Thursday, July 2nd

It was with great anticipation this morning that we headed out of the harbour aboard the Pacific Explorer. We had already received reports of orcas before we even left the dock. We headed west to find K and L-pods headed inbound off the Sooke Bluffs. It would prove to be yet another remarkable trip as we witnessed high-speed swimming (or porpoising) from large groups of orcas. The highlight of trip for many of our guests was the antics of one our younger orcas, tentatively identified as Comet (K38), who breached repeatedly!

On our afternoon tour, we did not have to travel far as we encountered the inbound southern resident orcas about 20 minutes from the harbour east of Race Rocks. Almost immediately upon arrival, we were able to identify Mega (L41), the largest resident male orca. We travelled with the whales east past Trial Island and were treated to some amazing behaviour, including breaches and porpoising. We had a thrilling pass by two young male orcas and ended our encounter visiting with Nugget (L55) and her two offspring, L103 (Lapis) and L109 (Takoda). We concluded our tour with a sighting of a majestic mature bald eagle on Trial Island.

For the 4 pm trip, we travelled east to Haro Strait where we encountered whales, whales and more whales! All three pods were together off San Juan Island. The evening would prove to be a spectacular spyhop extravaganza, and we were able to spend some time with arguably the star attraction of our southern resident orcas, Ruffles (J1). Ruffles was travelling with a large group of whales, including Canuck (L7), who at times seems to be an honorary J-pod member. The calm seas and abundance of orcas made for a magnificent viewing experience, capping another wondrous day on the Salish Sea.

Wednesday, July 1st

This afternoon our covered boat departed at 1:00 pm on a beautiful Canada Day. In search of J pod, in which we had just seen the day before, we headed north toward Bedwell Harbour at Pender Island. At Bedwell, we were delighted to see Ruffles, Polaris, Granny and a few others breaching, tail lobbing and spy hopping. After this spectacular show, we headed back to the Harbour with a great start to Canada Day under our belts!

Here are Captain John's photos from the tour. Including a great sea lion encounter!

Tuesday, June 30th

We set sail promptly at 9 o’clock this morning and decided to head east to Hein Bank with the hopes of seeing some Minke Whales. We sat by a congregation of birds and waited for the whales. While we waited, a California Sea Lion circled our boat, curiously. After several passes, the Sea Lion swam off. We then headed towards San Juan Island where members of J-Pod were fishing along the coast headed towards Salmon Bank. A successful trip to say the least!

For our afternoon tour we knew the Orcas we had encountered earlier this morning would be somewhere along the San Juan coastline. Possibly by Eagle Point, we headed in that direction and caught up with the whales at Salmon Bank. The whales were spread far apart and leisurely fishing; we managed to get great sightings of a group fishing close to the shoreline. They porpoised and tail lobbed, travelling in a nice tight group. People from the San Juan shore watched from the rocks as we passed. After a successful afternoon we headed home to the harbour.

Monday, June 29th

This afternoon was an exceptional trip as we travelled east near Hein Bank to view L-pod our largest pod of resident orcas. Immediately upon arriving on scene we were greeted with a spyhop, a remarkable way to start or whale encounter! We watched several whales travel slowly toward the bank, an important foraging area for both resident and transient killer whales. Near the end of our encounter, the action really started to heat up as we witnessed a large group of whales high-speed swimming. As we neared the north Hein Bank marker we watched another group put on an amazing social display with a couple of fantastc breaches. We also saw a minke whale in the same area. It was another superb experience on the Salish Sea.

Sunday, June 28th

This morning, we travelled to San Juan Island, as our Captain Brad had received a report of orcas off the northwest coast of the island. We arrived on scene for what I (naturalist Corey) assumed to be J-pod, but it turned out to be so much more. Within minutes we had members of all 3 pods pass us by. We identified Blackberry (J27) almost immediately. We had an incredible pass from two male orcas, one that would be etched in the memories of our guests. We were able to spend some time with Gaia (L78), Mega (L41), and so many more of our treasured southern resident orcas. As is always the case when the 3 southern resident orcas interact, we saw a lot of activity, including breaches, tail slaps, pectoral slaps and spyhops. It was an incredible trip, one which I will not soon forget.

By the afternoon, most of the southern community had travelled far north towards Vancouver through Active Pass and were out of our range. Fortunately, some our L-pod whales did not make the journey and we met up with L2 matriline. The L2 matriline consists of three living whales, mother Grace (L2) and sons Gaia (L78) and Wave Walker (L88). Grace is also the grandmother of Luna (L98), the wayward whale that lived alone in Nootka Sound for almost 5 years, before meeting a tragic end. We spent some time with this whales as they made their way back south along the west coast of Henry Island. On our return to Victoria, we stopped at Trial Island for a spectacular wildlife experience. Hauled out along the shores were several harbour seals. Perched nearby were two mature bald eagles! Yet another awe-inspiring day on the Salish Sea.

