Wednesday, August 29

We started our morning trip by heading out West from Victoria harbour towards San Juan Island, with the hope of finding the resident orcas who had been in the area the day before. On the way we stopped off at the Chain Islands to view the harbour seals, basking in the lovely morning sunshine. As we moved away and headed out by Discovery Island, the call came in that the resident orcas had been spotted just south of the harbour! After a swift U-turn by John, we were soon speeding back towards the harbour. We found the orcas just a few kilometres south-west of Victoria and were ecstatic to see that it was a superpod, when all three of the resident pods mix together! There were whales all around with several small groups spyhopping, breaching and tail slapping. With the engine turned off the whales were getting closer to the boat and we were rewarded with a close up view of Ruffles, the adult male from J Pod who has a very distinctive dorsal fin, not surprisingly it has a ruffle in it (see photo below)! The hydrophone was picking up lots of vocalisation from the groups. As the pods continued to swim east up the Juan de Fuca Strait, we eventually broke away and headed west towards Race Rocks. We had great views of the California and Steller Sea Lions as well as more harbour seals - you've guessed it - sunbathing! The sea lions were more active, with several male Steller sea lions jostling for position on the rocks and the Californian seal lions barking loudly.

In the afternoon, we headed out east from the harbour, this time knowing that the resident orcas were in the area. We soon caught up the superpod again feeding off Pile Point at the south-west tip of San Juan Island. This is a favourite feeding spot for the residents, hunting for salmon. Once again we were surrounded by orcas and it was difficult to know in which direction to look. With the engines turned off, several orcas were swimming close to the boat including an adult male from L pod, known as Gaia or L78. Everyone was impressed with his 6 foot high dorsal fin within metres of the boat. Another individual gave a great display of their white underside when they rolled over on their back just off the end of the boat. The hydrophone was once again buzzing with the vocalisations from the whales all around. But alas, it was soon time to return to harbour so we left the whales still feeding and returned to Victoria. On the way back we stopped off at the Chain Islands where we spotted cormorants and a great blue heron and yes, the harbour seal were still sunbathing!

Monday, August 27

For the morning trip we travelled South out into the Juan de Fuca Strait, beyond race rocks and round to the West searching for any sign of whales. After a while we received a report of Transient Orcas in the area. There was a mature male with the group who was identified as T44, and there was also a fairly new addition to the pod, a small juvenile of under a year old. The behaviour seemed to suggest they were hunting just below the surface, searching for marine mammals such as seals that had also come to feed in the area. After some good views of the passing transients, we headed back to Victoria with a quick stop at Race rocks. Here we spotted many seals and sea lions, with some of the California sea lions swimming and frolicking around in the bull kelp in the surrounding waters.

This afternoon was an extraordinary trip. The waters around Victoria seemed to be teeming with transient orcas! There were 3 different group of transient orcas in the area this afternoon and passengers aboard the Orca Spirit spent time with all three groups. We started our adventure visiting with the T41 group near William Head. This spectacular pod of transients is a regular visitor to our area, and we were pleased to see the group of orcas return. Our passengers were thrilled at the sight of T44, the large male transient and were also awestruck by a cute young calf - a new addition since the last time this naturalist (Corey) saw them! The next part of our voyage took us near Race Rocks where we encountered a larger group of transients that included another large male (T20). The large male put on quite a show for us, tail lobbing and tail slapping! Most of the large group of orcas were in a very playful mood. What was even more astounding was that our hydrophones picked up the whales vocalizing. Transients are seldom heard so this was a real treat indeed. After an awesome pass from the group of transients, our alert captain noticed yet another group of 4 transients south of the main group. We travelled slowly west with the group before heading to Race Rocks and its abundant California and Steller sea lions. Among other things, we noticed a porpoising California sea lion! Finally, we returned to Victoria Harbour where unexpectedly the T41 group were foraging at the mouth of the harbour! This was an incredible trip. We are always excited by any visit from these top predators, although I can imagine that there are many seals, sea lions and porpoises in the area who don't share our enthusiasm.

