Sunday, September 30^th

This morning, we headed into the waters of Juan De Fuca Strait in search of orcas and other cetaceans. We were in for a fun ride today as an early fall storm last night made the waters this morning like riding a roller coaster, which added to the adventure! Our journey this morning took us south and west of Race Rocks. After a tour of Beecher Bay, a favourite transient orca hunting ground, we spent time with a humpback whale just west of Race Rocks. We had some great views of this magnificent mammal, and we were thrilled when it showed us its massive tail flukes. After leaving the whale, we stopped at Race Rocks to view the northern (or Steller) sea lions. It was a wonderful trip and a true west coast experience.

On our afternoon trip, we travelled to the Olympic Peninsula coast near Freshwater Bay where we encountered another humpback whale. The whale was behaviing somewhat erratically, but we had a lovely encounter nonetheless. We observed it fluking, and in the calm waters we could even see it blowing bubbles below the surface, allowing us to follow its progress before it surfaced. We left the humpback whale to travel back across the Strait towards Race Rocks when we received word that a group of orcas had been located. We were thrilled when we arrived on scene to find a large group of about 7 mammal-eating killer whales including a large male orca named T102. It was a great way to end another fine weekend of whale watching.

Saturday, September 29th

This morning, we headed out into the Strait of Juan De Fuca, where after a long search we found resident orcas several miles south of Sooke. We had some great passes with several whales, including Mega (L41) and a young sprouter that was foraging near our boat and exhibiting some spectacular chase behaviours. We also enjoyed watching a mother-calf behaviour, as we listened to the echolocation clicks of the whales over a hydrophone. It was another great morning on the Salish Sea.

On our afternoon trip, with the residents out of range, we headed to a humpback whale just south of Race Rocks. We had some great passes with the large baleen whale, that was framed by the historic Race Rocks Lighthouse. After watching the whale for quite a while, we passed through the ecological reserve and were entertained by the antics of both California and Steller sea lions. It was another great trip aboard the Orca Spirit.

Friday, September 29th

A possible sighting of Orcas off San Juan Island had been called in so we headed East. Off the South Coast of San Juan we encountered Orcas, in small groups of one to 4 individuals. Almost as soon as we arrived a juvenile breached twice beside the boat! The spouts from the blows could be seen off into the distance. We identified a female from J-pod, Slick, and a male from L-pod, Mega, and later found out that all 3 pods were present over the wide area we had observed them in, so we had been watching a super-pod, even if the range of the whales was so wide it was difficult to tell. We also observed a little bit of tale slapping at the surface, but mostly encountered general feeding behaviour.

The boat turned East coming out of Victoria Harbour and stopped off at Trial Island to look at harbour seals hauled out on the rocks. We carried on East towards San Juan Island and the Orcas had moved South into the Strait towards Hein Bank. We first encountered small groups of whales travelling together, and then we came across J pod who seemed to be in a resting phase and very densely packed. Ruffles was very distinctive with his wavy dorsal fin. We moved away from this group and further in to shore off San Juan where we watched small groups of Orcas moving from East to West. We had some good passes on the boat, and even spotted a couple swimming underneath us, their white markings giving them away. One of the males came out of the water upside down with a big tail slap and the ends of his flukes curled under, a nice way to say goodbye at the end of our trip!

Thursday, September 28th

The vessel headed out from Victoria and headed South into Juan de Fuca Strait. Within the first 20 minutes we had a sighting of a humpback but unfortunately did not see it surfacing again while we watched. We turned towards the East to Trial Island and the fog closed in so we turned back West and made a stop at Race Rocks. We saw various seals and sea lions hauled out on the rocks, both Californian and Stellar sea lions. We headed back round towards the first sighting of the humpback as other vessels had spotted glimpses of it, but it was being very elusive and we headed back towards Victoria.

In the Afternoon we travelled towards San Juan Island where there was a sub-pod, a breakaway group from the local residents in L-pod. We had views of Orcas travelling along, probably concerned with feeding and hunting below the water, and they were dispersed over a wide area. We dropped the hydrophone and were greeted with silence at first but later heard a few echo-locating clicks used for hunting and squeaks and squeals used for communicating.

Wednesday, September 26th

It was a foggy morning as we headed out of the harbour but soon emerged through the fog to clear sunny skies. Everyone was looking out for any signs of a water spout and a dorsal fin as we headed south-west out of Victoria. A passenger soon shouted that he had spotted something on the horizon - as we searched we soon seen about 20 blows in the distance, heading towards us. It was the resident orcas! We were soon joined by members of J pod, then L pod, then also members of K pod - it was a superpod! They were travelling east in resting mode (sleeping for whales), travelling and surfacing to breathe together. We had excellent views of Ruffles and Faith, 2 of the adult males from J and L pod respectively. Our next stop was Race Rocks to view the Californian and Steller Sea Lions and Harbour Seals. As we made our way back to Victoria, Captain Brad spotted two humpback whales. We spend some time observing them. Again we had to leave and we soon reached the bank of fog outside Victoria harbour. As we entered the fog another humpback whale came into view! We eventually made it back to the harbour after an eventful trip.

