Mackay Whale Watching
1514 Broughton Boulevard V0N2R0 Port McNeill, BC, Canada

https://www.32auctions.com//au/89189/auction_items/2537352 Days away from the bidding to open!

https://api01-platform.stream.co.jp//MjEyMQ%3d%3d%23Mg%3d% Live right now! Singing Humpback Whale

Very interesting!

So worth the listen! Fantastic recording by OrcaLab of Humpback(s) singing fragments of song on the night of November 3rd. Link below. While females vocalize t...oo, it's the males who are the singers and they "tune up" before heading to the breeding grounds where they repeatedly sing a full, structured song. We thought that there might be two males here, one echoing the vocals of the other but thanks to @Lisa Walker know that this echoing might be a function of the array (how it is recorded). Clearly there are still Humpbacks off the coast of BC. Departure and return from Hawaii and Mexico is staggered i.e. not all Humpbacks leave nor return at the same time (a few Humpbacks off southern BC migrate to Central America). Why sing? The leading hypothesis is that the song has a role in establishing acoustic territory. To add to the wonder, all males in the same breeding ground sing the same song, and if the song changes, they all adopt the change. Oh to know which Humpback was singing! https://soundcloud.com//november-3-2020-hum/s-cR53mygcN4R Humpback in the photo is Backsplash on October 22nd near OrcaLab, Jackie Hildering, MERS taken under Marine Mammal License, MML-42.

We have donated to the Port McNeill Rotary Online Auction! Our local Rotary club does so much for the community. The bidding begins November 14-21 Check out all the items at the link below ... https://www.32auctions.com/RotaryClubOfPortMcneill

During this global Covid 19 pandemic, we are doing our utmost to ensure the safety of our guests and crew, employing thorough cleaning protocols, poly barriers and physical distancing. At the present time, we are taking reservations from residents of British Columbia only, and will take reservations from other Provinces and countries when health authorities deem it is safe to do so. In order to further limit exposure, our trips this year will be three hours in duration and w...ill not include lunch. All guests and crew will be required to wear masks during the tour. If you cannot provide your own mask, let us know. The cost per person is $130.00 (plus 5% GST). Preferred payment method is email money transfer to, once again, limit exposure for both guests and staff. We will not be able to run our tours on a daily basis and will be running twice a week (to start with), on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Trips depart at 1:00 pm and will return to the dock at 4:00 p.m. No tourism bookings for the month of June, these measures remain in place until June 30 at the earliest as per Transport Canada Regulations.

I don’t know about you, but I’m in need of a happy sound right now, and the humpbacks in our area are singing right now! Thanks to Orca Lab! https://api01-platform.stream.co.jp//MjEyMQ%3d%3d%23Mg%3d%

An amazing friend and former captain and deckhand on the Naiad, Chris Stewart, took this beautiful photo that has been made into a painting/ card. A local artist is donating the funds to a local charity that helps families with the expenses of having a loved one ill with cancer. Chris will be forever missed. This painting is a beautiful reminder of him and the things he cherished.

Bringing you a #latergram of this very impressively whiskered Steller (northern) sea lion from last September! These impressive mammals are currently found hauled out, swimming gracefully, or snoozing together throughout our favourite spots right now. Their low growls are the backdrop to many a trip with Captain Bill - and are NOT found doing any of the "barking" so characteristic of the California sea lions. Have you seen these fellows out on a trip on the Naiad before? I (t...he deckhand) LOVE watching them in particularly cold weather; or with the light behind them - watching the steam off of their bodies, or their hot breath as it meets cold morning air - makes for fantastic visuals! . . . All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #stellERnotstellAR #northernsealion #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography

There is something to be said for the anticipation of spotting the orca. When you can hear them so loud and clear but have yet to see them reach the surface. We love days like this. We often get asked if we still get excited seeing whales and it is safe to say, we do. Throwback to this past summer. ... #johnstonestrait #residentorca #whalewatching #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #whales #orcacalls #mackaywhalewatching #tourismbc