Just wanted to tell you, once again, that we had a wonderful time on August 8 (1 p.m. trip), thanks in no small part to the skill and knowledge of our pilot, Christian.
Leon and Patricia Rucker

Sunday, August 26

This morning, we travelled east towards the San Juan Islands in our search of orcas. Despite a great search effort that took us all the way into Rosario Strait, we were unable to find whales this morning. However, we had an enjoyable trip despite the elusiveness of our cetaceans.. After venturing east to the bottom end of Lopez Island, we travelled up the west coast of San Juan Island north of Lime Kiln State Park. There we viewed an enormous bald eagle nest. Below the nest, we noticed a cute, curious, cuddly seal pup playing in the bull kelp below the nest. Our next stop took us back west towards Victoria where we toured the west side of Chatham Island. We watched a magnificent great blue heron, saw several more harbour seals and even admired some intertidal life as we noticed a couple of sea stars at low tide. The choppy waters made for a nice adventure in the Salish Sea.

With reports of transient orcas in Boundary Pass at noon, our 1 pm Orca Spirit travelled north into Plumper Sound to view the mammal hunting orcas. Shortly before arriving on scene, our captain noticed a mature bald eagle at the southern entrance to the sound. We spent a brief time admiring the majestic raptor before continuing north where we found a small group of 3 transients travelling along the west side of the sound. The group of whales included a large mature male, although it was difficult to identify who they were. On our return to Victoria, we enjoyed a high-speed scenic tour along the coast of Speiden Island where observant passengers noticed some exotic game islands and another magnificent eagle. We stopped briefly at Sidney Island to view an eagle nest. As we passed quickly by D'arcy Island, our passengers learned of its infamous history as a former leper colony. Finally, we stopped at Zero Rock to view a large number of the transient orcas favourite food item - the harbour seal.


Saturday, August 25

Our morning trip was very exciting as we headed east towards Rosario Strait in search of Orcas. On our way there we had to cross the Haro Strait, a body of water that has San Juan Island to one side and Vancouver Island on the other. The seas in the area were choppy but once we made it to the other side, our guests were rewarded as we had amazing views of our resident orcas. We had a nice pass by Raggedy, indicating that we were looking at members of K-pod. For the afternoon we headed over to the same area and at this point the whales were located in the Haro Strait, which had calmed down considerably. We had a great breach from Mega, a large male from L-pod and saw a number of groups of whales including a baby that may have been the new born identified last week, L110.

Friday, August 24

On the morning tour, we travelled to False Bay on San Juan Island where we received word that orcas were in the area. As we arrived on scene, we found several killer whales travelling southbound in the fog. We saw several whales during the tour, with the highlight being a wonderful visit from Ruffles (J1), the oldest male in J pod. It was a remarkable tour, made even more so when were able to eavesdrop on the whale conversations using our hydrophone.

This afternoon, we headed to San Juan Island, where we met up with J pod near Hannah Heights. On this spectacular trip, our passengers were able to see some of the amazing behaviours that make each trip unique and exciting. We witnessed some high-speed porpoising, a wonderful "baby breach" and some excellent percussive (tail slapping) behaviour. As we were leaving the scene, a couple of brown pelicans soared over the water near our vessel. It was a treat to see these majestic birds that our a rare sight in these area. We concluded our afternoon tour with a trip through the Chain Islets and Great Chain Island.

Thursday, August 23

This morning was an excellent tour aboard the Orca Spirit. We started our adventure with an excellent visit with a female orca and two young calves, most likely L55 and her two youngest offspring. The whales were active this morning. We were treated to some breaching, a spyhop and some excellent percussive behaviour (tail and pectoral fin slapping). A highlight of the trip was a visit from Mega (L41), who thrilled our passengers and crew with a spectacular pass.! On our return journey, we stopped in the Chain Islets, for a wildlife tour where we saw several harbour seals, including some young pups.

