Humpback Whales are the largest animals in Nootka Sound - about the size of a school bus. They feed on tiny prey by filtering it out of the water with 'baleen' plates in their mouths. The baleen is made of keratin, the same protein our fingernails and hair are made of.

 

Humpbacks have one of the most complex of animal languages, and populations across the world have different regional dialects.

 

They can be seen year-round in Nootka Sound, but there are usually fewer Humpbacks in the winter, as many of them migrate down South to the warm waters of Mexico and Hawaii. They sometimes come right up the Tahsis Inlet, and can be seen from the café windows!