Orca Spirit Adventures

2009-07-18T19:11:00.000-07:00

Come visit the new Orca Spirit website at www.orcaspirit.com.
All new blog reports are now posted directly to the website.

2009-07-14T18:22:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 14th

Our tour left this morning heading northeast not knowing the exact location of the whales that were sighted. We started our scans at False Bay on San Juan Island. When we got Pender Island, the action really started. Members of both J and L pod were foraging, spread out as individuals or small groups. Comet was excited and porpoising out of the water with Spock in tow. Skana, Echo, Slick and Mike trailed behind, travelling close to shore. Someone was breaching in the distance on either side of the boat and a delightful pectoral flipper was spotted from a male right on the bow.

This afternoon, we headed towards Hein Bank. On the way, we stopped at Trial to check out our pinniped pals, the harbour seals. Once we got to Hein bank we were informed that the one Minke in the area was being elusive, but after a few minutes of watching, he became less shy. After some great viewings of the Minke we decided to wave goodbye and head for Trial Island. We saw more seals and got a closer look at the cormorants and oyster catchers.

2009-07-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 13th

The Orca Spirit with naturalist Captain John and naturalist Corey headed out with an intrepid group of guests headed into Juan De Fuca Strait. Shortly after leaving the harbour, we received a report of orcas near Beacher Bay. We arrived on scene shortly after receiving the report to find members of K and L-pods travelling east towards Race Rocks. We had the good fortunate of observing resting whales - an awesome behaviour as the whales group up. We saw several whales, including K21 (Cappucino), K40 (Raggedy) and the L2 matriliine with L78 (|Gaia), L88 (Wavewalker) and L2 (Grace). Being so close to Race Rocks, we also stopped there for a great wildlife experience as we saw 4 bald eagles and several harbour seals.

Our afternoon trip caught up with the resident orcas as they continued to make their way east across the waterfront in resting formation about 4 miles east of Race Rocks. Still resting, we enjoyed the company of the majestic animals. Near the end of our encounter, and with the tide working more in their favour our guests got to experience the power of the whales as a few of them started porpoising eastward. After our incredible orca encounter, we travelled to Trial Island where several harbour seals and many young pups were hauled out with a majestic bald eagle overlooking the scene! We finished our wildlife encounter with a visit to the Great Chain Island cormorant colony.

2009-07-14T18:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 12th

This morning, we headed east to Haro Strait in search of our resident pods. It was an adventurous trip that took us into the San Juan Islands. We stopped north of Speiden Island to view some harbour seals and a even a few pups and enjoyed travelling along the picturesque south coast of the island in search of the diverse exotic game such as fallow deer and moufflon sheep. Unfortunately, the exotic animals must have been taking shelter in the forest today. Our trip continued around the north coast of Sidney Island and the lovely Sidney Spit. We travelled along the southeast coast of Vancouver Island back to the harbour. Although we did not see whales today, it was an adventurous ride that our guests will not soon forget.

2009-07-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 11th

This morning, we headed out to Hein Bank where a group of L-pod whales had been spotted earlier in the morning. We arrived on scene with the orcas to find a group of about 7 whales working their way northward towards San Juan Island. We spent some time with a small group of orcas that included the large bull Cappucino (K21) and a few females, including Raggedy (K40). We watched these whales surfacing and diving in near unison, with their distinctive black and white markings clearly visible for all to see. As we were about to leave the scene to see some other wildlife, we were surprised to see a few more whales approaching. It was the L2 matriline, with L2 (Grace), L88 (Wavewalker) and L78 (Gaia). We had an exhilarating pass to end a wonderful orca experience. This was not the end of our wildlife tour, as we saw two bald eagles near Chatham Island and several harbour seals (with a few pups) in the Chain Islets. The many seal pups in the area, will undoubtedly bring an abundance of transient orca sightings beginning in mid to late August!

Our afternoon trip travelled to south of False Bay on San Juan Island. We spent some time with a group of J-pod whales, but our guests were especially thrilled with an encounter from the J14 matriline. We witnessed porpoising (high-speed swimming), breaches, and an incredibly awesome spyhop! Riptide (J30), a young adolescent male who has been going through an incredible growth spurt was appreciated by all, and we saw the cute new calf (J45) travelling alongside his mother Samish (J14). We also saw some tail-slaps, an important communication behaviour, that may also serve a purpose in stunning prey. Satisfied with another great trip, we headed back to the harbour.

Our evening trip was another super experience as we encountered members L-pod, the L2 matriline travelling north just northeast of Kelp Reef. We were thrilled to see Gaia (L78) and Grace (L2) travelling with another female or young male. Almost immediately upon arrival, we saw an incredible breach! Wavewalker, was initially nowhere to be found, however, we would see him later. We spent most of our time with the L2's and witnessed some social behaviour, including tail slaps and pectoral slaps. The most amazing behaviour occurred near the end of our experience as some orcas were definitely in predatory mode. We surface lunges, some high speed porpoising and even another breach! Gaia and his matriline mates thrilled is with an amazing pass to end another great trip.

2009-07-13T08:38:00.001-07:00

Friday, July 10th

It was another incredible day on the water at Orca Spirit Adventures. With sunny skies and calm seas this morning, we headed out into Juan de Fuca Strait in search of any and all types of marine wildlife common to our area. Of course, the focus of most of our tours is on the ever popular killer whale or orca and this morning did not disappoint. We travelled almost due of Victoria this morning and encountered a large group of whales coming inbound! The whales were spread out and travelling eastward. Captain Brad was able to find some whales off on on their own to the south of the main group, which made for an awesome whale experience. We spent some time with Georgia (K11) and an as of yet unidentified male. As we were watching these whales, we spotted another whale swimming at high-speed in the opposite direction. It turned out to be L88 (Wavewalker) who was rushing to join up his mother Grace (L2) and his older brother Gaia (L78). We had a marvelous viewing experience with these 3 whales who were off on their own a few miles behind the rest of the group. Gaia was sporting some new rake marks, the result of an interaction with another whale or whales. We concluded this amazing adventure with a tour of Race Rocks, where we saw harbour seals and even a couple of mature bald eagles. It was a great way to start the day.

I am running out of superlatives to describe the whale watching this past month, but our afternoon trip proved to be another fantastic experience. We headed east towards San Juan Island to find most of L-pod all grouped and travelling towards San Juan Island in tight formation. It was a truly awesome experience, to have so many whales travelling together. We saw Mega (L41), Skana (L79) and so many others travelling towards the island. As the whales approached the island, we were treated to an incredible double breach! It was an excellent way to leave the orcas after a near private whale watching experience. As we were close to Hein Bank, we made the quick journey over to find a lunge-feeding minke whale! We quickly noticed that there were in fact at least two minke whales foraging - yet another excellent day on the Salish Sea.

2009-07-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 9th

This morning, we headed out on the Pacific Explorer to Hein Bank in search of orcas, minke whales, and other marine mammals. On the way there, we stopped to view a rather strange-looking porpoise. It proved to be a hybrid porpoise, strikingly marked with white on its dorsal surface. What was truly surprising was that the hybrid porpoise had a calf. Often hybrids are infertile, but not in this case. At the nutrient rich waters of the bank, we were thrilled to find at least two minke whales lunge feeding and had an absolutely mind-blowing pass from one of the large baleen whales. We drifted by the north Hein Bank marker and nesting double-crested cormorants. After our whale encounter, we travelled to the Chain Islets, where we had some excellent viewing of many harbour seals and a variety of interesting bird life including cormorants and black oystercatchers.