Our afternoon trip aboard the Orca Spirit headed east to the southern edge of Lopez Island where we met up with members of all three pods as they met up in Rosario Strait. This was an absolutely amazing trip as guests were treated to some tremendous vocalizations and an incredible array of killer whale behaviour as the pods converged. For the first part of the trip, we spent some time with a small group of L-pod whales that included a young calf. The active group of whales were thrilling our passengers with some fascinating inverted tail slapping. We witnessed numerous spyhops as well along with a few breaches! Our time with the whales included a visit with Cappucino (K21), the large mature male in K pod (born 1986). To end our time with the whales, we had a wonderful pass with Alexis (L12), a matriarch in L pod that may be 74 years old!


Wednesday, August 22

As we headed out of Victoria harbour into the Juan de Fuca Strait, it was a dull and misty day, with a chill in the air. On the Pacific Explorer we travelled East towards San Juan Islands, and as the previous day had found no resident Orcas, we were on full search mode.
Our Captain, John, called one of the network of spotters on land for a report on any possible activity and was told we should head towards Lime Kiln Lighthouse, one of the best places on land to view the Southern resident whales. As we crossed the border into American waters the sun began to appear from behind the clouds and the flat calm waters made it easy to spot any movement on the surface. We heard John call down from the wheelhouse, "whales breaching ahead!!". Everyone moved to get a better look and we could see frantic activity from a number of Orcas close in to shore. We were still some distance away so it was obvious they were putting on a good display.
As we neared we could see individuals spread out over a wide area, giving us plenty of opportunities to just watch them as they passed by. There were various feeding behaviours being displayed, much thrashing about just under the water, along with the breaching we had first encountered and some tail lobbing to round it all off. We realised we were watching J pod when Nicole identified Ruffles and Granny, the old lady of the Southern residents at over 90 years of age. It seemed it was all too soon time to head back to Victoria, and as we left the pod behind still active in the late morning sun, the mist was clearing and everyone commented on what a great trip it had been.

The afternoon was full of expectation, we had a fairly good idea we would find our residents again as we had only been watching a small group of what had been a super pod. This is when all 3 of the resident pods are mixing together to travel or feed, and finds up to 90 individuals spread out of a large area. Again we headed East, this time to Salmon bank, an area where Minke whales are often found feeding. As we arrived the group on board were pointing out numerous spouts and fins as far as the eye could see in all directions. This time we were watching a mixed bag of individuals from pods J and K, and they tended to be in small groups of just a few whales, less to share around when do find that all important catch! The whales would change direction and quickly dive, then the tip of the dorsal fin would skim the top of the water, churning it up as they seemed to dart after the fish that were just below the surface. The odd fish would jump clear of the water at times, possible a last ditch attempt at freedom! We encountered a full range of behaviours, but less frequently than on the morning trip, which often caught our photographers on board off guard, and there were more than a few lovely photos of the splash left behind by an active Orca.
As we departed, the whales were headed South away from shore and further out into the Strait. On the way back to Victoria we had a chance to stop of at Chain Islands, where we spotted the Cormorants, and there nest of sticks, but only a small number of harbour seals today hauled out on the rocks.
When we headed out for our evening trip, the whales and changed direction and were heading more North, still towards the direction of the San Juan Island group but a little closer to Victoria. We neared False Bay and again were greeted with the signs of Orcas all around. At first they were at quite a distance, but as patience often rewards in wildlife watching, John switched off the engine and we just watched as the Orcas travelled across the water. The Hydrophone picked up the clicks of their echolocation, only now and again did we hear the odd squeak of communication as feeding still appeared to be the number one aim. We heard the clicks getting louder so we knew the whales were getting closer so it was just a case of when one would surface, and suddenly it seemed they were all around! We watched one male as he came in our direction towards the stern of the boat, and looking to see where he would next appear, we were given a display of a perfect spy hop in close proximity. We observed another pair of whales take a dive beyond the boat, and as we looked in the water, saw the big white patches glide past the length of the boat and the larger of the 2 turned on its side looking up at the surface. Maybe it was more a case of people watching than whale watching! One boy spotted bubbles under the boat, and as we looked, another whale surfaced just off to the port side.
This was L pod on full display, and we spotted a very small juvenile, which may have been the newest addition to L pod at less than one week old. John was reluctant to leave such and active group on a beautiful evening, but it was time to return at the end of the day. As we left the whales behind, there were a couple of them playing about in the bull kelp in the shallows, tail lobbing and lifting the seaweed out of the water. It was the perfect end to a great day of wildlife watching.

