High Breach

A Humpback Whale breaching in the Salish Sea, Vancouver Island, B.C..

Seeing a humpback whale breach is an extraordinary experience! The sight of an enormous whale leaping from the sea while twisting and turning before landing with an enormous crash while feeling the ocean spray and thunder of the crash is spectacular. While breaching is not an uncommon behaviour in humpback whales, witnessing the event feels very fortunate indeed.  It is thought that whales flap their flukes and tales, and breach as a means to communicate with other whales. As you can imagine breaching takes an enormous amount of energy. The larger the splash the further the sound travels.  It is also thought that whales breach to check out their surroundings and cleanse themselves of parasites. I myself like to think that whales also breach for fun and to say hello!

I captured these images while on a four hour wildlife and whale watching tour with Ocean Eco Adventures  a Vancouver Island Green Business who support local wildlife and whale researchers. They offer tours departing from French Creek, Parksville, B.C..