Here are beautiful photos of the Humpback tail taken by onboard biologist Corey on Monday's tours.
Monday, July 30
Today was a humpback day as passengers aboard the Orca Spirit were fortunate to see these magnificent animals on all three trips. This morning, we spent time with a humpback whale out in Juan De Fuca Strait a few miles offshore of Port Angeles, Washington. As mentioned in previous blogs, we have had a mother and calf pair hanging out in this area for quite some time now. We were fortunate to get several nice views of the young humpback whale, which was a thrill for both passengers and crew. After viewing the humpback whale, we travelled to Race Rocks for some truly amazing wildlife viewing. When we arrived at Race Rocks, we found several Steller sea lions swimming in the strong currents. A close look at the rocks revealed several harbour seals, including a few pups! An elephant seal was found swimming near the boat ramp near the lighthouse. All in all, it was an excellent trip.
The afternoon trip was very similar to the morning trip, as we travelled south to spend time with the young humpback calf. As we arrived on scene with the young humpback whale, some astute passengers noticed another blow off our starboard side. It was the mother humpback! This afternoon was truly amazing as the large female gave us a spectacular show, highlighted by some great passes and an even more amazing cartwheel! The unpredictable nature of humpback whales makes viewing them thrilling to watch. After watching the humpback whale, we again travelled to Race Rocks, where we again found sea lions and harbour seals along with other wonderful wildlife.
For the evening trip, we travelled further east to a location several miles south of Discovery Island where we spent time with yet another humpback whale! It was a great trip. When diving this whale was not hesitant at all to show us its massive flukes, which made for some spectacular photographic opportunities. The highlight of the trip was a spectacular pass by the whale to conclude our time with him (or her), as it swam by our boat right before fluking! The wildlife stop for this trip was a scenic trip through the Chain Islets to look at harbour seals, cormorants and other wonderful bird life. We concluded our tour by educating our guests about the wonderful bull kelp forests that help sustain and support much of our local marine life.
Dear Sirs:
We really enjoyed our "whale adventure".
When we first learned that my 2nd cousin (age 16) would be visiting from Germany, and that her dream was to see whales, we thought of just going to the Vancouver Aquarium. However, we had never seen whales in the wild and decided to take her with us on the Orca Spirit.
What an incredible experience! We couldn't believe how exciting it was to see whales up close. Your naturalists provided an informative commentary and were all very friendly.
Please pass on our thanks to your staff!
Regards,
Muriel Wilson
This afternoon aboard the Orca Spirit, our guests were able to see two amazing humpback whales in Juan De Fuca Strait. Our first humpback whale was a young whale that was most likely still travelling with its mother that was less than a mile away. The little humpback was logging at the surface, but we were able to get some good views of the magnificent little whale. After watching the little whale for several minutes, we travelled to the much larger mature humpback whale. We were thrilled by a spectacular pass from this large whale. The choppy waters definitely added to the adventure, one that our passengers will not forget.
Saturday, July 28
This morning, we toured the coastline of
This afternoon we headed to the waters off of Dungeness Spit to view two magnificent humpback whales. We watched as the two whales slowly travelled west, and were fortunate to see one of the two humpbacks show us its tail flukes, and we were able to identify it as one of the same whales we have seen in the same area over the past couple of weeks. On the way back towards
Friday, July 27th
Today on our morning tours we made out way up to Turn Point where orcas were spotted. This area is on
In the afternoon we met up with orcas along
For our evening tour we met up with a group of orcas at Hein Bank, a bit more offshore from
Thursday, July 26
Throughout the day we saw feeding behaviour (they are feeding on the running salmon) but also got a few glimpses into their social and playful personalities as we saw a breeches, spyhops and many tail slaps.We also saw Harbour seals, Bald Eagles and many more sea birds when we stopped at the
Wednesday, July 25
Whales, Whales, Whales! Another great day on the waters surrounding southernThe afternoon’s tour started with reports of Orcas coming east up the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards
On our evening tour we were heading to the west
Tuesday, July 24th
This morning, we searched the waters of Juan de Fuca Strait in search of the humpback whales that have thrilled our passengers over the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, this morning we were unsuccessful but we were able to show our passengers some of the other wonderful wildlife in the area. We stopped in Whirl Bay to show our passengers a huge bald eagle nest. We travelled next to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve, admiring the scenic beauty of the historic lighthouse. Steller sea lions were resting in the morning sun and several harbour seal pups were also seen. We also noticed a mature bald eagle perched just a short distance away from the sea lions. It did not seem the least bit bothered by the large predators around it. It was a great way to end a nice morning tour.
