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.