The afternoon trip left the harbour with information that a humpack whale had been spotted south of the harbour. We soon discovered two humpback whales almost in the path of a freighter ship. We slowed to allow the ship to pass and the humpback surfaced in the wake of the ship. The humpback tail lobbed a few times giving everyone on board plenty of photo opportunities. The superpod of orcas were in the area so we headed east to find them. We caught up with members of J pod off San Juan Island and again had excellent views of Ruffles. On our way back to harbour we discovered yet another humpback whale just off Clover Point, very close to shore and also two more in the distance. Another great end to a fabulous trip.


September 25th Photos

Sunday, September 23

This morning, we travelled to San Juan Island in search of resident orcas. Shortly after arising at the island, we encountered some K-pod whales travelling slowly northbound north of Pile Point. Among the first whales to swim by were Raggedy (K40) and Cappucino (K21). Echolocation clicks and surface behaviour indicated that many of the whales were foraging. We were fortunate to see a fantastic spyhop and even a breach from a young whale. Following K-pod was a large group of L-pod whales that were in a semi-resting pattern as they travelled nortbound tight against the coast. After a lovely encounter with Skana (L79), we headed back towards Victoria. A brief wildlife stop in the Chain Islets was an excellent way to end the trip!

For the afternoon trip, we headed to San Juan Island, just north of Lime Kiln State Park where we found several orcas heading in a southerly direction. We had received news that J-pod had met up with K and L-pod, meaning we now had a superpod! This meant that we were in for an incredible afternoon and the whales did not disappoint. We were positioned in a tide rip about a mile or so offshore, a perfect position to watch the orca parade. While listening to the chatter of the whales through our hydrophone, we were privileged to some spectacular behaviour above the water with cartwheels, breaches, spyhops and tail slaps. Midway through our trip, on our way to reposition, we found some Dall's porpoise - the fastest cetacean in the ocean. We were entertained by the antics of the whales as they rode our bow wave! After spending some time with a large male orca, we headed back to the harbour.

Our Sunday evening trip was an incredible private viewing experience spent in the calm waters of Hein Bank. On the way to the southern residents, we encountered a playful group of Dall's porpoises who took the time to play in our wake. When we arrived with the whales, we were thrilled to encounter a large group of whales in an amorous mood. It was a wonderful evening in absolutely flat seas. We watched in fascination as we listened to the calls of the whales over hydrophone, as we watched a young male "interact" with a couple of females. We visited with a young mother and calf and observed a variety of behaviours including pectoral slapping, tail slapping, spyhopping and even a few chase behaviours as there was undoubtedly some fishing going on as well. While watching the orcas, we also had a nice pass with a minke whale that was feeding in the nutrient rich waters of Hein Bank. Satisfied with another incredible trip, we headed back to Victoria into the setting sun.

Saturday, September 22

On our morning trip on the Pacific Explorer, we headed southwest of Victoria to catch up with some reported orcas. What initially was thought to be a small group of transients, turned out to be much more as both races of killer whale were in the area off of Beecher Bay. After a quick glimpse of a male whale (T10B), we started to notice more orcas and identified some whales with an open saddle patch. The transients disappeared but we were soon overwhelmed by two of our 3 pods of southern resident orca. We had a great pass from Cappucino (K21), and saw a spectacular spyhop. A young orange orca was spotted by alert passengers. This whale was most likely the new L-pod calf, L110 along with her mom L83. After a great visit with the residents we headed into Race Rocks, where we saw 3 different species of pinnipeds. It was a remarkable way to start the day.

This afternoon, we headed east aboard the Orca Spirit to catch up with southern resident orcas that had travelled east through the waters off Victoria this morning. We encountered some L-pod whales, including Faith (L57) heading east towards False Bay on San Juan Island. It was an amazing trip, as we observed whales foraging for salmon in the nutrient rich waters. Our hydrophone picked up lots of echolocation and vocalizations from the piscivorous cetaceans. We had a fantastic visit from a sprouter male, tentatively identified as L85 (Mystery), but the highlight of the trip was a spectacular and somewhat bizarre encounter with L83 (Moonlight) and her calf. L83 is the newest mother in L-pod, and we observed her carrying her young calf towards us on her snout. This behaviour has been documented before, but I had never seen it. It was an incredible experience, concluded with a fabulous spyhop.