Our afternoon trip aboard the Orca Spirit headed back to Hein Bank for more minke whale excitement. This afternoon, the whales were being a little more elusive, however, we were able to get some amazing views of the spectacular cetaceans. Also on our afternoon trip, we visited the Trial Islands, where we encountered harbour seals and a magnificent bald eagle. It was another wondrous wildlife encounter on the Salish Sea.

With no sightings of orcas today, our 4 pm trips aboard both the Pacific Explorer and Orca Spirit headed back to Hein Bank for yet more sightings of minke whales. Minke whales have been incredibly abundant and active this year and we were thrilled yet again to have some great passes with the speedy minke whales. By looking for the often abundant bird life, we were able to spot the minke whales, doing what they do best - lunge feeding! It was a great experience on the water today, one that proved in the very occasional absence of orcas, there is still lots to see in the Salish Sea.

2009-07-08T18:39:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, July 7th

This morning we took off on the Orca Spirit under cloud cover. We knew that a super pod had been in the area, headed west yesterday, but was probably gone by now. So we decided to look for Minkes at Hein Bank instead, but before we got there we saw a mighty breach off of San Juan. We headed towards the island and were suddenly surrounded by orcas. We traveled with J-pod, Ruffles leading the pack, and were privy to multiple breaches further inshore. A delightful tour of whale acrobats and a few close encounters and we headed west towards Victoria, stopping on the way. Chain Islands were aloft with seals and pups hauled out on the rocks. Awesome trip!

The weather for this afternoon’s trip was a little cloudy; however, luckily whales do not have a preference! Captain John and Naturalist Jenna headed out to Kellet bluff to take a look superpod! We got some great views of the J-pod whales, with lots of tail slapping and a few breaches and cart wheels! We got to see a few porpoises on the way back, and we stopped at the Chain Islet to take a look at the harbour seals and cormorant colony. The wildlife definitely cooperated with us even if the weather did not!

2009-07-07T15:04:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 6th

This morning we headed east towards San Juan Island in search of orcas, minke whales and other marine mammals. Our first stop was Hein Bank, an offshore area south of San Juan Island where marine mammals of all types often feed. There we found at least two minke whales foraging along with harbour seals, cormorants, rhinoceros auklets and gulls. We had a great experience watching these whales lunging near the surface, feeding on small schooling fish such as herring, sandlance or krill. Next we travelled back towards Victoria, stopping near Seabird Point to look at some harbour porpoise. We next toured the Chain Islets, where we saw probably close to a hundred harbour seals hauled out at low tide, including a few young harbour seal pups. Although we did not see orcas this trip, it was a tour that truly highlighted the diverse marine life of the Salish Sea.

By the afternoon we had received word of a large group of orcas that had been discovered several miles west of Sooke and travelling inbound. Captain John and I (naturalist Corey) headed west with an intrepid group of passengers and encountered southern resident orcas near Otter Point. We encountered all three pods moving slowly inbound with the flooding tide. The whales were in resting formation; first we spent time with L-pod, and we noticed the large dorsal fins of Mega (L41), and Saanich (L74) amongst the 40+ whales that were surfacing and diving in unison. After L-pod passed, we spent time with J and K-pods and watched as they passed right near shore also in resting formation. The large dorsal fin of Ruffles was clearly evident - it is always a pleasure to see the old guy! After our amazing encounter, we had a quick stop at Race Rocks to view harbour seals near the historic landmark before heading back to the harbour.

2009-07-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-07-06T11:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 4th

Our morning trip started with a stop at Hein Bank where we had initial reports of orcas. While scanning the area, Captain Brad noticed some bird activity near the south Hein Bank - sure sign that a minke whale was most likely present. Heading over to investigate we did find at least two minke whales. We travelled next to False Bay, where we spent some time with Ruffles (J1), Sequim (K12) and several other whales who were travelling slowly up the island. On our way back to Victoria, we were able to catch up again with Ruffles (J1) and Granny (J2) who had turned south and headed offshore. It was an excellent way to end the encounter, spending time with J2, our oldest southern resident orca.

This afternoon we had an excellent trip aboard the Orca Spirit, as we headed east to Haro Strait in search of orcas and other marine life. Our first stop of the tour was at Beaumont Shoals, where harbour porpoise were two numerous to count. It was an amazing experience as we drifted in the current, watching these normally shy cetaceans surface around the boat. After this wonderful experience, we travelled to San Juan Island, where we encountered members of J and K-pods north of Lime Kiln State Park. The orca experience started with a visit with Georgia (K11), the oldest whale in K-pod at approximately 76 years of age. We also had an exhilarating pass from the K14 matriline, consisting of K14 (Lea), K26 (Lobo) and K36 (Yoda), along with the newest calf K42 who was tucked right beside his mother.

2009-07-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 3rd

Today's tours were spent in the company of L-pod, the largest pod of southern resident orcas. We had an exceedingly pleasant afternoon, which we spent with L86 (Surprise) and her new calf L112 (not yet nicknamed). It was a great experience in which our guests observed the orcas doing what they do best - foraging. Both mother and calf appeared to be in hot pursuit of a salmon - not surprising as these magnificent predators have to eat about 3 to 5 percent of their body weight per day. We also spent some time with L82 (Kasatka) with her two young siblings Lapis (L103) and Takoda (L109). We concluded our trip with a stop at the Trial Islands where we saw a mature bald eagle and several harbour seals. All in all, it was another excellent adventure on the Salish Sea.

This evening turned out to be a remarkable natural event as L-pod made their way west across the waterfront. We encountered them near Constance Bank. Although we didn't know it at the time, we were in for an incredible whale experience. While stopped and waiting for the large cetaceans to arrive, we noticed a couple of breaches - foreshadowing for what was to come. As they got closer, the action continued to heat up. We had an absolutely incredible show with breaches, spyhops, and cartwheels.

2009-07-03T11:48:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 2nd

It was with great anticipation this morning that we headed out of the harbour aboard the Pacific Explorer. We had already received reports of orcas before we even left the dock. We headed west to find K and L-pods headed inbound off the Sooke Bluffs. It would prove to be yet another remarkable trip as we witnessed high-speed swimming (or porpoising) from large groups of orcas. The highlight of trip for many of our guests was the antics of one our younger orcas, tentatively identified as Comet (K38), who breached repeatedly!

On our afternoon tour, we did not have to travel far as we encountered the inbound southern resident orcas about 20 minutes from the harbour east of Race Rocks. Almost immediately upon arrival, we were able to identify Mega (L41), the largest resident male orca. We travelled with the whales east past Trial Island and were treated to some amazing behaviour, including breaches and porpoising. We had a thrilling pass by two young male orcas and ended our encounter visiting with Nugget (L55) and her two offspring, L103 (Lapis) and L109 (Takoda). We concluded our tour with a sighting of a majestic mature bald eagle on Trial Island.

For the 4 pm trip, we travelled east to Haro Strait where we encountered whales, whales and more whales! All three pods were together off San Juan Island. The evening would prove to be a spectacular spyhop extravaganza, and we were able to spend some time with arguably the star attraction of our southern resident orcas, Ruffles (J1). Ruffles was travelling with a large group of whales, including Canuck (L7), who at times seems to be an honorary J-pod member. The calm seas and abundance of orcas made for a magnificent viewing experience, capping another wondrous day on the Salish Sea.

