Tuesday, June 19th

This morning we travelled west from Victoria in the Juan de Fuca Strait, and watched the L-12's (sub-family group of L-pod) near Beechy Head/Race Passage areas. The Orcas were heading west, some feeding and travelling at a moderate pace. They were in a tight group early on then began to spread out. We watched the large male of the group, L41 ("Mega") separate from the others, before heading off to Race Rocks. At Race Rocks, we saw many Harbour seals, along with a Bald Eagle on the rocks within the reserve. There are thick kelp forests growing around the rocks and many other sea birds in the area.

The group of L-12's travelled west throughout the morning and we saw them again in the afternoon past Sheringham Point Lighthouse. They were continuing to move west, possibly to meet up with the rest of their pod, L pod, that are believed to still be out west. There was some feeding activity, with lunging behaviours seen, along with porpoising (fast travel).

For the evening tours we travelled east towards San Juan Island, into Haro Strait, and found a Gray whale off Chatam Island. The whale was feeding, doing deep dives and moving in towards the shore of the island while we were watching it. We saw the whale's large blow, it's back and also saw it's tail fluke multiple times, indicating deep diving. After watching the Gray whale, we travelled north around Darcy Island, then headed back towards Victoria. On the way back into Victoria harbour, we stopped at the Chain Islands, looking at Bald Eagles (feeding on a seagull at the Cormorant nests atop one of the islands), Cormorants, and other sea birds at the islands.