This is the highlight of any expedition to observe whales, see and photograph killer whales up close in the waters off Vancouver Island.
A group of tourists on April 12 will sit in the front row for a spectacular show organized by a pod of transitional killer whales.
“It simply came to our notice then. I’ve never seen this before. I’ve been doing this for 22 years, “said Brian Goodtremont of the San Juan Whale Watch.
Suddenly there is another player on stage.
Naturalist Olivia Eskeda is on board, trying to describe what everyone sees, caught on camera for the first time.
“The humpback whale was somehow dragging behind them,” Eskeda said.
A five-year-old humpback whale, known as Valiant, swims behind and around killer whales.
Eskeda said they could not believe what they saw next.
“Suddenly we saw the next surface with a hunchback right in the middle of all the killer whales.”
For twenty minutes, they watched, numb, as Valiant encountered killer whales, who alternately stalked and harassed them.
This is not new behavior for Valiant, according to people familiar with the hunchback, which fights the largest predators in the ocean.
Prince of Whales captain Mark Maleson says there is a reason this particular whale is so brave.
“Obviously, when there was a calf, when it was in its first year, there was a close conversation. Because you can see in this picture here, the traces of a paddle, the traces of a killer whale. It would happen when he was with his mother. “
For those on board, they all know that what they are watching is something special, including Esqueda.
“Something is happening before us that has not been seen before,” Eskeda said. “It’s hard not to be like a kid at Disneyworld.”
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