Sunday, April 29th

On today's tour, we headed northeast to Speiden Island. The wildlife viewing was excellent, as we saw some exotic fallow deer, and a majestic, mature bald eagle perched on a tree. We watched a small group of Stellers sea lions swimming in the waters off of Green Point. Continuing northward, we travelled through New Channel where we watched some harbour seals lazing the afternoon away. Stopping next at Mandarte Island, we watched some nesting double-crested and pelagic cormorants. Although we did not find any cetaceans today, it was another excellent afternoon with spectacular blue skies.

Photos from Saturday, April 28th Orca Spirit tours.

Sunday, April 22nd

Today’s sunny and warm weather amplified our tours. Both the Orca Spirit (covered boat) and Aquatic Dancer (zodiac) left the Victoria Harbour at 1pm. After radio talk with other unsuccessful boats that went east, we set off to the west. It was not long into our tour that we came across two transient Orcas. A large male and smaller female were following the shoreline off Beechey Head. As we stayed with them, a few direction changes and splashes led us to believe that these whales were on the look out for smaller marine mammals to feed on. Our guests enjoyed the breathtaking view and sounds that the whales offered until Church Point.

At this time we decided to give the whales their space and head towards Race Rocks. As we enter the small islands we were greeted by active and vocal California and Stellar sea lions. As they basked in the sun, compete for space and even got in and out of the water, we were able to just sit back and enjoy. We also had the pleasure of many Harbour seals and even a pair of mature bald eagles.

What a great tour and a lovely end to a beautiful weekend in Victoria.

Recent photos from Naturalist Corey from this past weekend's tours.

April 15th

This afternoon, we travelled east hoping to find J-pod. Although the whales were elusive today, we had an excellent trip. Our first stop on the tour was Trial Island, where we spotted several harbour seals lazing the afternoon away on the rocky beach. Trial Island is an excellent spot to find bald eagles, and we found a bald eagle perched on the sign post again. Hoping to find J-pod heading south through Rosario Strait, we headed to Colville Island and travelled along the rugged south coast of Lopez Island.

Our next stop was Whale Rocks off the southeastern tip of San Juan Island. These rocks are a favourite haulout site of Stellar sea lions, and we found two perched on the rocks! Our next destination was the very scenic Chatham Island to view an active eagle's nest, where we found yet another mature eagle. We finished the tour with a journey through the Chain Islets and Great Chain Island. An eagle was perched atop the double-crested cormorant colony. We watched as it was chased off its perch by a large mob of glaucous-winged gulls. It was exciting end to a wonderful afternoon.

April 14th

With reports of killer whales this afternoon in Haro Strait, we headed to San Juan Island to find one of our Southern Resident pods, J-pod, in a resting pattern near Eagle Point on the south end of the island. Most of the whales were in a large group that included two of our favourites, Granny (J2), the 96-year old matriarch of J-pod and Ruffles (J1), the oldest male in the southern resident community.
When whales are resting, they often surface and dive in unison, which is truly an amazing sight.

After leaving the whales, we travelled back to Victoria, where we stopped first at Great Chain Island to view the cormorant nests and look for eagles. The last stop of the afternoon was Trial Island, where we observed several harbour seals hauled out on the rocks with a large mature bald eagle watching perched on a nearby sign. It was a fine end to another great trip.

Here are our photos from the Orca Spirit tours on April 9th and 10th.

April 9, 2007

The rough seas and strong winds were no match for the spirited group of guests on this afternoon’s tour. As we headed out of the harbour is was apparent that we were in for a great adventure.

We traveled east up the straight of Jan De Fuca, in the hopes for calmer waters. Our first stop was at Trail Island where we were able to see about 2 dozen harbour seals hauled out on the rocks. After a few passes and many photos our tour continued on.

Once we arrived at a slightly calmer Haro Straight we headed north. Although the white capped waves made locating the whales difficult, all aboard were eager and wide eyed. With a good eye, Captain John saw what he believed to be large splashes off the west side of Henry Island. As we approached, there was no question that we had found an energetic J Pod.

We were greeted by several breeches and tail slaps. J Pod was traveling south along Henry and San Juan Island in a very playful and performing manner. We were delighted to get a great look at Ruffles (J1), a 57 year old male and his mother, Granny (J2). Granny is the matriarch of J Pod and is an astonishing 96 years old.

