Tuesday, June 26th

Today we spent the morning near the coast of San Juan Island with one of our resident Orca pods, J-pod, which has 25 animals in it. They were near the Lime Kiln Lighthouse, some offshore and some close to the shoreline. The Orcas were travelling north then turned south and were feeding/milling around along the coast. They were also there for the afternoon trip, inshore and offshore, travelling and milling towards the north end of San Juan Island. There were multiple breaches also in the afternoon, and the family groups were tight with the pod slightly spread out.
On the return trips, we stopped at the Chain Islands off Victoria, where we saw Harbour Seals, Cormorant nests and Cormorants, as well as Bald Eagles, both juvenile and adult.

In the evening, the Orcas continued to travel north, and we watched them near Turn Point and up to Pender Island. J-pod was more active, with breaching and rolling around, the new calf was playful with its family also. When we left them they were still travelling northwest towards Active Pass. The return trip was lovely calm waters past Sidney Spit Marine Park, and around the islands.