Tofino's Waterfront Almanac

March 30th 2012

From Tofino, we are launching to find lots of migrating Gray Whales along the coast on every good sea day. A single Humpback Whale appears to have come in early for a feed on some spawing herring near Hot Springs Cove this last week. And we encountered our first bear of the season today!

Varvar's most recent update -- "At 21:00 (on March 27th), Varvara was 8.5 km south and off shore of Icy Bay, Alaska....and has passed her inbound arrival area from the west." writes Dr. Bruce Mate. She is likely beginning to cross the open N. Pacific if she stays on track towards her home feeding grounds off Russia.

Click here to follow Varvara's complete satellite track.

March 20th 2012

Varvara travelled by Tofino early in the a .m. of Saturday, March 18th; by the evening of the same day she was off Kyuquot, on the northwest coast of Vancouver Island.

March 16th 2012

Varvara, a Western Pacific ('Russian') Gray Whale carrying a live satellite tag, should travel by Tofino again in the next 12 - 48 hrs.

Gray Whales tend to travel closer to shore during the spring northbound migration as compared to their southbound winter routing. Being closer to shore allows the whales to check traditional feeding locations after their long winter fast in warmer waters. Varvara could decide to check Long Beach or Ahous Bay near Tofino for food, or she may continue direct on her long journey back to Russia.

This map shows Varvara's Dec.-Jan. southbound route (offshore) and her present northbound travel closer to shore. (Tracking is displayed point-to-point; disregard 'overland' lines.) Last location shown is off Washington State the evening of Thursday, March 15th. ID photos & map courtesy of Dr. Bruce Mate, Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University. Thanks also to Dr. Jim Darling of Pacific Wildlife Foundation for local monitoring and current updates.

March 11th 2012

The Gray Whales are here, and on days with good sea conditions we consistently see them swimming by in ones and twos; on other days, winter-like sea conditions keep us exploring on the inside waters. We are seeing good numbers of Sea Otters, as well as lots of Bald Eagle, sea lion and sea gull activity in Shelter Inlet, enroute to Hot Springs Cove.

"Waiting for Varvara!" ... We are now also on the lookout for Varvara -- a now-famous Russian Gray Whale -- to swim past Tofino along with our regular northbound migrators. This widely travelled Gray Whale was tagged last year off Sakhalin, Russia by Oregon S. U. researcher Bruce Mate and his team. She is the second tagged Gray Whale from the diminished Russian (or 'Western Pacific') Gray Whale population to unexpectedly swim across the north Pacific to join the southbound Eastern Pacific population.

'Flex' was the first tagged Russian whale to travel our way; in 2010 Flex was tracked travelling east & then south as far as northern California before his tag went silent. Varvara's satellite tag, however, has continued to send signals long past the expected life of the instrument, and this has allowed researchers to follow her trail all the way from Russia to Baja, Mexico. She is now moving north again at a good pace, and was transmitting off Eureka, OR earlier today.

February 26th 2012

UPDATE -- The great whale migration has arrived!

Mid-afternoon on Sunday, February 26th, Richard George of Tofino and Ahousat called us with a sighting of two Gray Whales travelling north past Long Beach.

Richard and family were enjoying a sunny break at the Long Beach dunes, just south of Greenpoint. They looked out towards Sea Lion Rocks and saw spouts, and then two Gray Whales surfacing near each other. As the whales moved past, one swam further away from shore, while the other angled in closer to Long Beach.

We went to a lookout spot north of Greenpoint, and about an hour later picked up the tall spout of a single whale close to shore -- most likely one of the whales that Richard and family had seen earlier. At first this whale continued northward, but then it stopped and began to swim in a circular feeding pattern offshore of Lovekin Rock (and not too far from quite a few surfers!). The whale took 3 or 4 breathes each time it surfaced, and when it did, the late afternoon sun showed the typical heart-shaped spout of a Gray Whale.

Thanks to Richard & Sandra, and Jaiden, Kaelib, Neaco and Nia George, and to family friend Carly Stevens -- their sharp eyes on the water confirmed our first northbound migrators this season!

February 21st 2012

The 'buzz' on the Tofino waterfront is all about "When the Gray Whale migration arrive this year?" 'Turnaround Day' off southern California -- the day more Gray Whales are seen swimming northward than swimming southward -- was on February 10th, several weeks earlier than the average (see annual comparison chart in The Whale Report). The whole migration cycle may be a little early again this year, and the doors at 'Remote' are open for the season Friday, February 24th, ready to welcome the whales!

Come join us for a late-winter marine adventure.

Call 1-800-666-9833 for updates and for reservations.

Cheers for now!