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"!!

Here are Biologist Corey's beautiful photos taken on the evening zodiac tour September 8th.
We had a visit with the researchers from NOAA (Robin Baird and Brad Hanson - see photo below), who came over in their zodiac and talked to our customers about their research.

I finally have had the chance to download the video I took while we were on a tour with you guys (August 4th).

I had to shrink the video size to be able to send it, so I lost a bit of the clarity, but it still came out really nice.

Thank you again for an amazing time, it was so worth it.

Tracey

Sunday, September 9

This morning, we received word that some resident orcas had come in from out west overnight, so we travelled to San Juan Island to find them. We had heard that J-pod was in the area as we arrived at Hannah Heights expecting to see about 25 whales. We observed lots of foraging behaviour and heard lots of echolocation through our hydrophone. We a wonderful array of behaviour from the whales, including a couple of breaches and a spectacular chase/surface lunge from L57 "Faith". When we noticed Faith, we realized we were dealing with more than one pod, and radio reports came in telling us K pod was in the area as well. It was a wonderful morning, highlighted by some wonderful vocalizations and the aforementioned breaches. We capped off the tour with a wildlife stop in the Chain Islands.

This afternoon, we had both covered boats out in Haro Strait to view the 3 different pods of resident orcas. On the Orca Spirit, we travelled north of Kellet Bluff where we found a large group of J, K and some L pod whales making their way north towards Vancouver. We were thrilled to get some great passes and saw several different whales, including the J16 matriline with the newest J-pod member J42. We watched some foraging behaviour and saw some percussive behaviour (tail fluke slapping). It is always a pleasure to see such a large group of whales, and we were pleased to several large groups surfacing almost in unison. After leaving the whales, we made a quick journey to Sidney Island to examine an eagles nest and then travelled through the Chatham Group of islands. Several harbour seals were lounging the afternoon away in the calm shallow waters. It was a steller afternoon!

Saturday, September 8

This morning, we headed south of Victoria in search of orcas, humpback whales and any and all of the other 5 species of cetacean found in the waters of Juan De Fuca Strait. Our search took us south past Race Rocks and then west towards Sooke. Although we searched far and wide, we did not see any of the larger species of whale this morning. We did however, have several sightings of both harbour and Dall's porpoise. During our journey, we went into Beecher Bay, a known hangout for transient orcas. After Beecher Bay, we travelled towards Race Rocks, where we found large numbers of California and Steller sea lions, as well as several harbour seals. The antics of the sea lions, the cute young harbour seal pups, and the scenic beauty of the historic Race Rocks lighthouse are always a treat. After Race Rocks, we travelled back east across Constance Bank towards the Chain Islets. At Great Chain Island, we examined the double-crested cormorant colony. Although we did not see any whales this morning, the wildlife did not disappoint. It was a fantastic tour.

With news of a grey whale sighting, both our covered whales headed out into Juan De Fuca Strait to view the large cetacean. On the Orca Spirit, we travelled to Race Rocks to show our passengers the sea lions which were entertaining as always. After a lovely experience at Race Rocks, we travelled southeast across the strait to Green Point, just east of Port Angeles. There, we watched the grey whale foraging in the shallow water. After our visit, we continued east towards Dungeness Spit and then ventured back across Juan de Fuca Strait towards Victoria. We saw several harbour porpoise and Dall's porpoise along the way. We even had a quick visit from a small group of Dall's porpoise, although this time, they did not seem interested in playing with us. The calm waters and sunny skies made for an enjoyable afternoon.

Friday, September 7

Captain John's Tour Photos


We headed out into the Juan de Fuca Strait, and it was only a matter of about 10 minutes when we received a call from our Zodiac driver just ahead of us, she had found Orcas beside Trial Island. Within 15 minutes of leaving Victoria we were in the company of a group of Transients. They were scouting the shoreline in search of harbour seals before they started travelling back round to the West. We stayed with them for some time before heading out to Race Rocks. The mist started to close in around us but just before it became to thick, our naturalist on the top deck gave a shout that she thought she had seen a humpback in our wake. We stopped and took a while to look, and were rewarded with a half hour of watching the whale surfacing and throwing its flukes up before taking a deeper dive. There was just enough time to fit in Race Rocks, and even though the fog was quite thick (the smell gave away the location!), we still got a good look and the seals and sea lions hauled out on the rocks. Not a bad start to the day!