Tuesday, August 21

This morning’s trip was a challenge to find wildlife as the western coast fog was nice and thick. We did have some nice views of the Harbour Seals hauled out on the rocks on the Chain Islands. We then made our way over to Race Rocks where we saw the Sea Lions resting on the rocks. Our patience did pay off because we finally heard word of a Humpback just east of Race and made our way over and had some fantastic views of the large whale.

For the afternoon trip we had a wildlife fiasco. We began our trip by going to visit the Humpback that we had seen in the morning. After viewing the Humpback for a nice period of time we were pleasantly surprised to have Transient Orcas swim right by us. The pod had one large male and three or four juvenile males and/or females. So we had orcas swimming by with the Humpback following behind, porpoises were seen coming up for breaths of air and even an Elephant Seal poked his head out during our trip, what a great afternoon along the Juan de Fuca Strait.

For the evening trip, the Transient Orcas had traveled far west along the Juan de Fuca Strait. We decided to take a chance and try to catch up with the whales. And we were rewarded! We caught up with the pod at Otter Point and had some nice views of all the whales traveling. We even had time on our trip back to stop by Race Rocks, where we saw California and Stellar Sea Lions. We could hear the different calls from the species as a few of them fought for spots on the rocks.

Monday, August 20

For our morning trip we were pleasantly surprised to hear that Transient Orcas were spotted at the southern edge of Victoria at Ten Mile Point. When we arrived on scene we discovered the transient group and sat and watched them as they kept swimming back and forth in the same area. We think they must have been hunting and that possibly one of the large males did in fact catch a prey although we didn’t actually observe prey in their mouth. The group eventually began traveling and started heading west towards the Great Chain Islands. We eventually left the pod to observe Cormorants and Harbour Seals among the Chain Islands and made one last stop at Trial Island to view a pair of Bald Eagles before heading back to the harbour.


By the time our boat left for the afternoon trip, the group of transient orcas was south west of the harbour. We arrived on scene very quickly and observed the transient group as they continued south. A Sea Lion and a Harbour Seal were spotted swimming in the water near the Transient Orcas, both mammals that the transient would feed on if the opportunity arose. We then left the Transient Orcas to go visit a Humpback Whale. The Humpback was happily playing in a tideline full of Bull Kelp and rose multiple times with the seaweed dangling from his head (see photos). After some nice views from the Humpback we drove back to Victoria, stopping to visit Race Rocks along the way.

Sunday, August 19th

Our 9 am tour aboard the Orca Spirit headed out into Juan De Fuca Strait in search of orcas and other cetaceans that abound in the Salish Sea. We headed west past Race Rocks Ecological Reserve into Whirl Bay where the eagle eye of our captain(pardon the pun) noticed a large raptor perched in a tree. Seeing bald eagles on a tour is always a thrill, as we admired the majestic bird of prey in the light rain showers - the true west coast experience. Also present in the bay was a great blue heron! We continued our journey west and eventually did a large sweep to the northeast as we received word that the resident orcas had been located travelling inbound several miles southeast of Race Rocks. When we arrived, we found members of all three pods travelling in a resting pod as they made their way towards San Juan Island. A resting pod of resident whales is an amazing sight. Today, we had what appeared to be J and K pod together in one resting group, followed closely by L pod - two groups of whales that were probably in excess of 40 whales each!

For the afternoon trip, we headed further east as the whales had made their way into Haro Strait and were making their way close to San Juan Island. When we arrived, we noticed all three 3 pods of way still in resting formation. We spent time with both groups of orcas - the J and K resting group, as well as the L's. As the whales neared the island, they become more active and we were treated to several spyhops and some exciting porpoising behaviour by the J and K group. On our way back towards Victoria, we cruised by Chatham and Discovery Island, where we noticed some harbour seals and an eagle perched on a dead tree near the southern tip of Discovery Island. Travelling to Great Chain Island, we found another bald eagle perched on the cormorant colony.

