Sunday, July 5th

With no reports, we headed east to San Juan Island in search of orcas, minke whales and other marine mammals in the Salish Sea. Along the way, we spotted several harbour porpoise foraging south of Discovery Island. We arrived near Eagle Point and sure enough Captain Brad and I spotted some blows. It turned out to be a small group of L-pod whales. As the first boat on scene, we were in for a wonderful fairly private viewing experience as the whales milled near False Bay. We had a great pass from Skana (L79) and his mother Spirit (L22). While drifting quietly we enjoyed listening to the exhalations of the world's most spectacular animal (I am more than a little biased). We watched a bald eagle diving and foraging in the bay. On our way back to Victoria, we stopped near Chatham Island to view several harbour seals hauled out at low tide. There even appeared to be a few young pups!

On our afternoon trip, we headed to the waters of Boundary Pass where we encountered K-pod moving inbound against an opposing tide. The whales were in resting formation, with at least 10 orcas surfacing and diving in unison. This is one of the most spectacular behaviours to witness. It is a great spectacle to behold, seeing so many whales in tight formation. We saw several whales, including the adolescent but large male K26 (Lobo), Sequim (K12) and the newest K-pod calf, K42. Our return journey took us past the scenic lighthouse at Turn Point with Mount Baker in the background.