September 26th was phenomenal! We watched a grand total of 15 humpbacks - and wow, were they ever spectacular. We saw Neptune, Hunter, Slash (lunge feeding!), Conger, and ended the day with Black Pearl repeatedly breaching and tail lobbing. Thank you to @chloe.s_lens from the @mersociety for the ID on Black Pearl! Our day was so full of wonder and wildlife... Ending the day with an incredible opportunity to watch Black Pearl's aerial activities was absolutely perfect. . . .... All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #humpbackwhale #breach #headlob #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography

Thank you to all of you who have rated us on Trip Advisor! As a family run business we rely on word of mouth. This is more than we anticipated! We love what we do and even though it looks a little different right now we look forward to welcoming everyone from around the world as soon as were able to again. #tripadvisor #travellerschoice #explorebc #whalewatchingbc #mackaywhalewatching #northislandtourism #wildbc

Our whale watching trip yesterday was raining and sunny in turns (there was a rainbow in there too!) - but the day ended with a stunning sunset. This was the view from Malcolm Island... We're so lucky to live in such a beautiful corner of the world. . . .... All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #sunset

This is humpback whale "Ridge" - known by the @mersociety since 2004 in our area. Acrobatic and aerial behaviour like this is hugely calorie consuming... But spectacular. This picture was taken on our September 19th trip. We are so looking forward to getting back out on the water today! We LOVE this time of year, as the humpbacks begin their pre-mating season behaviours - it all gets even more exciting! . . .... All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #humpbackwhale #breach #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography

September 19th was spent with a small group of folks - including naturalists (from Stubbs, @mersociety, and beyond!), a couple from the interior, and locals (including our mechanic!). It felt very much like a family trip out. We began with the A23s and A25s, fishing and traveling. They were particularly quiet, with only a few echolocation clicks heard. We soon were off to see the sea lions, and from there... Humpbacks! We watched Conger, with Pacific White Sided dolphin all o...ver his back. They jumped from him to Ripple, who trumpeted a few times. Bumpy was also there, and there was lunge feeding among all the birds! On our way home we saw several more humpbacks (including Claw, Merge, possibly Argonaut, and Ridge!). Our total was 10 for the day! Ridge breached rather spectacularly behind the boat as we headed home, ending our day with a huge rush - surface active humpbacks are mindblowing. . . . All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #humpbackwhale #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography #pacificwhitesideddolphin #northernresidentorcas #northernresidentkillerwhales

September 16th found us under smokey skies, but with no lack of wildlife to watch. We had a chance to see the growling Steller sea lions on the rocks and in the ocean, and then we were off for Dall's porpoise and seabirds galore. Captain Bill soon had us surrounded by humpbacks - feeding everywhere! We watched at least 7 humpbacks, including Claw (with her huge lunge feed pictured here!), Merge, Hunter, and a whale not yet seen by us on the Naiad - Neptune! Many thanks to @th...emarinedetective and @chloe.s_lens from the @mersociety for IDing Neptune on the fly! . . . All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #humpbackwhale #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography #lungefeed

September 12th was a beautiful day, spent with mammal eating orca, humpbacks, sea lions, birds, porpoise - and of course, great people! Captain Bill took us to see the orca first - the T060s and T002B. This family of Biggs cruised their way through the kelp patches... Looking as though they were searching for another meal, even though we found out from @captwillson that they'd just taken out a Pacific White Sided dolphin! Off we went in search of humpbacks, sea lions, and por...poise. We found them all! We saw at least 8 humpbacks feeding and traveling, including Argonaut, Meniscus, Claw, Ridge, and Merge. Argonaut even tail-lobbed several times! Another busy day on the big ocean with Captain Bill. . . . All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #humpbackwhale #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography #biggsorca #biggskillerwhales #biggsarethebalance #taillob #flukes

Thank you Vancouver Island North for this opportunity to share a little piece of our story. Shout out to Captain Bill for doing a great job! #GoNorthIsland #ExploreVancouverIsland #ExploreBC #tourismbc #orca

