Friday, May 29th

Today Captain John and Naturalist Jenna headed out with a boat full of brave passengers. We journeyed out in some choppy seas to just past Albert Head where we found T40 a large male transient killer whale (the mammal eating variety). T40 is known as Captain Hook due his distinctive curved dorsal fin. After watching him for a while we headed up to Race Rocks.
There we saw lots of harbour seals, elephant seals, and both california and stellar sealions. We also saw a mature bald eagle being harassed by nesting seagulls. We then headed back toward Victoria for one last visit with Captain Hook. Another west coast day with beautiful weather and wildlife!

Sunday, May 24th

Our afternoon tour was another brilliant adventure spent with J-pod, our most commonly encountered orca pod. However, passengers were in for an unexpected treat as we encountered a gray whale just outside the harbour. What a great start to the tour! After viewing the magnificen mysticete (whale geek speak for baleen whale), we travelled east to San Juan Island. There we had a fantastic encounter with Mike (J26), Slick (J16) and Echo (J42) and other members of the J16 matriline.

Our 4pm tour caught up with J-pod west of picturesque Speiden Island. There we encountered about half of J-pod moving slowly northbound. First we watched a large group of orcas that included Blackberry (J27) and one of the new calves (J44) pass astern of us. We had a great pass from another group of whales that were frisky to say the least. We saw spyhops, tail slaps and other spectacular behaviours. All in all, it was another amazing day on the water.

Saturday, May 23rd

This afternoon on the Orca Spirit we travelled to the serene waters of Haro Strait where we had a thrilling encounter with a few whales in the J16 matriline. We watched J16, Slick, foraging with her young calf Echo (J42), and were treated to some pretty fantastic high speed porpoising and lunges from the young calf. After we ventured further south to see who else we could find and spotted Mike (J26), an almost fully mature male. We had an absolutely spectacular experience with this young male and overall it was a fantastic encounter with this wonderful resident pod.

Our evening charter encountered J-pod near Hannah Heights on the picturesque San Juan Island. On this trip, we had a truly memorable experience with Mike (J26), but a true highlight of the trip and of this season thus far was an amazing visit with J17 (Princess Angeline) and her young calf, J44. Guests and crew alike were thrilled with our encounter with one of the newest members of J-pod.

Tuesday, May 19th

J-Pod and Harbour Porpoise

This afternoon we headed out with a guest-filled Pacific Explorer to north of Victoria. The resident killer whales of J-pod had been reported travelling south from near Point Roberts, nearly 40 miles away. So we had to cover a lot of distance, in quite a sea swell in order to try and catch a glimpse of them. We encountered several little harbour porpoise on our way out, and when the seas calmed in the waters between the Gulf Islands, there was some excellent porpoise spotting aboard! Arriving at East Point on Saturna Island, we spotted some distinctive black fins. We stayed in the area for a good half an hour, watching the whales, who were dispersed over quite a large area, before they started to regroup. We were treated to displays of full-breaching, cart-wheeling and tail-slapping and good sightings of both J and K pod members. Another great day and another great encounter!

J27 Blackberry

Some of the whales starting to come together

An adult female slapping her tail upside down on the water

K38 Comet, the calf of K20 Spock

K20 Spock

Monday, May 18th

Again, the weather was pretty nippy, but an excited bunch of guests and crew headed out towards San Juan Island where J-pod had been reported earlier. J-pod were there and we managed to get some pretty nice viewings of J1 (Ruffles) and J2 (Granny).

J1, Ruffles surfacing in front of Lime Kiln at San Juan Island

Sunday, May 17th

J-POD

Today was an exciting day, the Pacific Explorer back in action with two tours fully booked, along with one on the Orca Spirit. Over 800 Spanish Insurance workers were visiting Victoria and were being taken out to see the local wildlife. Reports in the morning informed us that J-pod had been sighted at Sheringham Point, to the west of Victoria, and of Sooke, so that was the direction we headed. Although the weather was not like that of the Mediterranean, we managed to give our guests an amazing J-pod encounter. The whales appeared to be surfacing and showing ‘porpoising’ behaviour through the swell, and in close formation also. We managed to observe many of the members of J-pod, including little J45 (now confirmed as a male by the Centre for Whale Research).

This evening, we had the privilege to take a wedding party out on an evening cruise around the harbour.