2009-07-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 1st

This afternoon our covered boat departed at 1:00 pm on a beautiful Canada Day. In search of J pod, in which we had just seen the day before, we headed north toward Bedwell Harbour at Pender Island. At Bedwell, we were delighted to see Ruffles, Polaris, Granny and a few others breaching, tail lobbing and spy hopping. After this spectacular show, we headed back to the Harbour with a great start to Canada Day under our belts!

Here are Captain John's photos from the tour. Including a great sea lion encounter!

2009-06-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 30th

We set sail promptly at 9 o’clock this morning and decided to head east to Hein Bank with the hopes of seeing some Minke Whales. We sat by a congregation of birds and waited for the whales. While we waited, a California Sea Lion circled our boat, curiously. After several passes, the Sea Lion swam off. We then headed towards San Juan Island where members of J-Pod were fishing along the coast headed towards Salmon Bank. A successful trip to say the least!

For our afternoon tour we knew the Orcas we had encountered earlier this morning would be somewhere along the San Juan coastline. Possibly by Eagle Point, we headed in that direction and caught up with the whales at Salmon Bank. The whales were spread far apart and leisurely fishing; we managed to get great sightings of a group fishing close to the shoreline. They porpoised and tail lobbed, travelling in a nice tight group. People from the San Juan shore watched from the rocks as we passed. After a successful afternoon we headed home to the harbour.

2009-06-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 29th

This afternoon was an exceptional trip as we travelled east near Hein Bank to view L-pod our largest pod of resident orcas. Immediately upon arriving on scene we were greeted with a spyhop, a remarkable way to start or whale encounter! We watched several whales travel slowly toward the bank, an important foraging area for both resident and transient killer whales. Near the end of our encounter, the action really started to heat up as we witnessed a large group of whales high-speed swimming. As we neared the north Hein Bank marker we watched another group put on an amazing social display with a couple of fantastc breaches. We also saw a minke whale in the same area. It was another superb experience on the Salish Sea.

2009-06-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 28th

This morning, we travelled to San Juan Island, as our Captain Brad had received a report of orcas off the northwest coast of the island. We arrived on scene for what I (naturalist Corey) assumed to be J-pod, but it turned out to be so much more. Within minutes we had members of all 3 pods pass us by. We identified Blackberry (J27) almost immediately. We had an incredible pass from two male orcas, one that would be etched in the memories of our guests. We were able to spend some time with Gaia (L78), Mega (L41), and so many more of our treasured southern resident orcas. As is always the case when the 3 southern resident orcas interact, we saw a lot of activity, including breaches, tail slaps, pectoral slaps and spyhops. It was an incredible trip, one which I will not soon forget.

By the afternoon, most of the southern community had travelled far north towards Vancouver through Active Pass and were out of our range. Fortunately, some our L-pod whales did not make the journey and we met up with L2 matriline. The L2 matriline consists of three living whales, mother Grace (L2) and sons Gaia (L78) and Wave Walker (L88). Grace is also the grandmother of Luna (L98), the wayward whale that lived alone in Nootka Sound for almost 5 years, before meeting a tragic end. We spent some time with this whales as they made their way back south along the west coast of Henry Island. On our return to Victoria, we stopped at Trial Island for a spectacular wildlife experience. Hauled out along the shores were several harbour seals. Perched nearby were two mature bald eagles! Yet another awe-inspiring day on the Salish Sea.

2009-06-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 27th

It was another magnificent day at Orca Spirt Adventures. Our morning started with a trip aboard the Pacific Explorer, as we headed to Haro Strait in search of our resident orca pods. We travelled towards False Bay on San Juan Island, then to Salmon Bank and ultimately arrived at Hein Bank. Although, we did not find our resident pods, we were ecstatic to find three minke whales engaged in lunge feeding! Minke whales have been a common sight at Hein Bank this season and we have had some exhilarating viewing experiences. This morning was no different. Also at Hein Bank, we found several harbour seals out foraging. It was definitely a successful excursion enjoyed by both passengers and crew.

On our afternoon trip aboard the Orca Spirit we received word that J-pod was travelling towards Salmon Bank, so we travelled there hoping to catch up with them, which we did. This trip was a wonderful trip, one in which our guests were able to see an incredible assortment of whale behaviour including porpoising (high-speed swimming), foraging, spyhops and even a breach or two thrown in. During the trip, we had the picturesque Mount Baker as a very scenic and wonderful backdrop.

On the evening trip, we were back aboard the Pacific Explorer and travelling back to San Juan where we encountered J-pod north of Lime Kiln State Park. There we had a wonderful experience with several members of J-pod, including Ruffles (J1), Mike (J26), and Keet (J33). Once again, our guests were able to experience the best of orca behaviour with breaches, spyhops and tail and pectoral slapping.

2009-06-27T16:00:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 26th

This morning we headed out in search of our resident orca off the southern coast of San Juan Island. When all hopes were looking dim, we headed out to the ever exciting Hein Bank where we saw 3 or more Minke whales lunge feeding through schools of fish. Along the way we saw many harbour porpoises and harbour seals. Near the end of our Minke encounter our captain took off with a purpose because he had heard some reports of orca north! We had fantastic sightings of some of our residents with a thrilling pass from Comet and Spock (K38 & K20). This was a wonderfully well-rounded trip with many different sightings and beautiful calm seas.

Our afternoon tour aboard the Orca Spirit travelled near Salmon Bank where we found members of K-pod foraging in the nutrient rich waters. We had a great pass with Seqium (K12) and some other K-pod whales, before travelling to Hein Bank for an awesome minke encounter. After the minke show, we travelled back towards Victoria abd were able to spend some time with Gaia (L78), a large bull killer whale.

2009-06-26T19:52:00.001-07:00

Thursday, June 25th

This morning, our vessel the Orca Spirit headed west with reports of orcas west of Sooke and westbound. Eventually, after a long search the orcas were picked up well offshore of Otter Point, where we had a great encounter with some K and L pod whales. After some early activity, including a wondrous spyhop, the whales settled into a resting pattern. This remarkable behaviour is one of my (naturalist Corey) favourite sites, as the whole pod will line up and surface and dive in unison. It was another fantastic morning on the Salish Sea!

Our evening trip on the Pacific Explorer was an adventurous trip to the waters of Haro Strait, where J-pod and K-pod were meeting offshore of False Bay. A few members of L-pod were also present. We had excellent passes from a number of J-pod whales, including Granny (J2) and Ruffles (J1). The whales were very active, with lots of tailslaps, spyhops and even a few breaches! After our magnificent orca experience, we travelled to the Chain Islets where we saw several harbour seals. We stopped at Great Chain Island, where a bald eagle was perched on the cormorant colony. We arrived back in the harbour after an exciting ride across the waterfront, satisfied after another fantastic experience on the Salish Sea.

2009-06-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 24th

We had a wonderful trip aboard the Orca Spirit this morning. We travelled to Hein Bank, a hot spot for minke whales and an area where we commonly encounter orcas as well. We saw a harbour seal and several sea birds but were not able to find whales there this morning. We continued our tour by travelling up the coast of San Juan Island. We crossed the strait back towards Victoria. We had a great wildlife encounter in the Chain Islets where we saw several harbour seals, a fascinating little marine mammal and important food source for transient orcas. At Great Chain Island, we witnessed one of those national geographic moments as we watched a majestic bald eagle being pursued by gulls while carrying one gull in its talons! One last foray towards Constance Bank, with several porpoise sightings along the way, concluded this fine tour.