September 11th was a surprising and beautiful day! We set out early in the morning to pick up a group of folks from Alert Bay. It was very foggy, but the mist began to clear soon. We were soon looking at lovely mist streamers curling around tree branches at the sea lion haul out. Their characteristic growls were a low background for the high trills of common murres, and the sunlight broke through in rays overhead. We were soon surrounded by humpbacks - we saw at least 8, incl...uding Inukshuk lunge feeding. Suddenly, out of the fog - orca! We saw the group composition, and with the mist obscuring ID photographs, formed a working guess that they were the A23s. This was pretty quickly questioned, as we noted the length of the dives, and had a "feeling". They immediately cruised into a kelp patch to look for seals... Nope! Not the A23s! We quickly started flipping through the transient/Biggs ID catalogue. We managed to find T060 and T060C very quickly as matches, but lighting messed up the rest of the shots. Researcher Dr. Lance Barrett-Lennard and his team were having their last day of fieldwork in our area, and they were on scene to handle the rest of the IDs and do their work on biometrics. We left them to their work and headed back toward Alert Bay. On the way in we texted researcher Jared Towers for ID assistance - and he had an answer very quickly for us! The whales we noticed "missing" had been seen by Jared near Victoria recently - and he reminded us that the extra whale in the group was T002B, who consistently travels with the T060s! Thanks Jared! ID mystery solved, the orca we had seen were the T060s (with the exceptions of T060D and T060E) and T002B. Another beautiful and busy day on the big ocean! . . . All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #humpbackwhale #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #biggs #biggskillerwhales

September 10th found us out with a great group of folks from Fort Rupert. Captain Bill found us a total of 12 (!!) humpbacks for the day, including Merge, and Conger lunge feeding. We found the A25s fishing and travelling (A85 and her calf were particularly loved by our crowd on board!). We ended our day with the sea lions rolling over one another in the ocean, and even a glimpse of a sea otter on the way home! Another busy day on the big ocean. . . .... All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #northernresidentorcas #northernsealion #northernresidentkillerwhales #orca #killerwhale #calf #humpbackwhale #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography

September 9th found us out on calm blue seas, enjoying warm sunshine and many marine mammals. We were able to watch more than 8 humpbacks as they travelled, lunge fed, and fluked in calm waters. We sighted Conger, Guardian, Claw, and her 2019 calf Hammer. Hammer gave us a huge ID puzzle to solve, and we were fortunate to be able to contact humpback researcher Jackie Hildering (@themarinedetective) of the @mersociety, who solved our mystery whale in seconds! Thanks Jackie! We ...ended our day with sunning northern sea lions and playful Dall's porpoise - zipping along with their characteristic "rooster tails" of salt spray. We look forward to you joining us on our exciting September trips in one of the most beautiful places in the world! . . . All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #humpbackwhale #flukes #dallsporpoise #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography

You could help name a resident orca ! Get your vote in by clicking the link and commenting.

So, what do the Captain (Bill) and Admiral (Donna) do on a day off the water and office? We decided to explore some back roads in our area that we've never been on! So here's the question: where did we go and what are we looking at?

September 5th was amazingly beautiful. We had a lovely group of people (excited kids and very happy babies!) - and incredibly beautiful weather. Mysterious drifts of fog wound around the islands, and warm sunshine kept us all happy. We saw so many birds (especially common murres and petrels!), warm northern sea lions, and playful Dall's porpoises. The humpbacks were EVERYWHERE (we saw at least 11!). We watched Argonaut, Slash (lunge feeding!), Hunter, and Ridge (tail lobbing!...). It was an amazing day out there on the big ocean! . . . All photographs taken with a telephoto zoom lens and cropped for spacing; taken 200+ m from all wildlife. Care is taken in order to not disturb wildlife we are viewing. Relevant photos are submitted for data and research purposes. . . . #mackaywhalewatching #broughtonarchipelago #wild #thisisportmcneill #whales #humpbackwhale #explorevancouverisland #explorenorthisland #explorebc #vancouverislandnorth #vancouverislandguide #westcoast #northisland #beautifulBC #emptythetanks #natgeo #naturephotography #cangeo #wildlifephotography #govancouverislandnorth #taillob #flukes