The Season Starts with Transient Sightings!

Sunday, March 23

The Pacific Explorer left the dock on schedule this calm Easter Sunday afternoon, and the decision was made by Captain Brad to head North East towards San Juan Island. After naturalists Cheri and newcomer Tim chatted to the passengers about all things marine mammal we ended up about 3 miles west of Lime Kiln Lighthouse, and were fortunate to come across some Tansient killer whales! There was a group of 5 individuals, and a couple of lone individuals travelling in a northerly direction, and upon closer viewing we were able to identify the big male as T20. There were 2 calves present within the pod that appeared to never leave Mum's side, with the big male T20 trailing closely behind. They would do a couple of shallow dives and then a longer deeper dive, staying down for 3-5 minutes, then would surface again but not where we and the passengers were expecting. After a few more dives and the passengers eagerly awaiting their return to the surface for that magic photo opportunity, the killer whales surfaced quite close to the boat and gave the passengers (and the naturalists) a huge shock and burst of excitement! Cameras were going crazy as these ever so graceful creatures surfaced a few more times in good view of the passengers. Seeing killer whales this time of year is a very special thing, so we were very lucky to witness Transient killer whales going up their business in the wild, and so all passengers and crew were very excited (to say the least!).

Heading back to Victoria we stopped by the Chain Islands and observed a lone Bald Eagle perched up on a rock, and quite a large Cormorant's nest also. The trip back to Victoria was certainly an exciting one! The wind and waves made for an entertaining boat ride and we experienced some sea spray over the side of the vessel. The passengers loved it!
A great trip on this Easter Sunday, with passengers stepping off onto the dock with big grins and a mountain of knowledge to take home.