In the afternoon, we spent time with two humpback whales that were found north of Port Angeles. It was a pleasure to spend time with these enormous cetaceans that were thrilling our passengers with some spectacular fluking behaviour. The humpback whales met up about half way through our time with them. A highlight of the trip was near the end of the trip when both whales dove in unison raising their massive flukes together. It was a thrilling experience.
For the evening trip, we travelled across Juan De Fuca Strait to Freshwater Bay where we found two different humpback whales about a mile offshore. As we arrived on scene, we were greeted with two enormous tail slaps! We watched the humpback whales as they made their west. It is absolutely amazing to see humpback whales as at one time, they were not seen in nearshore waters of BC, having been extirpated from the area during the days of whaling. It is great to see them returning to the area and the numbers seem to be increasing! As a conclusion to our evening tour, we stopped at Race Rocks where we watched some Steller sea lions jousting for position on their favourite rock. It was a great way to end another wonderful day on the water.
Monday, July 23
This morning, we travelled just south of Victoria where two humpback whales were feeding southeast of Race Rocks. It was a fantastic morning as both passengers and crew enjoyed watching one of the humpbacks engage in some spectacular feeding behaviour, in which it used its massive tail flukes to coral food before it lunged through the food at the surface. We watched in awe as one of the humpbacks did an amazing cartwheel! After watching the humpback whales, we travelled to Race Rocks where we were surprised to see a large number of Steller sea lions had already returned to the area. At least 8 were seen hauled out on the rocks. We also noticed many young harbour seal pups!
The afternoon trip was very similar to the first trip of the day. We found the humpbacks in approximately the same location and they were engaging in the same spectacular feeding behaviours. We were also able to see another cartwheel. After watching the humpback whales for almost an hour, we travelled to Race Rocks to show our guests the historic lighthouse, Steller sea lions and other fantastic marine life.
Sunday, July 22
With the continuous foggy, rainy weather that Victoria has been experiencing this week, we managed to continue using the newest addition to our fleet, the Pacific Explorer. Fortunately this vessel (with large, indoor seating) kept the crew and guest very comfortable during our trips. We managed to find a humpback in the afternoon just north of Port Angeles. And we were happy we did! He/she was incredibly active, continuously pushing the water around with his large fluke and sometimes his pectoral fin. Every now and again he would come up to lunge feed and we managed to have some great views of his mouth and baleen plates. We finished the trip by heading over to Race Rocks where we were greeted by a few Stellar Sea Lions, who are beginning to make to way back to the area after the breeding season.
Friday, July 20th
My (onboard biologist Nicole) first super pod! This morning’s trip, despite the fog and a small amount of drizzle was a fantastic trip, one of the best of the year! We left the harbour and not too long after our departure we encountered whales. We began observing the whales and soon realized that we had more than just one pod. We first identified Faith and Mega from L-pod. Then had an amazing pass by Cappucino, so we knew we had L and K-pod but were surprised when Ruffles (J1) made a pass which confirmed our presumptions that we had superpod. Superpods occur when all three pods get together. When this occurs the whales are extremely social and active. On top of our fantastic observations of orcas we also had some great passes by a Minke whale that seemed just as excited as the crew to see the orcas. What a fantastic morning on the Victoria waterfront.
For the afternoon tours we headed back to our super pod. Fortunately the weather cleared up and we had some great views yet again. The whales appeared to be moving more quickly and were spreading out more so probably beginning to travel again. They travelled from Trial Island to Haro Strait during our trip. We had some nice passes from Raggedy and Cappucino from K-pod. After we left the whales we stopped by the Chain Islands where we observed a number of Harbour Seals sitting out on the rocks.
Our final trip of the day brought us over to Lime Kiln Lighthouse where we had a number of orcas spread out in the area. We had a nice pass by one of the adult males from L-pod, Gaia. It appeared that the superpod finally split up. Although just as we were leaving, we had a final pass from Mike, a sprouting male from L-pod, so it appeared that the pods were still a bit mixed together. What a great way to end the day!