Friday, September 21

Wednesday, September 19

This morning, the sun was shining as we headed out of the harbour. We set off in a south-westerly direction into the Juan de Fuca Strait to begin our search. The whole boat had their eyes on the horizon for the sign of a dorsal fin or a blow. We continued West and as we reached the area off Otter Point the blow and dorsal fin of a humpback whale was spotted. As we sat enjoying the view of the humpback surfacing then throwing its tail flukes in the air as it went down on a deeper dive, we realized that there was another humpback close by. After some excellent views we headed back with a stop at Race Rocks to view the Californian and Stellar Sea Lions hauled out on the rocks.

The sun continued to shine for our afternoon trip and we set off to the area where we had left the humpback whales earlier. On the way someone spotted a group of Dalls Porpoise in the distance so we slowed down the boat to get a closer look. The porpoises decided they wanted a closer look at us and started swimming close to the boat and playing around in the wake of the boat. We had spectacular views of the Dalls porpoise swimming very quickly underwater. We soon found a humpback in the same area where we had been watching them earlier. We turned off the engine and were treated to wonderful views of the humpback surfacing and throwing its tail flukes into the air for a deeper dive. Although humpbacks can travel quite a distance while on a deeper dive and surface far away from the boat, our humpback continued to surface within view of the boat letting us sit in silence with the engine turned off. Everyone got fabulous photos as the humpback decided to "log" (float around) at the surface for several minutes allowing us to hear him breathe. Unfortunately the time came to leave the humpback and head back to Victoria after a stop off at Race Rocks to view the seals and sea-lions.

I just wanted to say thank you for two amazing tours in the zodiac. I loved every minute of it and the staff at Orca Spirit Adventures are so friendly. Again, thanks for a great experience. I'll be back in the spring without a doubt.
Chris - Edmonton
PS Tell Christian thank you also, he was a great guide.

Monday, September 17th

On the morning trip we headed out East towards San Juan Island. We travelled round to Cattle Point and stopped at Whale Rocks where we saw some Harbour seals and Stellar sea lions watching us from the water with more hauled out on the rocks. There was also a large group of cormorants huddled towards one end of the rock. Still no whale sightings but we headed further out into the straight on a loop back to Victoria, and our zodiac was with a Minke whale. We stopped and watched it surfacing a number of times, when a large flock of birds was spotted diving into the water. We headed over and and there was a feeding frenzy with the sea birds diving in, TWO Minkes feeding in the same patch (one flicked up its tail in the air showing us its belly!), and even a Harbour seal joining in to round it all off.

In the afternoon we travelled West to see a Humpback. All the way round the coast to Sooke we found the whale leisurely feeding, and after a short while of watching we saw the whale throw its tail up in the air and slap it down on the surface, not once but twice! With this the fog closed in so it was off to race rocks, for Stellar and Californian sea lions and harbour seals before the trip back to harbour.

Sunday, September 16th

This morning, we headed out towards Hein Bank in hopes of finding the resident orcas which were headed in that direction at the last report last night. At Hein Bank, we scanned the area thoroughly but were unfortunately unsuccesful. The next stop of our journey took us to Whale Rocks, where we found several Steller sea lions. It was a thrill to see these amazing animals and we even saw a couple porpoising. Harbour seals were also present in abundance and we were hoping to see some transient orcas enjoying these orca d'oevres, but alas no luck! To conclude our journey, we travelled through the Chain Islets to view the many seabirds and harbour seals.

This afternoon, we travelled to Haro Strait where we met up with members of our most frequently encountered resident orca group, J-pod that had eluded whale watchers this morning. We started our encounter by visiting with J1 (Ruffles), as the large male was foraging astern of the Orca Spirit. Nearby, we noticed another whale most likely Granny (J2), also in a hunting mode. Finding Granny and Ruffles meant that there was more whales nearby, and it didn't take us long to find another group of 4 whales (most likely J22 and her family). The encounter with this group was amazing, as we heard some spectacular vocals and were treated to some interesting behaviour from the young whale J39. A highlight of the trip was a fabulous spyhop from the same whale (J39). We ended our time with the whales with a great visit with J19 (Shachi) and her young calf (J41). Lots of foraging behaviour was observed from many different whales, which is a good sign. Hopefully the whales are well fed!

