Humpback 'mugging' amazes whale watchers on B.C. boat tour
Whale spent close to 90 minutes swimming around and under Campbell River-based boat
Nick Templeman has had plenty of close encounters with whales in his nearly two decades running whale-watching tours from Campbell River, B.C., but last weekend, he and his guests got a special surprise.
Templeman, owner of Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions, was near the south end of Quadra Island when a humpback whale came right up to his boat, swimming around and under it for nearly 90 minutes.
This type of behaviour is often referred to as a "mugging" by those in the industry. It's when a whale comes close to a boat and spends an extended amount of time interacting with people.
"It feels like a mugging, it does. It really does," Templeman said.
"You could see his big eye looking at us. It was pretty incredible."
Templeman says the whale was directly under the boat for most of the time.
"You could tell throughout the whole thing he was very spatially aware, too. Almost like he knew what he was doing."
Templeman later found out that this particular whale — known as Two Spot — has done this repeatedly on the coast over the past couple of years.
Listen to the full interview with Nick Templeman:
With files from All Points West