Thursday, July 20
Victoria's weather made for another interesting day on the water. Although this morning's tour started in heavy fog, we were still able to get a great look at the Race Rocks Light House (lit in 1860) and the marine animals it is home to. We enjoyed many harbour and elephant seals and a bald eagle perched on the rocky shore line waiting for the best opportunity to grab an unsuspecting fish.
We then received word that J-pod, one of our 3 southern resident pods, had been spotted on the west shore of the American San Juan Island. For the rest of the morning and the whole of the afternoon tour, we were able to watch a foraging (feeding on Salmon) J-Pod. We travelled from False Bay to Lime Kiln Lighthouse as J-pod's many members went after the abundant salmon. Ruffles (J1), a 56 year old male, Blackberry (J27) and Mike (J26), both 16 year old sprouting males, were seen rapidly changing directions after fish. We even got a look at Granny (J2), the 96 year old matriarch, Mako (J39), a 4 year old male calf, and Slick (J16), 35 year old mother of 4 (including Mike) and her newest female calf unnamed J42, who is only 2 1/2 months old.
We finished the day with a beautiful sun filled ride back to the Victoria harbour with enough time to spend checking our many of the other amazing site Victoria has to offer.
The fog and drizzling weather has not deterred our Resident Orcas!
These photos were taken by Captain John on July 17th and 18th.
These photos were taken by Captain John on July 17th and 18th.
Wednesday, July 19
This morning we headed to the rugged coastline of Stuart Island, where we found a large number of resting J-pod whales heading slowly northbound past the historic Turn Point Lighthouse. The rather dreary weather did not dampen the experience of viewing these magnificent cetaceans, as we continued our journey north with them. We soon noticed J16 (Slick) and J42, the newest calf. The young baby orca was in a playful mood, as our guests were treated to a breach by the newest southern resident. As we slowly left the scene, we noticed J1 (Ruffles) to the west of the other orcas. Our time with the big guy was a wonderful way to conclude our time with the whales and we headed back to the Victoria harbour.
A rare occurence made the afternoon trip a special experience. With most of J-pod already up north near Active Pass, we received word that another group of J-pod whales was located off of False Bay on San Juan Island. It is rare for J-pod to separate like this, but it allowed our afternoon guests to experience the majesty of the southern resident killer whale. We were privileged to see some spectacular behaviour from a group of whales that included one of our naturalists favourite whales, Blackberry (J27). It appeared that the whales were foraging for salmon. We saw a spectacular surface chase, some great percussive behaviour (tail slaps and pectoral slaps), and an absolutely amazing spyhop from J27 (see the photos above from Captain John!).
For the evening trip, we again travelled to Stuart Island, where the group of J-pod whales we were with this afternoon were resting and travelling slowly northbound as they made their way north towards the Fraser River. Shortly after we arrived on scene, the whales started to wake up. A fabulous spyhop marked this change in behaviour and we noticed the whales break off into two family groups. A highlight of the trip was an amazing pass from Blackberry and his family! It was a wonderful evening in the waters of the Salish Sea.
Tuesday, July 17
This morning, we travelled east to San Juan Island, where we had sighted J-pod the evening before. After an exhaustive search of the coast, we headed for Hein Bank to search for minke whales. Shortly after arriving on scene with a minke whale southwest of Hein Bank, we received that J-pod had been sighted in the fog near Albert Head off Victoria. We were able to meet up with J-pod in the rain near a navigational buoy known as Victor Hotel. We found the whales in a resting pattern and we were able to see all 25 of whales of J-pod surfacing and diving in unison! The light rain only added to our west coast adventure. It was a remarkable experience.
For our afternoon trip, we caught up with J-pod as they were crossing Haro Strait, swimming towards San Juan Island in the fog. The trip this afternoon was a surreal experience; calm winds and light fog made for an amazing time. We were treated to some amazing behaviour, including breaches and a magnificent spyhop! We travelled with J-pod as they made their way towards Pile Point on San Juan Island, spending time with several different groups of whales along the way. What an incredible tour! 
On the evening trip, we encountered J-pod near Pile Point again foraging for salmon. A highlight of the evening trip was a wonderful encounter with a young whale who was foraging, slapping its flukes and even breaching near our boat. We also spent some time with Mike (J26), who was foraging in the calm waters off San Juan Island. Today was a fantastic day on the water.
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