Our afternoon trip came across the Orcas in less time than the morning. About 10 minutes South of Victoria and the same group of Transients were still hunting but had now moved out into more open waters. We saw quite a bit of behaviour associated with them hunting marine mammals and at all times they were fairly unpredictable. We headed out to the area where the humpback had been spotted earlier, and patience was rewarded, after what felt like a long wait, the whale surfaced not far from the boat. Again we watched for a while, and got some great views of the underside of the tail. And finally to Race Rocks, where the fog had now lifted, even if the smell from the animals had not! The Californian sea lions were in full voice, barking all around us, and the Stellar sea lions tousling with each other along the shore line, rounded of the trip perfectly.

September 6 Tour Photos

Wednesday, September 5

In the morning, the fog was so thick as we headed out of the harbour that it was difficult to even see the breakwater. We headed south and in a few miles the fog began to clear but after a while we were soon in dense fog once more! Our first stop was at Race Rocks where we viewed the Californian and Steller Sea Lions. The Californian Sea Lions were barking almost as loudly as the fog horn. We continued our search for whales and headed south once more towards Washington State. The call then came through that resident orcas had been spotted not far from Victoria to the south of Trail Island. We were soon on the scene and out of the fog appeared members of J pod. As John turned off the engine we waited as the whales came closer to the boat. J27 also known as Blackberry, a 16 year old sprouting male swam from the rear right underneath the boat. He was swimming in his usual family group along with his 4 year old sibling Mako (J39). They are they great-grandchildren of J2 also known as Granny, who is thought to be 96 years old.

By the afternoon trip, the fog had cleared and the sun was shining. The report was that J pod were feeding off the south west of San Juan. We soon caught up with Ruffles (J1) and his 96 year old mother, Granny (J2) from J pod. The pod was spread out over a large area probably feeding for salmon, so we left to find more of the family. Nearer to shore just off Lime Kiln lighthouse, we found another of the sprouting males, Riptide (J30) with his family group, including his 3 year old sister Suttles (J40). On the way back to Victoria we stopped off at the Chain Islands, where the harbour seals were basking in the sun along with the cormorants. Among the rocks, we also spotted red-necked phalaropes, black oystercatchers and numerous gulls.

A couple photos taken by onboard Biologist Nicole and her family.

Monday, September 3

There was low lying fog out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and so the decision was made to head East towards San Juan Island in search of any of the 3 resident pods of Orcas. When we arrived on site at Hein bank it was easy to spot the blows and dorsal fins of the Orcas spread out across a wide area. Almost immediately there was activity with a small juvenile tail slapping continuously. The individuals were identified as belonging to J pod, we saw Ruffles, a fully mature male and Blackberry and Mike, two sprouting males. A small juvenile was observed within a group, and on noticing the redish tinge to the white areas on the body, we realised we were watching the newest addition to this pod, J42 (female), and her mother Slick. Over the course of the trip we observed many behaviours on the surface, including breaching and even a juvenile spy-hopping!

Sunday, September 2

On the morning trip, we headed towards Lime Kiln State Park on San Juan Island where we found J-pod foraging near the shoreline. For the first part of the trip, we spent some time with the J16 matriline. We watched a gull looking for scraps from the hunting orcas. Some of the orcas were definitely in a fun-loving mood, as we noticed some spyhops and breaches near the shoreline. Percussive behaviour (including fluke slapping and pectoral slapping) was seen frequently this morning as well. These behaviours most likely serve a communication purpose. The waters this morning were almost eerily still, which only added to the experience. After a nice pass from Mike (J26), we headed back to the harbour.