Our afternoon trip took us deep south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca in search of a humpback whale that had been sighted southwest of Race Rocks. The waters were calm with just enough swell to make it interesting as we travelled across the strait. Despite an intense search by two whale watching vessels, we were unable to locate the whale that disappeared in the mass expanse of the Salish Sea. We did see several porpoise feeding in the calm waters. We continued our search as we headed back towards Victoria stopping at Race Rocks. As the tide was flooding, most of the harbour seals that are usually present were most likely out foraging. We still saw several though, and a young elephant seal hauled out on the rocks. The highlight of this afternoon's tour was our visit to the Parry Bay eagle's nest where we have watched two young eaglets over the last few weeks. Today, we saw the two eaglets in the nest being watched by a parent perched above the huge nest.

2009-06-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 23rd

Today Captain John and Naturalists Cassie and Jenna traveled with our passengers out into the Salish Sea in search of Killer Whales. For the first time in a few days, this did not involve much travel or searching at all as the whales were to be found on the Victoria waterfront just 15 minutes away at Trial Island. Here we met up with many members of the J and L-pods. The whales put on quite the display on this summer afternoon. They made sure to go through their whole repertoire of tail lobs, spy hops, pectoral slaps, and even some porpoising by some of the huge mature males. What really took the cake though was the breaching fiesta that took place. Whales big and small took part in hurling their bodies out of the water multiple times! It was quite an amazing sight. We finished off our tour with a look around some of the small islands in the area including Discovery Island, Chatham Island, and the Chain Islets looking at some of the bird life in the area. Another day with lots of smiling passengers and naturalists!

2009-06-23T10:07:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 22nd

Today Captain Brad and Naturalist Jenna trekked way out west in search of our friends the Orca. On our way out we made a stop at Church Island to look at a majestic bald eagle. We then continued out past Sooke, nearly to Jordan River, where we met up finally with some of our Resident(fish eating) Orcas. We found several members of the L-pod. Among them, few mature females, and most notably a mature male and young calf.
The females and calf gave us quite a few good passes, as well as some tail slaps. However, the calf stole the show with approximately 10 successive breaches!!! One of the reason we love the calves is that when they are trying to learn something new the do it over and over again, and today's lesson must have been breaching. It was the perfect end to our encounter on another beautiful summer day!

2009-06-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 21
SUPERPOD!

This morning we set out on the Orca Spirit for another fantastic experience on the Salish Sea. We were travelling south of Victoira when Captain Brad received a report of orcas near Salmon Bank and turned east to catch up with what we assumed to be resident orcas. As we approached Haro Strait, we received word that the L12's had been found near False Bay and travelled there to watch Alexis (L12) and a young sprouter travelling slowly up the island. Shortly thereafter, they changed direction and moved south, most likely hearing the vocalizations of J-pod who were now travelling towards us. We had to reposition near Eagle Point, and were fortunate to see the two pods of whales group up. Our hydrophones picked up lots of vocalizations and we witnessed some amazing social behaviour including breaches, spyhops and even cartwheels! It was a fantastic viewing experience. We capped off with our tour with a visit to the Chain Islets to view some harbour seals.

Our magnificent morning trip was foreshadowing for an absolutely stellar experience this afternoon. It would prove to be be an unforgettable experience for both passengers and crew. We travelled to Stuart Island to find J-pod and the L12's travelling northward against the beautiful background of some sandstone bluffs and the Turn Point Lighthouse. We watched Ruffles (J1) pass us by, as well as Mike (J26) and all his podmates. In fact we had the distinct thrill and pleasure of watching 35+ killer whales making their way northward as they passed astern of our fine vessel. After the end of the whale parade we repositioned to the north in Swanson Channel, and I (naturalist Corey) was thrilled to see some blows to the north. It was K pod and the rest of the L's! We had our first superpod of the season coming together. We witnessed K-pod and L-pod porpoising towards J-pod and the L12's. Porpoising or high speed swimming is an incredible behaviour to witness as killer whales are incredibly fast predators reaching speeds of 25 to 30 miles per hour. We saw a spectacular breach just of f the stern of our boat. This afternoon, we saw well over 80 killer whales! What an absolutely awe-inspiring day.

2009-06-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here are a some of Captain John's photos from our tours in June

2009-06-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 18th

This morning we headed out into Juan De Fuca Strait in search of orcas, humpback whales, minke whales and other wildlife that call the Salish Sea home. We headed out west well past Sooke but unfortunately despite our efforts we couldn't find them this morning. We decided to refocus our search and travelled to Race Rocks to view some harbour seals as well as educate our guests about some of the history of the spectacular landmark, the Race Rocks Lighthouse. On the way back to the harbour we stopped near Albert Head to view an active eagle's nest. Sure enough, there was a young eaglet perched on the nest. Soon, he (or she) will be flying the skies in search of fish, birds and mammals of all different kinds. We also saw a mature bald eagle keeping a watchful eagle eye on the nest. It was a nice way to start the day.

Our afternoon trip was absolutely spectacular. We headed east to Hein Bank, a hot spot for minke whale sightings as well as occasionally orcas and other cetaceans. The afternoon trip would prove to be one of the most spectacular trips of the season. We saw at least four minke whales during the trip. We were alerted to their presence by a huge amount of bird action. Huge numbers of gulls and auklets indicated that a large number of baitfish such as sandlance were present. Keeping on the flocks of gulls, our captain noticed a minke whale lunging at the surface. We travelled over to check out the commotion and sure enough we found some lunge feeding minke whales. Guests and crew alike were thrilled to see these sleek predators porpoising (high-speed swimming). They were even circling the boat - just incredible! To finish off this incredible trip, we stopped at the Chain Islets to view some harbour seals. It was a magnificent afternoon.

Our last trip of the day took us west to Secretary Island, just southeast of the village of Sooke. There we found J-pod inbound with members of the L12 and L22 matrilines, along with at least two K-pod whales travelling inbound! With so many whales present, it appeared that we might have superpod, but at the time of this blog that hadn't been confirmed. Anyways, we had a wonderful encounter with several different whales, including some staff favourites: Granny (J2), Ruffles (J1), Skana (L79) and Mega (L41). We saw an assortment of spectacular whale behaviour including cartwheels, tail slaps, spyhops and even a few breaches. It was great to see J-pod back after an almost 3 week absence. We even got to see one of the new J-pod calves! To finish another excellent tour, we stopped at Race Rocks. Here once again, the harbour seals were numerous. After Race Rocks, we were able to do one last stop near Albert Head to visit the eagles nest. This evening, a young eaglet was flapping and strengthening his wings for all of us to see - a great way to end a wonderful evening.

2009-06-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 17th

We left the dock this morning in hopes the sun would break through the clouds. There were reports of Orcas at Salmon Bank and thus we headed east. On the way there, we briefly encountered Porpoise which gave us hope that food for marine life was plentiful in the area. We arrived at Salmon Bank where the L12’s were swimming three miles offshore. After a great visit with the Orcas we headed back to the harbour with smiles on our faces.

This afternoon we left our dock in search of our Orca friends, especially the L12s. By the afternoon, they had made their way to Eagle Point at San Juan. At Eagle Point, all of the Orcas were spread out in good fashion as they foraged. We sat silently enjoying their company and observed them all the way to Hannah Heights before we headed home for the day.

