales are funny marine creatures, and they are worth knowing about.
Vanisle Wildlife team is proud to say that it is able to operate
whale watching tours in which humpback sighting is guaranteed. Stay with us to tell you more about the details of and humpback whale watching on Vancouver Island.