Tuesday, August 26th
Superpod right off the waterfront!
That was the news as we arrived on scene at Constance Bank. There we saw whales in resting formation as they made their way across the waterfront towards San Juan Island. It is not often we observe this behaviour, and it is a rarity to see this many whales so close together. It is possible that up to 86 whales were in the area. This morning was a thrill for both passengers and crew. After our encounter with the whales, we travelled the east coast of Discovery Island, where we enjoyed the company of several harbour seals who utilize the rocky outcrops as a haul out area, getting themselves out of the very cold water. What an excellent way to start the morning!
On the afternoon trip, we received word that a group of transient orcas had been located in Beecher Bay. We decided to check out this report, as watching this group would allow us to enjoy Race Rocks and transient orca sightings are often outstanding! This would be another memorable trip as we arrived, we found the group of 3 mammal-hunting orcas known as the T41 group. They consisted of the matriarch T41, her daughter T41A and the large male T44. This is an interesting group of orcas, as their near-shore foraging style often finds them hunting in strange places, even Victoria harbour! We watched the animals as they hunted the waters of Beecher Bay, making their way east through the Bedford Islets and further east through Whirl Bay. For a moment, both passengers and crew were anticipating that National Geographic moment as we spotted a Steller sea lion just a couple of hundred yards ahead of the oncoming predators. A large Steller sea lion would be a little hard to handle without risking significant injury, so the whales left it alone and continued their search for smaller prey. We left for Race Rocks while we could, enjoyed the amazing ecological reserve and got one last look at the mammal-hunting orcas as they made their towards Victoria.
