Thursday, July 17

Elephant Seal at Race Rocks

This mornings tour had us heading for the south end of San Juan Island. We came on scene to a fabulous breech by a large male orca (later ID as Scooter, K26) and the trip just got better from there. We watched as K-pod (20 whales) foraged along the shoreline in search of salmon, but occasionally tail slapping or spyhoping to give the passengers a little more excitement. On the way home we stopped at Chain Island to get a good look at harbour seals and cormorants (a 200 ft deep diving sea bird).

One may think that after 3 years and over 700 tours that each time on the water would be the same as the last, but this is far from the case. This afternoon and evening on the water proved to be in my top 10 tours!

Guests aboard the afternoon tour started by viewing the L12's just west of the Victoria Harbour. The L12's are a small sub pod of the 45 member L-pod. We enjoyed ourselves as we watched a few females and Flash (L73, mature male) as they foraged for salmon along Albert Head. After everyone had a good look we planned to finish up with a tour through Race Rocks (a marine park) where we were hoping to get a look at other wildlife such as bald eagles and harbour seals. Once there, we quickly change our focus back to the orcas. As we rounded the far west side of the marine park we were greeted by the rest of L-pod coming in after feeding for several days in the open ocean. When the two groups re-joined there seemed to be sheer excitement in the air. We watched, well after we were to be back on the dock, as whales logged at the surface, tail slapped, breeched and spyhopped all around the boat. Another amazing display.

The evening tour was much the same. Although the whales had past Victoria and were east along the San Juan Islands, they were still in a very social mood. We watched as large males like Faith (L57), Flash (L73) and Mega (L41), along with other females, 'put on a show' for our guests. Now we all know that these whales were just being themselves but to all aboard our boats, it felt like a private guided tour into their inner most social behaviours. We had the sun setting in the west, the moon glowing off in the east and whales in between. We watched as they milled for food, rolled from side to side, and even vocalized. The best thing was that they were so enthralled with what they were doing, we never had to reposition our boats, but instead we just sat silently a few 100 meters away taking in all the glory they were proving. I can truly say that everyone on board will have a hard time ever topping today’s experience.