Saturday, August 18

This morning, we headed into Juan De Fuca Strait in search of orcas and humpback whales. Early in the trip, we encountered a humpback whale and watched as it swam in circles around our vessel. After a great pass from the large cetacean, we ventured further into the strait to see what we could find. Our captain noticed a small group of energetic Dall's porpoise southeast of Race Rocks and we were excited to watch the playful animals frolic in our wake. The next stop in our tour was a journey through Beecher Bay, a favourite hunting ground of transient orcas and a beautiful place in its own right. We noticed a great blue heron perched on some kelp and watched a couple of turkey vultures soaring overhead. The last stop of the tour was Race Rocks ecological reserve where we saw 4 different species of pinnipeds: California and Steller sea lions, as well as harbour seals and even an elephant seal.

On the afternoon trip, we travelled just off Albert Head where an encounter with a humpback whale thrilled both passengers and crew. Humpback whales have been sighted consistently in July and August, and it is great to see this majestic whales making an apparent comeback after being hunted to the brink of extinction. After the humpback whale sighting, we headed into Juan De Fuca Strait, where we found both harbour and Dall's porpoise. We searched Whirl Bay for eagles and showed our passengers a large eagle nest. To finish the trip, we travelled to Race Rocks where the sea lions put on an amazing show!

Friday, August 17th

This morning, we received reports of killer whales at Trial Island, so our 10 am trip headed east to meet up with a large group of transient orcas travelling eastbound towards Discovery Island. The group of orcas was later identified as the T124's a group of transient orcas that includes T124 (the matriarch) and her calves. Although there were no mature males in the group, they were still an awe-inspiring sight as we enjoyed the beauty of this majestic predators. Their close proximity to the harbour allowed us to spend plenty of time with the whales, and also explore some other sights. We checked out Great Chain Island, where we noticed two bald eagles on the cormorant nests and several harbour seals. It is most likely the abundance of young harbour seal pups in the area, that has resulted in an increased number of transient sightings this past week. After a tour of the Chatham Island coastline, we met up with the whales in Haro Strait, where we watched the whales with the scenic backdrop pf the Discovery Island lighthouse. On the return to the harbour, we explored the coastline of Trial Island, where we saw another mature bald eagle, many more harbour seals and even some spectacular Lions Mane jellyfish! It was an excellent tour and a fine way to the start the day.

For the 1 pm trip, we travelled near Kelp Reef to meet up with the T124's. We travelled north with the whales as they made their way slowly north towards the Kelp Reef marker. We had some excellent passes with the mammal-eating orcas before we headed into Juan De Fuca Strait to see what else we could find. We stopped at Trial Island first to look at the harbour seals and a couple of eagles before we headed towards Race Rocks to see a humpback whale that had been found. We had an excellent time visiting with the spectacular animal and we were thrilled to see it fluke several times. We concluded our tour with a trip through the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. It was a great day on the water.

Thursday, August 16

Our residents have returned!!!! After about a week feeding off the west side of Vancouver Island, we were greeted by 87 Orcas, as they traveled east up the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards Victoria. We had a great day as we viewed several small groups of Orcas as they breached (jumping clear of the water), spy hopped (brought their heads out to look around) and tail slapped. Throughout the day we were able to identify different individuals such as, Ruffles (J1), Faith (L57), Cappuccino (K21), all of which are fully mature males. We also were able to see other marine mammals like harbour and elephant seals and stellar and California sea lions as they hauled out on the rocks of Race Rocks and the Chain Islands.

See Captain John's photos below.

Our Southern Residents have returned!

Here are a few beautiful photos taken by Captain John onboard August 16th 9am covered boat tour.

This past week our tours have seen many different animals.

Here are some great photos taken by Captain John onboard our covered boat tours.

Elephant Seal

Seal Lions
Transient OrcasGray Whale

Humpback Whale


And some very cute whale watchers!