Members of J-pod surfacing together at Sheringham Point

Saturday, May 16th

What began as a search for 3 transient orca this morning turned into a veritable superpod of transient orca! Our 9 am trip ventured east towards Haro Strait where 3 orcas had been reported earlier in the morning. We made our way past Trial Island and the Chain Islets and were entering Haro Strait when we received reports of a couple of orcas from our zodiac captain Christian, who had spotted orcas south of Trial Island. north. He soon realized that we had more than just the two and when we got on scene we realized eventually that we were dealing with 20+ transient orcas. Our passengers were awestruck by the sheer size of two mature males, T20 and T102, both common visitors to our waters and were thrilled by an amazing pass from about 7 transient females and juveniles off the stern of our vessel. It was a truly memorable encounter this morning. Our trip was concluded with a spectacular visit to Race Rocks, where we saw four pinniped species: California and steller sea lions, as well as northern elephant seals and harbour seals. It was an excellent way to start the day and there was more to come.

For the afternoon trip we had to travel several miles southwest of Race Rocks where we encountered several orcas south of Sooke. Although the huge transient group had dispersed from the morning tour, we had an excellent encounter with about 8 transient orcas, including T102 and most likely the T101's. We watched some stunning behaviour this afternoon as spyhops and tailslaps seemed to be the order of the afternoon.. I have never seen so much spyhopping form transient orcas. We witnessed at least 15 spyhops! We were able to once again cap our trip with another great tour of Race Rocks and its plethora of pinnipeds. We also witnessed a bald eagle being mobbed by a lone black oystercatcher!

Finally, we had an excellent evening trip aboard the Pacific Explorer, which was making its first trip of the season. This evening we encountered J-pod off of Pile Point on San Juan Island. We had an awesome evening with a spyhopping young orca. We had a wonderful viewing experience with a small group of orcas and it was a magnificent way to conclude an amazing day!

Friday, May 15th

This morning was another brilliant morning, flat calm, no winds, lovely weather. We hoped the whales were still out there from yesterday and had not headed too far north. Right on cue, as we were preparing to leave the harbour, news came through from the hydrophone at Lime Kiln on San Juan Island that vocalisations were being picked up in the area… so that was where we headed. Magnificent, loads of whales, Ruffles, J2, J14 and J45 and nearly all of J-pod, as well as some K-pod members. The whales initially passed our boat in small groups of 2 and 3, we watched them, then moved on a little. After we overtook, we waited again, with the engine off to watch them pass again. This time, all of the whales (over 20 it was thought) regrouped and passed us together in complete silence. They came very close to the boat, and appeared to be in the resting formation. Another spectacular encounter with J-pod. These whales are GREAT!!!!

Members of J-Pod, including Ruffles and J2, surfacing together. This behaviour is typically exhibited with the pod is resting.

Little J45, born in February, the newest member of J-Pod.

One of the tall ships coming into Victoria, set against the Olympic mountains.

Thursday, May 14
J-Pod and Minke Whales

Today was so lovely and sunny, flat calm seas and a boat full of enthusiastic passengers. Reports of whales off San Juan Island came to us just before noon, just in time for the tour. So Brad, Jenna and I (Helen) headed out there, and sure enough, we encountered some members of J-Pod just off the west side of the Island, perfect. The whales just came to the boat, and just as we were turning to leave, Brad turns around and two minke whales surface!

This evening, we had another boat full of passengers, a lively and energetic and highly entertaining group of Canadian travellers. We knew the whales were out there, and they did not let us down. Passing several harbour porpoise on our way out, we encountered members of J-pod again a little further south than where we had left them a few hours earlier. J27 ‘Blackberry’ was on top form, approaching the boat and showing us his best profiles, and J2 and J14 with J45 were also spotted. There were literally whales all around us, it was an amazing encounter.

One of the two Minke whales we saw

Tuesday, May 12

Killer whales, sea lions and a floating bridge!

This afternoon was a little rougher out at sea with several white caps and wind and some swell. However, this did not stop the adventures. The Clipper ferry from Seattle had reported whales just off Discovery Island much earlier in the morning. We headed first to Race Rocks to check out the sea lions there and were treated to a nice noisy Stellar and California musical ensemble! Then news came through on the radio of some activity being picked up by the hydrophone at Lime Kiln…. So we headed across to San Juan Island to see what was happening over there. With no sign of whales immediately, we were treated to the rare and rather odd spectacle of part of a bridge being towed across the water, yes, we were completely baffled by that also, and even John admitted to having never seen this before…. Said bridge was complete with road signs and street lamps, pretty fun!!! After the bridge entertainment, along came the whales, very close to the shores of San Juan Island, appearing to be foraging along the waters edge.

A floating bridge, complete with lamp posts and road signs....

Sea lions hauled out at Race Rocks, California Sea lions are darker and smaller than Stellars.