2009-06-18T11:04:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, June 16th

Today, Captain John, with the help of Naturalists Cassie and Jenna, headed out on our morning trip. We started out west and got our first marine mammal sighting at Race Rocks where many pregnant Harbour Seals were hauled out. We continued south straight across Crescent Bay in Washington State in hopes of spotting a Gray Whale. None were to be found but our guests got a good look at the rugged coastline and two mature Bald Eagles. On the way back to the Harbour, we heard reports of Humpbacks and we were lucky to catch up with two beautiful creatures. The two whales gave us some great passes and a few glimpses of their flukes: a perfect end to our trip!

2009-06-15T10:40:00.002-07:00

Sunday, June 14th

On our 9 am trip, we headed south into Juan de Fuca Strait, We had an excellent trip this morning as we travelled west of Victoria in search of orcas and other marine mammals. We had several great wildlife encounters this morning, including a mature bald eagle in the Bedford Islets and a plethora of pinnipeds at Race Rocks. Race Rocks was great this morning with sightings of harbour seals, northern elephant seals and even a California sea lion. Of particular interest was a massive male elephant seal that had hauled itself up the boat ramp and was resting beside the boat house. These animals are absolutely huge, 14 feet and 5,000 pounds for a mature male! We concluded our adventure with a stop at Albert Head to view an active eagle's nest. All in all, it was another excellent adventure on the Salish Sea.

This afternoon, our search for cetaceans took us east with a first stop at Discovery Island. Harbour seals were incredibly numerous on the low tide today. Seeing any marine mammal is always a privilege and harbour seals are an example of how a species can recover if they are allowed to. Once hunted to reduce perceived competition for fish stocks, harbour seals are now protected and have almost recovered to historic levels. We were also fortunate to see two bald eagles, one immature bald eagle and another fully mature eagle complete with the signature white head and tail feathers. We had a long journey today, travelling to Salmon Bank and to Whale Rocks. Although we did not see any whales this afternoon, as always the scenery and wildlife of the Salish Sea was a sight to behold.

2009-06-15T10:40:00.001-07:00

Saturday, June 13th

On our 1 pm Orca Spirit trip we headed east into Haro Strait stopping first to view some harbour seals on the east side of Discovery Island. We crossed Haro Strait and travelled towards Salmon Bank. Along the way, we had an interesting encounter with some porpoising porpoises. At least one of them was a hybrid between a Dall's porpoise and a harbour porpoise. Hybrid porpoises are relatively common in these waters, but it is a bit of a novelty in the cetacean world and it was great to be able to see one. Our next stop was Whale Rocks where we found a mature bald eagle on a nearby island and several more harbour porpoises. After scanning the waters of Salmon Bank we headed north towards False Bay, where we were surprised by a minke whale! We had a brief but enjoyable encounter and headed back across the strait. However, we had one last amazing cetacean encounter with a couple of Dall's porpoises who took a few minutes to surf our wake and thrill our guests with their amazing speed.

2009-06-13T10:30:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 12th

This afternoon the tour with Captain Brad and Cassie was a pleasant surprise. With the sun in the sky we departed and headed east towards the chain islands where seals were hauled out, enjoy the sunshine. Then off to San Juan, where a Humpback whale was traveling presumably up to Alaska. We watched this whale surfacing in the water. We then travelled past Darcy Island and had a look at Great Chain to view our eagle friend and other aquatic birds. It was then time to head back home to the Victoria Harbour.

2009-06-11T19:15:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 11th

The 9am Orca Spirit Adventure began today, like any other day, with high hopes of seeing our orca friends, especially knowing resident L pods whales were around. So Captain Brad, Helen and our guests made our way through some chop and swell to south San Juan Island. After scanning the water and shoreline and passing several harbour porpoises a tell tale black fin was spied coming round Eagle Point, this maturing male thought to be member of L pod was accompanied by 2 other whales. Further away from the shore we met 2 more whales a mother and her maturing son, giving us a nice display. After a fun filled time with the whales we headed back via Discovery and Trial to check out the Harbour seals.

2009-06-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 10th

This morning Captain Brad, Jenna and Helen headed out on the Orca Spirit, past Race Rocks and Beachy Head, lured by the news of three transient orcas in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Braving a pretty choppy sea state, several willing guests and crew took the splashes for the view at the front. Despite the high swell we encountered the three transients and had some great viewing before heading back via our finned friends at Race Rocks.

This evening Captain Brad, Jenna and Helen left the harbour together on Pacific Explorer for a nice evening voyage. After leaving members of L-pod just an hour ago previously, we heading back to South of San Juan Island where they had been. L-12’s are a sub-pod of the L family. After sticking with them for some time we headed back when news came through of some transient orcas north of Discovery. We stopped to check them out and saw T20 and T 21. After this nice surprise, we then braved the choppy seas and made it safely back to Victoria. Hooray! Another great whale trip!

2009-06-09T19:41:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, June 9th

It was an early start to the day for our Captain John and our naturalist Cassie who led the morning tour. We decided to swing out west, then make our way back east through the Juan de Fuca. Rumor had it that there were two whales at San Juan Island near False Bay/ We made our way along the coast line and after a few porpoise teased us with their surfacing we finally spotted the Orcas. K20 and K38 (Spock and Comet). We went north up the San Juan coast following our whale friends. After some viewing we parted ways and took a quick trip to Trial and the Chain Islands, watched some seals, spotted a Bald Eagle and enjoyed a discussion on Bull Kelp. All in all, it was a fun trip with awesome passengers.

On our afternoon trip, we went out with naturalists Helen, Cassie and Jenna and our trusty Captain John. We set out in search of K20 and K38 that we saw earlier this morning. Unfortunately, with the tide pushing them on, the Orcas zoomed up north, right out of our range. Instead, we opted instead to take a look for Minke whales out at Hein Bank. We stopped and scanned for awhile but no luck. With the expertise of Captain John, he suggested that we head north to Salmon Bank…it proved to be a fantastic idea. At Salmon Bank, there were sea birds of all types, seals, porpoise and three Minkes which gave us plenty to look at. We finally headed southwest, towards home, with memories of Minkes dancing in our heads.

2009-06-08T19:23:00.000-07:00

Monday, June 8th

Departing this morning at 9am, we headed off for a great tour. We quickly came across two residents of K-pod. K20 and her baby K38 (Spock and Comet) were headed east towards Victoria. We travelled with them for some time and then took off ahead. Along a beautiful coastline, raccoons and eagles perched on their nests entertaining us while we drove by. When we arrived at Race Rocks, only two California sea lions could be seen however, there were many harbour seals and their pups. After one more pass with Spark and Comet, we returned to Victoria.

This afternoon, naturalist Helen joined the crew of John and I (Cassie) and we headed out to Dungeness Spit where K20 and K38 (Spock and Comet) had made excellent time from when we had saw them earlier. A submarine being escorted to port was the backdrop for this excursion. We arrived at Hein Bank and an elusive Minke graced us with a few surfacings. On the way back, we took a peek at Trial Island where my favourite harbour seals were lazing about before the tides rusted in.

2009-06-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 7th

This morning we headed out of the harbour in search of orcas, minke whales and any and all of the wonderful diversity of marine life in the Salish Sea. We travelled south across Juan De Fuca to the Olympic Peninsula. We had received reports that orca had been spotted early that morning and we set out to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. Nearing Freshwater Bay, we found them, a group of 5 transient orcas. We had a wonderful viewing experience of these magnificent predators as they made their way west. After our encounter, we travelled to Race Rocks, finishing our adventure with sightings of eagles, elephant seals, harbour seals and even a California sea lion.

