B.C. women get an up-close encounter with humpback whale off coast of Vancouver Island

An up-close visitfrom a humpback whale in B.C.'s Georgia Strait over the weekend made two women ecstatic anda marine biologist hopeful that the mammal'spopulation in the area continues to grow.

The massive whale surfaced Thursday right next to thesmall boat Lauren Lan andSonja Schumwere taking toa friend's cabin.

"It was really very cool to just look right beside the boat and see the whole length of the whale and see all the little barnacles up close," said Lan, a Comox, B.C., residentwho caught the encounteron video.

Something like this never would have happened a decade ago, Andrew Trites, a professor at UBC'sInstitute for the Oceans and Fisheries. Humpbacks have been making a comeback after nearly disappearing from the area in the early 1900s.

"Had they been out there 10 years ago, they would never have seen this. The ocean would just look empty," he said.

Lan and Schum spotted the blowhole of thehumpback whale in the distance on Thursday night. They decided to get a little closer,but then the whale dove out of sight.

"We just stopped where we were and just thought, well, we'll just wait," Lan told CBC News. "Sometimes they come up very far away, and sometimes they come up in the same spot."

"And then, about five minutes later, [it] came up right beside the boat," Lan said.

WATCH | Thehumpback whale getsclose to the women'sboat:

Humpback whale gets up close to B.C. woman's boat

2 years ago

Duration 1:59

Lauren Lan and her friend Sonja Schum were treated to a whale watching experience in Georgia Strait, off the coast of Vancouver Island.

Lan's videos show the whale diving and resurfacing multiple times, blowing air and water vapour out of its blowholeand even smacking the surface of the water with its white flippers.

Lan, who's lived on Vancouver Island for more than a decade,said it was the first time she'sever been so close to a humpback whale.

"It was exciting to see itup close, but also slightly concerning because I have seen them breached before," she said. "I did not want him to do that with us above him."

Eventually, after quite a few minutes of the whale circling Lan's boat, she saidshe accidentally stepped on the bilge pump lever used toremovewater from the boat's surface. This caused a loud pop sound and the whale swam away.

Lan and Schum nicknamed the whaleStinky.

"I don't know how you would know this, you're never really that close, but humpback whales stink," she said, laughing.

Prof. Tritessaid whales have "really bad breath" as a result oftheir diet.

"In British Columbia, their primary prey are krill like small shrimp and it gets stuck on their baleen," he said. "It sort of rots a bit and ...when they breathe, often that smell is coming up in their breath."

The type of encounter Lanand Schum had is very rare,Trites said, addingthey did the right thing to keep themselves and the whale safe byturning off the engine and keeping still.

Canada's Marine Mammal Regulations state that boaters should stay at least 100 metres away from whales.The North Island Marine Mammal Stewardship Associationrecommends boaters stay 200 metres away.

Trites saidhe couldn't tell the whale's sex from Lan's video, but that it had likely been hit by a motorboat before based on the cut marks near its back.

"Obviously this one has had some very close encounters before," he said. "It's probably a whale that comes back here regularly to feed."

"There's a good chance it's part of the Hawaiian population, although some of our humpbacks also come here from Mexico it's got such distinct markings that I am certain it is a known individual."

The Marine Education Research Society (MERS), a conservation charity based in Port McNeill, about 460 kilometresnorthwest of Victoria,identified the whale asRaza (BCX1852), a male first seen in2018. They said he's had"extreme scarring" from a propeller ever since he was first documented.

Adult humpback whales can grow up to 14 metres in length and weigh up to 34 tons, according to Trites.

Humpback populations have rebounded

Humpback whales werenearly wiped outin the Strait of Georgia after a whaling station was set up in Nanaimo, about 110 kilometresnorth of Victoria on Vancouver Island, in the early 1900s, Trites said. The mammals' return to the area is relatively recent.

John Calambokidis is aresearch biologist at Cascadia Research in Olympia, Wash., who has been monitoring whales along the west coastfor 35 years. He said their numbers have increased more than tenfold, at an annual rate of about seven per cent.

He said the increase has been even greater in theSalish Sea, which includes the Georgia Strait area.

Tritessaidthe return of the whales isone of the biggest marine success stories in recent years.

"It is just amazing that these two people got to experience the recovery of nature, to see it here," he said.