A little California sea lion on his own at Race Rocks

Sunday, May 10th

Our wildlife adventure started with a viewing of what appeared to be literally hundred's of harbour porpoise south of Trial Island We travelled east into Haro Strait, and made our way to San Juan Island in foggy, but absolutely flat calm conditions in the hopes of finding J-pod. They were not to be found this morning, but we were awestruck by an absolutely magnificent encounter with a huge group of Dall's porpoise. Dall's porpoise can be distinguished from their smaller cousins, the harbour porpoise by their black and white colouration and shocking speed. Today, they seemed to be enjoying our boat and were riding our wake and bowriding. We travelled next to Chatham Island, where we viewed some harbour seals, and were amazed by a great encounter with a massive Steller sea lion near Discovery Island lighthouse. We concluded our morning tour with a fantastic minke whale experience just south of Discovery Island.

Saturday, May 9th

What an amazing day yet again in the Salish Sea. This faternoon, we headed out towards Seabird Point to look for a minke whale that had been spotted earlier in the day. With fast currents, hundreds of sea birds, all signs pointed to somer rich feeding for the small baleen whales. While "minke mooching" as we affectionaltely call it, with our engines shut down, we noticed a huge congregation of harbour porpoises, perhaps a hundred or more feeding in the rich waters east of Discovery Island. It was another magnificent encounter with these normally elusive, shy cetaceans, but unfortunately there was no sign of the minke whale. After a brieft stop at Chatham Island to view some harbour seals, we headed southwest towards Race Rocks. You never truly know what you will encounter on any given trip, and today we were fortunate to encounter an Elephant seal logging at the sruface a few miles east of Race Rocks. This unusual sight was thrilling as our guests marvelled at the size of these amazing pinnipeds. At 14 feet and 6000 pounds, the northern elephant seal is the world's second largest pinnped. We watching the seal for several minutes and left after he slowly submerged. Our next stop was Race Rocks, where once again California sea lions, Steller sea lions, harbour seals and at least one juvenile eagle were among the highlights. Our last stop of the day was Parry Bay tio check out the eagle nest, where we saw two mature bald eagles. All in all, it was another breathtaking day on the water!

Tuesday, May 5th

J-POD!

Today Captain Brad and I (naturalist Jenna), headed out on our afternoon trip in search of the elusive black and white whales known as orca. After having heard of whales being spotted yesterday morning but having to turn back on our afternoon trip due to bad weather, we were hopeful that the seas would be calmer in today and we would be able to find the whales again. Thus far this season they have eluded us, but we went out with our fingers crossed and sure enough we found J-pod near Eagle Point of San Juan Island. We were able to identify Polaris (J-28) thanks to the obvious nick in her dorsal fin. We also got to see Samish (J-14) and her new calf J-45. The group put on a good show with lots of tail slapping, a couple of breaches, and even a cartwheel! After the main group passed by we headed a bit farther off the coast where we spotted the oldest and most famous members of J-pod, Ruffles (J-1, est. 58 yrs old) and Granny(J-2, est. 98 yrs old!!). Ruffles really put on a great show with lots of surfacing and direction changes, obviously chasing something good! It was my first time seeing these beautiful creatures and I think the passengers enjoyed them as much as I did!

Sunday, May 3rd

The 9am trip this morning took us once again to the scenic coastline of the Olympic Peninsula to Crescent Bay to visit Barney, the resident gray whale. On our way, we stopped just south of Race Rocks for one of the most memorable harbour porpoise experiences in my 5 seasons at Orca Spirit. The normally shy cetaceans were amazing this morning. With incredibly calm seas, and no wind and, we were surrounded by puffing harbour porpoise. We went from seeing one of the world's smallest cetaceans, to one of the largest as we made it to Crescent Bay to view Barney. As the only boat on scene for several minutes, it was a great private viewing experience of the large baleen whale. Once again, we concluded our tour with a Race Rocks experience with a pinniped trifecta - Steller sea lions, northern elephant seals and harbour seals with the historic lighthouse as a backdrop. It was another magnificent morning on the Salish Sea.

Friday, May 1st

It was another stellar day out on the Salish sea this afternoon as we headed out into Juan De Fuca Strait. Our trip took us to the spectacular coastline of the Olympic peninsula where we encountered a gray whale that has been feeding for the past several days in the shallow waters of Crescent Bay. Gray whales are one of the most unique cetaceans we encounter. Primarily a bottom-feeder, the gray whale dredges the bottom in pursuit of ghost shrimp and tube worms, although they have a diverse array of other feeding strategies. After our whale encounter, we crossed the strait back towards Victoria, stopping at Race Rocks where we saw Steller sea lions, California sea lions, harbour seals and Elephant seals, bald eagles and more.... Yet another wonderful day at Orca Spirit Adventures.