Unfortunately, by the afternoon tour the transient orcas had travelled out of range. Although we tried our best to reach them, distance proved too far, so we decided to concentrate our efforts on the other wildlife the Salish Sea had to offer or find another group of orcas a little closer to home. A highlight or our afternoon tour was Race Rocks. where yet again we found northern elephant seals, harbour seals, eagles and California sea lions. It was another great day at Orca Spirit Adventures.

2009-06-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 6th

This morning aboard the Orca Spirit we headed to Haro Strait in search of orcas, porpoise and other wildlife. On this amazing adventure, we arrived on scene near Kellet Bluff. Before we even saw the orca, we noticed a positive sign as we noticed Tucker, a scat detection dog aboard the research vessel Moja. This dog is specially trained to sniff out orca feces. Although not overly glamorous, scat can be of tremendous value to researchers and can provide all sorts of valuable information. Anyways, the sight of Tucker was good news and sure enough we saw a our first dorsal fin shortly thereafter. Today was an unusual day in that two K-pod whales (K20) and her calf K38 were the only two orcas spotted. This is rare to say the least. However, the sight of these two magnificent orcas was truly magnificent. We travelled with these two whales as they slowly made their way north, leaving them just west of Speiden Island. On the way back, we were able to do some harbour seal watching with a quick visit to Trial Island. It was a great trip to start another spectacular day on the Salish Sea.

Our afternoon trip could be considered an epic journey. Determined to see orcas, we travelled northeast of East Point on Saturna Island. There again, we found K20, or Spock as she is nicknamed, and her offspring Comet slowly making their way towards Vancouver in flat calm seas. Again, I cannot stress how rare it is to see two resident orcas travelling alone like this. Spock is an interesting whale, as she has a very large dorsal fin for a female. She fooled researchers and whale watchers alike for a long time, who thought she was a he until the birth of her calf Comet.

On our evening charter, we travelled to Hein Bank to look for minke whales. Highlights of this wonderful evening trip including a minke whale, several harbour porpoises, a harbour seal and a plethora of seabirds. Three gulls circled our boat at Hein Bank battling very intensely for a chunk of fish. We watched a "bait ball" near Beaumont Shoals, Here rhinoceros auklets and gulls were feeding on a school of baitfish that were being pushed to the surface by the auklets and then swallowed by the gulls. All in all, it was a fascinating experience.

2009-06-05T17:20:00.001-07:00

Thursday, June 4th

Our morning tour left the dock with a crew of four, Jenna, Helen, Cassie and Captain Brad. We drove east towards Chain Islands to see Flotsam’s with seals, a variety of aquatic birds and an eagle. We decided to swing around through the middle of the strait and encountered a group of harbour porpoise’s congregating in a tideline. Word reached Captain Brad of a minke whale not far from us which we pursued. It graced us for two surfacings before we headed back east. While passing through race rocks there was an elephant seal molting and a few harbour seals.

It was a perfect day for an afternoon trip on the strait. We arrived at Hein bank shortly after we left and upon arriving discovered five minke whales feeding. On glass-like water, with the sun on our backs we watched the minke’s and harbour seals feed. After some great viewing we left and headed toward Beaumont Shoals. The upwellings make for a good feeding ground for ocean mammals and we were lucky enough to find a number of porpoise’s playing a feeding. We headed back to dock with everybody pleased with their tour.

Another fine evening to be out on the water. Captain Brad, Cassie, Jenna and Helen took a group of excited cruise-shippers out and headed towards Hein Bank. Previously, in the afternoon tour, we had spotted a number of minke whales at Hein Bank. We watched as harbour seals as they satisfied their curiousity by popping their heads out of the water and checking us out! With eyes focused on the seals, only a few passengers caught a glimpse of the first surface of three minke whales – hooray! We stopped the engines to allow the whales to come by and listened to see if anyone could hear them. We stayed with the whales for some great viewing, then we headed up to Beaumont Shoals to meet our friends, the harbour porpoises. Never ones to let us down, the little guys gave a grand performance and an evening spectacle. What a nice way to end a busy day!

2009-06-03T21:15:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, June 3rd

We departed this morning at 9:00am and headed west towards Race Rocks. Many Harbour Seals were lazily basking on the rocks. California Sea Lions were scarce but a few individuals gladly barked and dove off rocks, as if to show off. The Elephant Seal, still hard at work at its annual molt lay on the top rock, it was as if he hadn’t moved since yesterday. We then swung around south and headed west down the middle of the Juan de Fuca Straight. We checked the tide lines near Discovery Island, littered with sea birds but alas we saw no whales this morning.

This afternoon, it was again beautiful with blue skies and calm waters; it really doesn’t get much better than this in the Straight of Juan De Fuca! We headed east towards Hein Bank and upon arrival we were greeted by at least two Minke Whales. They were being quite active as we were lucky enough to see a few lunges and the baleens of these whales. After drifting around for about an hour enjoying the sun, calm waters and the company of our cetacean friends we headed out to Chain Islands. At Chain, we got to see cormorants, a Bald Eagle and a few Harbour Seals. We then headed back to the Inner Harbour with a wonderful afternoon under our belts.

2009-06-02T19:51:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, June 2nd

This morning we traveled out of the harbour with a promising whisper of transients wafting through the air. With Captain John at the helm and Naturalists Cassie and Helen eager to go, we and 27 passengers made our way out on a flat, glistening sea. Only a half hour later, we came upon the same transient groups from the last few days, the T30’s and T100’s, at Constance Bank. We were the lone boat on the sea and after one hour, others arrived. After viewing the Orcas, we made our way to Race Rocks. Seals, Stellar and California Sea Lions abound to the rocks delighted all aboard and Elephant Seals were a treat. On the way back we made one more pass at our Orca friends and headed back to shore.

The 1pm tour continued where we left off this morning… Thus, we headed back past Race Rocks, initially, to check whether there was any feeding activity by the T30’s and T100’s. The animals were encountered west of Race Rocks; the sea remained calm, the sun was shining, and in these conditions we managed to get a nice encounter. The group was together and there appeared to be over 15 Orcas. Several Harbour Porpoise were also spotted in the area; however, no feeding by the transients was noted. After leaving the transients we headed back via Race Rocks, stopped to check out the Stellar and California Sea Lions, the Harbour Seals and an Elephant Seal…Then, just past Race Rocks, an unexpected surprise, the return of some members of L-Pod residents who had been spotted near Port Hardy just two days ago. An amazing trip for both the crew and our guests!

Monday, June 1st

We set out at 1:00PM with 10 passengers on the Pacific Explorer and headed south. We first made contact with the orcas off Dungeness bluff. The orcas were identified as the large group of transients seen the day before. Two large males were blazing ahead, one was most certainly T102, while the T100's followed, foraging in synchronization with one another in a typical offshore pattern. The orcas surfaced and dived in absolute unison. Twenty minutes later we spotted yet another group of T's travelling about 200m away, they were identified as the T30's. After a great trip we headed back to the harbour after following the two males, 5Nm off Green Pt. Fun was had by all!