Saturday, September 15th

As we crossed Haro Strait this morning, we encountered Ruffles (J1) and Granny (J2) foraging near an important feeding area known as Beaumont Shoals. It was a spectacular way to start a great trip, and we even saw the old matriach J2 do a fantastic spyhop! As we continued towards San Juan Island, we encountered the rest of the J2 matriline, including J14 (Samish), J30 (Riptide), J37 (Hy'Shqa) and J40 (Suttles). These four whales were tremendously entertaining to watch and we were treated to a lovely breach. After spending time with a few more whales a little closer to shore, we returned back to Victoria. We stopped briefly at the Chain Islets where we observed the favourite prey of our transient killer whales, harbour seals. It was a wonderful morning on the Salish Sea.

This afternoon we spent time with resident whales near Hein Bank. Both J and L pod were in the area this afternoon, and we ended up spending time with a group of L-pod whales that included a large mature bull killer whale L78 (Gaia). It was a wonderful afternoon spent in the company of orcas, and we were thrilled to see a variety of behaviours including both spyhopping and breaching. Also identified this afternoon (upon examining photos) was L55 and her new calf L109. The sunny skies and calm seas only added to the wonderful wildlife viewing on the Salish Sea.

Friday, September 14th

This morning we headed out south in the early morning sunshine to begin our search for whales. After 30 minutes of scanning the horizon for the sign of a blow or a dorsal fin a call came in to Captain Brad that "something" had been spotted 7 miles south of Trial Island so we sped off to investigate. We soon discovered J pod, one the resident orca pods traveling east. We recognized the wavy fin of the adult male Ruffles (J1) who was swimming in his family group along with Blackberry and about 8 others. After spending a time traveling along with the whales we let them get on their way and headed back to harbour. On the way back we stopped off at Trail Island to view the harbour seals hauled out on the shore.

In the afternoon, with the sun still shining, we headed out towards San Juan Island, where J pod had been traveling to earlier in the day. Off San Juan they had met up with L pod, one of the other resident pods of orcas. Both pods were spread out over a large area feeding on salmon close to the shore of San Juan. Ruffles was the first whale we encountered and was out on his own heading west along the coast of the island. We soon caught up with several other groups also feeding. Just as it was time to leave a small group started breaching, spyhopping and tail slapping close to shore, providing us with spectacular views. We spent time watching the activity of this small group but reluctantly we had to leave the whales to return to Victoria.

Thursday, September 13th

Wednesday, September 12th

It was a fairly misty morning to begin with and we headed out to race rocks for our first stop. The Californian sea lions were barking away being very vocal from the rocks. The Stellars were a little quieter and we spotted some harbour seals looking at us with interest. One of the human residents of race rocks came out to clean the steps and a group of Californian seals launched into the water and swam out and started milling around in the bull kelp. We then travelled over to the American mainland on the opposite side of the Strait to Victoria at Green Point. We stopped the boat and searched for the Grey Whales that had recently been sited in the area, but unfortunately there was no sign. We headed back to Victoria and on the way spotted some harbour porpoises off the side of the boat and also an otter bobbing about on the surface.

The weather was similar for the afternoon trip but at least it meant the sea was still nice and calm. This time we continued West along the coast, past Sooke to Otter point, where we joined a humpback. It was very unpredictable, going down for long dives without throwing up its flukes, popping up in any direction, making it difficult for any photographs. But we patiently waited and we were rewarded with some very good passes and amazing views of the tail coming up right beside the boat. After this we made a trip to Race Rocks, and this time the Stellar sea lions were growling loudly along with the Californians barking. There was lots of activity and splashing in the water and they put on a good show for us. Generally everyone who came out on the boat had a good day, even those that did not see any whales.

Tuesday, September 11

Today's tours were spent viewing superpod off the southern end of Vancouver Island! Super pod is when all three of our southern resident pods of Orcas come together for socializing and mating. We enjoyed things like tail slapping, spyhoping (the whale goes vertical in the water column and bring their head out) and breaching (the whale jumps clear of the water). We also had a chance on the morning tour to see a large humpback whale feeding in the waters south of Victoria and the afternoon tour we went through Race Rocks where we saw many Harbour seals, Stellar and California sea lions. With all our amazing animal sightings and a great sunny and calm day we could not ask for more.

Monday, September 10

We had received word that there were whales out West from Victoria, so we travelled along the Coastline, past Sooke and on to Otter Point. In this area we came across the resident Orcas, L pod. They were spread out and showing behaviours consistent with feeding, but within 10 minutes of arriving humpbacks were spotted directly ahead and we moved round for a look. We saw 3 humpbacks surfacing a few times together, and then when they went down on their deeper dive, each one threw up its tail in turn, and under they went. We could see humpbacks in one direction and Orcas in the other! We moved back to be with the Orcas, and we saw the newest baby for the residents, L110 with her mother Moonlight. We even saw some baby breaches, and plenty of tail slapping. Everyone had a great trip, with one woman summing it up as "Groovy"!!