Once upon a time primarily known as a B次元官网网址減ulp mill town,B次元官网网址� Port Alice is developing some renown for being a great place for whale watching.

For some in the village, the whales B次元官网网址� particularly a what seems to be a rising number of humpbacks B次元官网网址� have become delightful B次元官网网址渘oisy neighbours.B次元官网网址�

Vince and Dayna Devlin, who live at Jeune Landing close to the shore of Neurotsos Inlet inlet, can hear and/or see them every morning. The whales also make an appearance at Quatsino Log Sort B次元官网网址擵inceB次元官网网址檚 place of work B次元官网网址� daily.

He noticed an increase in sightings about three or four years ago (about three years after the mill closure that happened in 2015) when they were B次元官网网址渂reaching all the time.B次元官网网址� He says that he and his fellow workers saw them B次元官网网址減lay more then,B次元官网网址� adding, B次元官网网址渂ut I see them just coming cruising past more this year.B次元官网网址�

Regan Hickling, owner of Rumble Beach Charters, has seen three species of whales in a single day. Approximately three years ago he came across grey whales migrating steadily for four or five hours while he was boating five or six miles offshore with a friend. They also came across some humpback whales and, later, Hickling saw an orca in front of his house.

Jackie Hildering, marine researcher and co-founder and director of Marine Education and Research Society who goes by the moniker, B次元官网网址渢he Marine Detective,B次元官网网址� says that there is no way to determine if the return of humpbacks to the Port Alice area is related to the mill or not. She says thereB次元官网网址檚 an increase generally along the coast.

Hildering adds that the whales are not territorial, that they just have strong site fidelity to where they have learned to feed.

B次元官网网址淭hey generally come back to the same places to breed [warm water] and feed [cold water] year after year. This is what any good fisherman or fisherwoman would do.B次元官网网址�

MERS actively catalogues and studies the local humpbacks. Observers identify the whales by their dorsal fins and by their tails, or B次元官网网址渇lukes.B次元官网网址�

They are given an B次元官网网址渙fficialB次元官网网址� name by the Canadian Pacific Humpback Collaboration, which is a series of numbers and letters that are not easy to remember. For better relatability, MERS gives the whales nicknames based on their distinguishing features.

Whale BCZ0220, has been given the name B次元官网网址淲hiskersB次元官网网址� by MERS because of a cat-like face on her tail.

B次元官网网址淭hese nicknames allow for the potential for greater public engagement and thereby, conservation,B次元官网网址� Hildering said. B次元官网网址淭he nicknames also really, really help us recognize the whales which is the foundation of all our other research.B次元官网网址�

In 2019, Whiskers was spotted near Port Alice with a calf and another whale by photographer Darrell McIntosh. Hildering later held a video call with the students of Sea View School from her research vessel to get some ideas for nicknames for the these newest members of the Port Alice whale community.

With the Sea View School annual Terry Fox Run happening around that time, the students came up with the idea that BCX1100, the handicapped whale that was able to swim to Port Alice from Hawaii or Mexico, should be nicknamed B次元官网网址淭erryB次元官网网址� after Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope.

The children then named WhiskersB次元官网网址� calf B次元官网网址淧oseidonB次元官网网址� because of a bright white marking on the calfB次元官网网址檚 fluke that looks like PoseidonB次元官网网址檚 trident.

Brenda Stevenson and her sisters, who arrived in Port Alice in 2017, can watch the whales from their kitchen window, even though they live a good distance up the hill in the Strata 2 condominiums.

B次元官网网址淚t just makes your heart sing. It just makes you feel good,B次元官网网址� Stevenson said. B次元官网网址淲e come from the prairies: we see squirrels, we see deer, we see moose, lots of eagles, but you donB次元官网网址檛 see anything like that.B次元官网网址�

For more information about the whales, whale research and supporting activities, visit mersociety.org.

B次元官网网址� Debra Lynn