2009-06-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 31st

Wow, what an experience! This afternoon, we left the dock with a report of transient orcas in the area. Sure enough, only 20 minutes after leaving the dock, we arrived at Constance Bank where we found 3 transients: T12A, a large bull, as well asT109A and her offspring T109A2. All three transients were whales that I (naturalist Corey) have not seen in my five years at Orca Spirit! We had an absolutely fantastic viewing experience in flat calm seas. The magnificent apex predators were thrilling to watch. After several minutes one truly superb pass, we left to see what else we could find, finding some harbour porpoise near Race Rocks. In Race Rocks, we were excited to see some elephant seals and harbour seals and were somewhat surprised to spot a couple of harbour seals. We left Race Rocks and headed back to the harbour, but not before one last amazing look at the transient orcas.

2009-06-02T09:38:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 30th

Our morning tour started with a journey east to the Chain Islets and some excellent sightings of a couple of mature bald eagles at the Great Chain Island cormorant colony. One of the eagles was being chased off by a group of gulls, undoubtedly not happy at the presence of the eagles near their nesting sight. We toured the Chain Islets, educating our guests about the local harbour seals and the important role they play in the coastal food web as both predator and prey. A large southwest arc eventually took us to Becher Bay, where we saw another eagle perched on a tree top - a perfect photo opportunity! The last stop of our trip was Race Rocks where we saw elephant seals, along with several more harbour seals. What a wonderful way to start another excellent day!

On our afternoon trip, we travelled south into Juan de Fuca Strait where we started off viewing a few harbour porpoise, our smallest cetacean in the calm waters. We travelled to the historic Race Rocks lighthouse, where we found some northern elephant seals and harbour seals. We then travelled to the Chain Islets where we saw several more harbour seals basking in the afternoon sun. Just as we started to turn back towards the harbour, a couple of our keen-eyed guests helped me spot and identify a minke whale! We had a great encounter with the small baleen whale, a sleek, stream-lined relative of the massive blue whale. This afternoon's trip was also spectacular as Mt. Rainier made a rare appearance.

Our last trip of the day took us to Hein Bank, where we engaged in some minke whale watching. Hein Bank is a hotspot for minke whales and we were thrilled to spot at least one minke whale and had some excellent passes. Also out feeding in the calm waters of Hein Bank were some harbour seals. All in all, it was another great day at Orca Spirit Adventures.

2009-05-30T08:30:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-05-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-20T12:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-20T12:13:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-19T12:19:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-05-18T16:38:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-05-10T07:21:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-04T09:59:00.001-07:00

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.

2009-05-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-04-28T12:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 26th

On Sunday, we again ventured out into Juan De Fuca Strait. Transient orca sightings have been fairly common this season and we headed out to see what today wiould bring. After visiting the harbour seals hauled out at the Chain Iselts, we found a large number of harbour porpoise southwest of Trial Island. We watched these timid cetaceans for quite awhile before we continued our journey. Eventually making our way to Beecher Bay and ultimately to Race Rocks. On this tour, Captain Brad and I counted at least 7 bald eagles, a record for both Brad and I! Race Rocks continues to be a hotbed for pinniped sightings as we saw Elephant seals, harbour seals and both Califiornia and Steller sea lions.

Our zodiac trip Sunday afternoon was able to witness transient orcas near Race Rocks. The exciting encounter ended with the group of 5 transient orcas dispatching a harbour porpoise.

2009-04-28T12:49:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 25^th

Before we even left the harbour this morning, we were treated to a great wildlife sighting. As I (naturalist Corey) was leading our guests to the Orca Spirit, we watched a river otter climb along the dock. These endearing mammals are frequently seen in the harbour. Once aboard our vessel, we travelled a familiar route in search of whales and other marine wildlife. Heading east out of the Victoria harbour, we travelled to the Chain Islets. Several harbour seals were hauled out, basking in the morning sun that was trying somewhat unsuccessfully to peak through the clouds. Through the binoculars, we spotted a brilliantly coloured male harlequin duck. On a wide arc southwest, we eventually made it to Beecher Bay and travelled east to Race Rocks. We stopped to admire a mature bald eagle and headed to the wonder that is Race Rocks. With sightings of Steller sea lions, elephant seals and harbour seals and a couple more bald eagles, it was another great early season wildlife tour.

2009-04-20T13:21:00.001-07:00

Sunday, April 19th

It was another beautiful spring day as we headed out aboard the Orca Spirit this afternoon in search of marine wildlife. We travelled to the Chain Islets to start our trip to view the many harbour seals that use the many rocky islets as a haul out area to rest and warm up. Our tour took us south and west into Juan de Fuca Strait in search of orcas and other cetaceans. A few porpoise were spotted although these shy animals were being very elusive. We travelled into Beecher Bay, east of Sooke. Touring the rocky islets, we found a mature bald eagle and watched a California sea lion out foraging. The highlight of the tour was once again Race Rocks, where we saw several elephant seals and Steller sea lions. With sunny skies and calm seas, it doesn't get much better.

2009-04-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 18th

It was an amazingly calm afternoon as Captain Brad and naturalist Corey headed out on the Orca Spirit with an excited group of tourists on our first trip of the season. With a large number of transient orca sightings recently, we decided to head to some of heir usual hunting grounds to see what we could find. Our first stop was the Chain Islets where we stopped to view harbour seals hauled out on the low tide. After educating our guests about these wonderful little marine mammals, we travelled to Trial Island to view the lighthouse and also saw our first bald eagle of the trip. We then travelled on a south-western arc across the Victoria waterfront deep into Juan de Fuca Strait. Along the way we spotted several harbour porpoise, our smallest and most common cetacean. Eventually we made our way to Whirl Bay where we spotted another bald eagle and an old nest! Our final stop and the most exciting part of the trip for our guests was Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Here we saw four different species of marine mammals: both Steller and California sea lions, harbour seals and the absolutely massive elephant seal. Although we saw no orca this trip, it was a wonderful afternoon on the Salish Sea.

2009-04-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my pictures from the whale watch on October 11, 2008. Please post on the blog to share with the rest of the group from that day.

Thanks!

Nathalie

2008-10-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 25th

It was another beautiful autumn day, as Captain John, naturalists Sean and Corey, and our intrepid group of guests headed out into the Strait of Juan De Fuca in search of orcas, humpback whales and other marine life. A short distance out of the harbour, we received word that two humpbacks had been located near Hein Bank. We made our way east where we viewed the two majestic baleen whales travelling and surfacing in near unison. The whales were most likely a mother and calf pair, and were identified as two of the humpback whales that were seen much closer to Victoria two weeks ago. Apparently, the nutreint rich waters of Hein Bank had become a nice feeding area for them. After watching these animals for close to an hour, we made our way back to Victoria, stopping at Trial Island to view harbour seals. One sharp-eyed customer pointed out a sea lion swimming nearby. As we travelled back to the harbour, we noticed a bald eagle soaring over the waterfront - an excellent way to cap another truly enjoyable autumn day.

2008-10-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 18th

It was another steller October day of whale watching as Captain Brad and naturalists Corey and Kaylin journeyed out into Juan De Fuca. After beginning our trip with an unfortunately unsuccessful search for humpback whales near Constance Bank, we travelled west to meet up some transient orcas. We started our orca watching by viewing a group of transient orcas known as the T2's. Just a short distance away, we encountered another group of orcas, the large male T20 and his probable mother, T21. Both groups of orcas appeared in to be in travelling mode as they made their way slowly west. No trip feels complete when we travel southwest of Victoria if we do not stop at Race Rocks. There, we watched a large group of steller sea lions playing off the bow of our vessel, and dozens more hauled out on the numerous rocky outcrops. To cap off yet another excellent trip, we travelled to William Head where the T46B's and members of the T49 group were displaying some active behaviour as zigged and zagged near the old prison docks. Another awesome trip!!