On our 1 pm Orca Spirit trip, while we travelling to meet J pod near Battleship Island in Haro Strait, Captain Brad noticed a minke whale just south of the Kelp Reef marker. Once we stopped, we were privileged to see several surfacings from the small baleen whale. We even noticed its baleen, evidence that the whale was feeding. It was an amazing minke experience and an excellent way to start a fantastic trip. A short while after we left the minke whale, we encountered J-pod. Our excellent encounter began with some great views of J1 (Ruffles), the spectacular male in J pod. As the trip continued, we had a lovely visit by J42, the very cute young calf of Slick (J16). The whales were in a playful mood. We noticed some pectoral slapping and tail slapping behaviour, and even some distance breaches. Speiden (J8) swam by the boat as well; it was nice to notice the old whale (est. 1933) looking so well. We concluded our time with the whales with a great pass by Blackberry (J27). It was a wonderful afternoon in the amazingly calm waters of the Salish Sea.

Saturday, September 1

Today's tours were excellent as we were able to spend time with resident whales off San Juan Island on both tours! Our morning tour caught up with J-pod, a pod of 25 southern resident killer whales, offshore of Lime Kiln State Park. There we found a large sprouting male. With no distinguishing marks, it was hard for us to tell who we were looking at. As we ventured further offshore, we found a large male that was unmistakeably Ruffles (J1) and it became immediately clear that we were looking at J-Pod and the sprouting male was most likely Keet (J33). For most of the trip, we spent time with the J2 matriline, which includes Granny (J2), her granddaughter Samish (J14) and great grandchildren J30 (Riptide), J37 (Hy'Shqa) and J40 (Suttles). It was a wonderful morning with flat calm seas and some great tail slapping behaviour from our resident orcas. On our return to the harbour, we stopped at the Chain Islets to view some harbour seals. It was a great way to conclude another successful tour aboard the Orca Spirit.

For the afternoon trip, we travelled to Salmon Bank where we encountered some members of J-pod spread out and foraging. On this tour we were thrilled to see several whales. A highlight of the afternoon tour was a wonderful visit with the J16 matriline. This family group includes J42, the newest member of J-pod. Although she is now almost four months old, she is still quite orange in colour and very cute! We were also pleased to see Mike (J26). This adolescent male is a staff favourite because of his sometimes boisterous behaviour. It was a great day of calm weather and sunny skies.

Friday, August 31

It was a grey morning as we headed out of the harbour but the group of eager whale watchers aboard were in high spirits. As yet, there had been no reports of any whales in the area so we headed south-west. After 30 minutes, the boat slowed down as Brad had spotted a group of three Transient orcas. Brad soon identified them as the T10 group, which includes an adult male, a female and another individual which could be either another female or a juvenile male (it's difficult to tell them apart until the males reach their early teens). The group were heading for Race Rocks and the possibility of some breakfast as this is where many harbour seals, California and Steller sea lions hangout. We watched from a distance as they entered Race Rocks but with mixed emotions from everyone on board there was no sign of a kill. After the group had cleared the islands we went in for a closer look at the animals the transients call breakfast. We then caught up with the group again, who had moved closer to the shoreline and were heading in westerly direction.

In the afternoon, we again headed west as the news was that the T10 group of transient orcas we had discovered on the morning trip, were still in the area. On our way, we stopped off at Race Rocks to view the Harbour Seals and California and Steller Sea Lions. We soon caught up with the Transient Orcas to the great excitement of everyone on board. The group were feeding near to the coastline. After a while, we then received a call that there was another group of transient orcas not far away to the west. In 10 minutes we were watching more Transient Orcas, this time with approx 6 individuals in the group. As with the last group they also appeared to be feeding as there was a lot of splashing and tail lobbing. We were also provided with the opposite of a spyhop and can only be described as a whale headstand as one individual held their tail straight up and out of the water. They continued to play around in the bull kelp and as they passed closer to the boat we noticed a small calf travelling with the group. We then travelled south as there were reports of two humpbacks in the area. Soon we were watching two humpbacks swimming around the boat. We were soon rewarded with the sight of their 18 foot tail flukes as the whales went down for a deep dive. We returned to harbour as the sun started to break through the clouds. A great end to an excellent trip.