Saturday, June 27th

It was another magnificent day at Orca Spirt Adventures. Our morning started with a trip aboard the Pacific Explorer, as we headed to Haro Strait in search of our resident orca pods. We travelled towards False Bay on San Juan Island, then to Salmon Bank and ultimately arrived at Hein Bank. Although, we did not find our resident pods, we were ecstatic to find three minke whales engaged in lunge feeding! Minke whales have been a common sight at Hein Bank this season and we have had some exhilarating viewing experiences. This morning was no different. Also at Hein Bank, we found several harbour seals out foraging. It was definitely a successful excursion enjoyed by both passengers and crew.

On our afternoon trip aboard the Orca Spirit we received word that J-pod was travelling towards Salmon Bank, so we travelled there hoping to catch up with them, which we did. This trip was a wonderful trip, one in which our guests were able to see an incredible assortment of whale behaviour including porpoising (high-speed swimming), foraging, spyhops and even a breach or two thrown in. During the trip, we had the picturesque Mount Baker as a very scenic and wonderful backdrop.

On the evening trip, we were back aboard the Pacific Explorer and travelling back to San Juan where we encountered J-pod north of Lime Kiln State Park. There we had a wonderful experience with several members of J-pod, including Ruffles (J1), Mike (J26), and Keet (J33). Once again, our guests were able to experience the best of orca behaviour with breaches, spyhops and tail and pectoral slapping.

Friday, June 26th

This morning we headed out in search of our resident orca off the southern coast of San Juan Island. When all hopes were looking dim, we headed out to the ever exciting Hein Bank where we saw 3 or more Minke whales lunge feeding through schools of fish. Along the way we saw many harbour porpoises and harbour seals. Near the end of our Minke encounter our captain took off with a purpose because he had heard some reports of orca north! We had fantastic sightings of some of our residents with a thrilling pass from Comet and Spock (K38 & K20). This was a wonderfully well-rounded trip with many different sightings and beautiful calm seas.

Our afternoon tour aboard the Orca Spirit travelled near Salmon Bank where we found members of K-pod foraging in the nutrient rich waters. We had a great pass with Seqium (K12) and some other K-pod whales, before travelling to Hein Bank for an awesome minke encounter. After the minke show, we travelled back towards Victoria abd were able to spend some time with Gaia (L78), a large bull killer whale.

Thursday, June 25th

This morning, our vessel the Orca Spirit headed west with reports of orcas west of Sooke and westbound. Eventually, after a long search the orcas were picked up well offshore of Otter Point, where we had a great encounter with some K and L pod whales. After some early activity, including a wondrous spyhop, the whales settled into a resting pattern. This remarkable behaviour is one of my (naturalist Corey) favourite sites, as the whole pod will line up and surface and dive in unison. It was another fantastic morning on the Salish Sea!

Our evening trip on the Pacific Explorer was an adventurous trip to the waters of Haro Strait, where J-pod and K-pod were meeting offshore of False Bay. A few members of L-pod were also present. We had excellent passes from a number of J-pod whales, including Granny (J2) and Ruffles (J1). The whales were very active, with lots of tailslaps, spyhops and even a few breaches! After our magnificent orca experience, we travelled to the Chain Islets where we saw several harbour seals. We stopped at Great Chain Island, where a bald eagle was perched on the cormorant colony. We arrived back in the harbour after an exciting ride across the waterfront, satisfied after another fantastic experience on the Salish Sea.

Wednesday, June 24th

We had a wonderful trip aboard the Orca Spirit this morning. We travelled to Hein Bank, a hot spot for minke whales and an area where we commonly encounter orcas as well. We saw a harbour seal and several sea birds but were not able to find whales there this morning. We continued our tour by travelling up the coast of San Juan Island. We crossed the strait back towards Victoria. We had a great wildlife encounter in the Chain Islets where we saw several harbour seals, a fascinating little marine mammal and important food source for transient orcas. At Great Chain Island, we witnessed one of those national geographic moments as we watched a majestic bald eagle being pursued by gulls while carrying one gull in its talons! One last foray towards Constance Bank, with several porpoise sightings along the way, concluded this fine tour.

Our afternoon trip took us deep south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca in search of a humpback whale that had been sighted southwest of Race Rocks. The waters were calm with just enough swell to make it interesting as we travelled across the strait. Despite an intense search by two whale watching vessels, we were unable to locate the whale that disappeared in the mass expanse of the Salish Sea. We did see several porpoise feeding in the calm waters. We continued our search as we headed back towards Victoria stopping at Race Rocks. As the tide was flooding, most of the harbour seals that are usually present were most likely out foraging. We still saw several though, and a young elephant seal hauled out on the rocks. The highlight of this afternoon's tour was our visit to the Parry Bay eagle's nest where we have watched two young eaglets over the last few weeks. Today, we saw the two eaglets in the nest being watched by a parent perched above the huge nest.