Saturday, May 31

It was with great excitement that the Orca Spirit crew of Captain Brad, naturalists Sean, and Corey and an adventurous group of passengers headed to the southern tip of San Juan Island to find J-pod, our most watched resident pod of 25 whales. It was another wonderful trip in sunny skies and calm seas to be viewing these majestic marine mammals. Each trip is different, you never know what to expect, and this one turned out to be great!

In the waters near Eagle Point, we encountered our first orcas, travelling in small groups swimming slowly southbound. We had many fantastic passes with several groups of whales as they made their way to Salmon Bank, a favourite feeding ground. When the whale parade ended, before we could reposition we noticed that the whales had turned around and we were in a great place to be and it was then that the action began to heat up. We witnessed some percussive behaviour (tail slaps) and were thrilled when we saw a whale come completely out of the water in a fantastic cartwheel manoeuvre, a magnificent way to end our time with the whales.

Shortly after, we made our back to Victoria. We stopped off in the Chain Islets, where we saw many harbour seals, food for the transient orcas that frequent these waters, and amazing little animals in their own right. Our wildlife tour also took us to Great Chain Island, where we noticed an eagle perched atop the cormorant colony yet again. Often thought of as fish specialists, bald eagles are incredible predators who are not immune from dining on birds as well and it seems the eagles are having quite an impact on our local bird life. What an amazing afternoon!