The tour was filled with many exciting moments. We were pleased to get several more breeches, including two by claves, also J Pod was able to squeeze in a spy hop for our enjoyment. A full showing by J Pod and a wonderful tour in spite of the weather.

April 8, 2007

This afternoon we went out aboard one of our zodiacs, the Aquatic Dancer, for an early season wildlife trip. We journeyed first to Race Rocks, one of our favourite locations to visit, to look at the many pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) that call the ecological reserve their home. Several Stellar sea lions and a few California sea lions were hauled out on the rocks and provided our passengers and naturalist (me) with some excellent photographic opportunities. In fact, we found 4 pinniped species there today as at least one elephant seal was sharing the same rock as the sea lions and harbour seals seemed to be everywhere.

Today was an absolutely spectacular day for eagle sightings as we encountered at least 6 different eagles at Race Rocks in both adult and juvenile plumage. We spotted both pelagic and double -crested cormorants, several gulls and even a few very striking Harlequin ducks.

As the seas were calm, we decided to make the trek across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Crescent Bay on the Olympic Peninsula hoping to find a gray whale or two. Although we didn't find any gray whales, the rugged coastline was beautiful and we saw a few harbour porpoise foraging in the still waters. We stopped briefly at a waterfall and looked at the large array of intertidal life that was visible during today's low tide. The wet weather did not dampen our spirits, it was another great day of wildlife watching.

Photos from April 5th Orca Spirit Tour

April 5, 2007

Along with spring, some of our local residents have arrived. We caught up with J Pod at Salmon Bank, south-east of San Juan Island. As we approached, we found that J Pod had slit into two groups and were feeding off the abundant supply of salmon also in the area. While foraging, the majority of J Pod were found swimming close to the shore line. At the same time, a smaller group, including Ruffles (J1) and Granny (J2), were farther off shore. With a conscientious Captain John, we were able to get a great look at both groups. As we were beginning to leave the scene, the whales seemed to have a few more things for our guests to see. All of our guests were in awe when a young male, traveling closely with Ruffles, breeched not once but twice. This amazing display was followed by three more breeches, a spy hop, some log rolling and many tail slaps!

On our way back to Victoria we took the opportunity to stop at the Great Chain Islands. We were pleased to see two immature bald eagles, approximately two dozen harbour seals hauled out on the rocks and an array of other sea birds.

All agreed that the day was a total success, as we enjoyed the sunny and warm ride back in to the Victoria Harbour.

April 1, 2007

This afternoon the Orca Spirit and our adventurous passengers headed east into Haro Strait to look for orca, porpoises, sea lions and other wildlife. We stopped at Speiden Island to see the moufflon sheep and other exotic game. At Green Point, on the eastern edge of Speiden Island, we encountered several Stellar sea lions, including one fellow that was lazing away the afternoon on the shore. We continued northwest through New Channel where we observed several bald eagles soaring overhead and a very large group of harbour seals foraging. Our next stop was at Mandarte Island, a fantastic seabird colony, where we noticed several pelagic cormorants perched on the cliff walls. Before heading for home, we stopped at an eagle's nest on Sidney Island. A bald eagle was perched only a few hundred feet away, indicating that the resident pair has most likely returned for another summer. Here's hoping some eaglets are on the way! Although we did not find any cetaceans today, it was an excellent afternoon out in the Salish Sea.

March 31 , 2007

This afternoon the Orca Spirit headed east to the beautiful and calm waters of Haro Strait in search of marine wildlife on this early season trip. We stopped first north of Kelp Reef, where we watched a group of 5 harbour porpoise foraging. Continuing northeast, we travelled to Speiden Island to view the exotic Moufflon sheep, bighorn sheep that were originally imported from the island of Corsica. Nearby, a small group of Stellar sea lions were resting at the surface just off Green Point.

We continued northward and travelled back west through New Channel where we found a group of harbour seals hauled out enjoying the afternoon sun. Overhead, two large mature bald eagles were circling. We travelled back south and stopped just east of Sidney Island to watch a small foraging group of Dall's porpoise. We made one last stop in the Chain Islets where we encountered two juvenile eagles and another mature bald eagle perched on the cormorant nests on Great Chain Island - 5 bald eagles on 1 trip!