2008-10-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 15th

This morning Captain Brad and naturalist Kaylin ventured out on a clear, calm sea topped with hundreds of birds to the horizon. The water being a little quieter than usual, we search for a while, but none the less came across some transient killer whales. They were stalking two stellar sea lions. The black fins swarmed around their little brown heads, we thought for sure they were goners. But the prey must have put up a good fight because soon we had one exhausted sea lion swirling around our boat, close enough to touch our port then starboard to port to starboard. Coming to the surface, he gave us a look of desperation with a big breath. After the coast was clear, the sea lion swam away and we observed the tripod of orca's: T44, T41, and T41A. Their desired prey got away and we watched them sail out to find another catch.

2008-10-15T08:41:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 14th

Today was another amazing fall whale sighting. We had a sunny morning as we happen to drive straight out to the humpbacks. Wasting no time, we arrived with two peculiar individuals deep feeding and lacking their fluke raises. However, they were brilliant to watch as always. We soon were encouraged to find the orca's. As we scoped out west, we had a pod to our right and soon one to our left. We found ourselves amongst the party of five transients, the T2's. This group of mothers and calves lowly rolled alongside us. The young ones were porpoising and doing cartwheels for a very good watch.

This afternoon we ventured down south to two transient orca pods traveling and socializing together. The mammal eater's, T20's, of mother and son were tail slapping and spy hopping amongst the group of females, T2's, we had visited this morning. They were barely moving, zigzagging and showing themselves off in the afternoon sun. Heading towards Victoria after a cruise through the pinniped query around Race Rocks, we thought we would try to find some humpback whales. Even though there was no sightings yet in the afternoon, it only took a few minutes looking and we were with the two whales we had our morning coffee with. It has been a week full of marine biodiversity that does not disappoint!

2008-10-15T08:40:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 13th

A Thanksgiving Treat!

This afternoon we were out to what seemed to be a quiet Strait. But it definitely became alive when we encountered a 'superpod' of resident killer whales. We were lucky enough the rain subsided and then to be completely surrounded by these salmon-loving orca's. We had a large group simultaneously surfacing with the large male residents Faith (L-57) and Ruffles (J-1). They displayed playful, feeding, and resting behaviors; this is the incredible thing about viewing these animals surviving in their natural habitat.

2008-10-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some great photos taken on October 10th - thank you Alma!

2008-10-13T13:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 12

Today we went out for a trip to remember. We were lucky to have lots of sun on the flat sea heading just south of Victoria. It was not long before Captain Brad spotted Orcas straight ahead. Fortunate enough, he spotted Humpback blows not too distant in the other direction. We drove out to meet the Orcas first. A group of five transients, all female and calves. As we arrived, they displayed repeated tail lobbing and very playful behavior. Unusual for these 'discrete' predators, along with socializing, they were also vocalizing. We had repeated surprise breaches very close; had we been closer, we would have been soaked. Soon we had another full group of mother and calve transients meeting this group. After the visual greeting, we decided those Humpback whale must not be too far away. We met up with three giants moving extremely slowly with beautiful tail slaps and graceful dives. An amazing October day.

2008-10-13T13:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 11th

Both the weather and the whales were absolutely magnificent today on this fine October Saturday. With flat calm seas, the Orca Spirit ventured out into Juan de Fuca Strait in search of orcas, humpbacks and other marine mammals. It did not take long for Captain Brad to spot a group of three humpback whales east of Race Rocks. It would turn out to be just an amazing experience as both passengers and crew were in awe of these amazing cetaceans. Naturalist Corey, captain Brad and our group of intrepid guests were thrilled by some fantastic behaviour from the three humpback whales including pectoral fin slaps, fluking and even a few very rare humpback spyhops! While watching the three humpback whales, we spotted a fourth humpback whale a short distance away. We left the the whales to travel to Race Rocks where we watched the antics of several Steller and California sea lions. As we were leaving Race Rocks, we encountered a Steller sea lion consuming a large salmon! It was a great tour, which exemplified why October whale watching is my favourite time of the year.

The afternoon trip would prove to be equally spectacular. We started our tour by visiting the group of three humpback whales that had so enthralled us this morning. Once again, the whales did not disappoint. The huge whales thrilled us with some amazing passes as the three humpback whales continued to swim and dive in unison. It would prove to be one of the most memorable humpback experiences of my four year naturalist career as the whales surprised us after surfacing from a deep dive and showed up right off our stern. One could not ask for a better pass! We continued our journey, once again showing our guests the majestic Race Rocks in all its pinniped splendor. On the way back we stopped in Pedder Bay where a group of transient orcas were foraging! We watched at least five transient orcas foraging, including a young calf. With sea lions, harbour seals, humpback whales, killer whales and an abundance of other marine wildlife, October whale watching continues to be superb.

2008-10-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 6th

October Humpbacks!

We had a gorgeous fall morning with no rain and not much wind. Traveling only a few miles out of the harbour, we spotted one Humpback whale in the distance and soon were right alongside three other Humpbacks. They repeatedly surprised us as they surfaced at our Stern, then tail fluked on a deep dive, then again a big blow at our Port, then a deep dive and again at our bow. Once there were three and then there were four! As the group tagged on another member the whale performed a cartwheel and some raised pectoral fins. Only a short distance away we saw the sea creatures in close detail and got a really good listen as they made elephant-trunk-like blow noises with their 20 foot high exhalations. As we ventured on to Race Rocks, we approached and had hundreds of gulls flying over our heads, and to soon realize a bald eagle had taken over the fishing rock. We also had sea lions splashing and 'porpoising' around playfully, stopping and staring back as we stared at them.

2008-10-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 4th

This morning, the Orca Spirit, Captain Brad, naturalist Corey (me) and our intrepid group of passengers headed south into Juan De Fuca Strait in search of whales and other wildlife. For me, nothing beats late summer/early autumn whale watching and this trip was just another example of why. Shortly after leaving the harbour, we spotted two humpback whales. These leviathons of the deep amazed us with some spectacular behaviour, and gave us some awesome views of their tail flukes. The markings on the tail flukes of humpback whales are unique to each individual whale and we can use them to monitor which whales are returning to the area each year.

While watching the whales, our Captain kept his eye out for orcas. Looking through his binoculars, while we were watching the humpbacks, Brad managed to spot a distant dorsal fin. We left the humpbacks to investigate and soon found ourselves surrounded by orcas! Were these residents or transients? These are the questions we also ask when we arrive on scene. It was only a short time into our encounter that a surprise surfacing from a large male left us no doubt as to their identity. Mega (L41) surfaced next to us! It was the L12's, a group of resident orcas from L-pod. We watched these animals move east, than do an about face and travel west. It was near the end of the trip, that we had absolutely one of those awe-inspiring moments. As we were watching the orcas, the humpback whales were only a short distance away. One of them began slapping its huge tail flukes. The humpback whales travelled towards us and at one point, we observed the large pectoral fins of a humpback whale and the spectacular dorsal fin of a large male killer whale. We were enjoying the company of the two most amazing cetaceans at the same time! What a spectacular trip. It was an excellent way to end a wonderful trip!

2008-10-02T09:10:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 1st

This morning we were one of the first boats out on the water. And it was beautiful on the water; quiet, calm, and sunny. We went north to the San Juan Islands, to find Resident Orcas breaching as we approached the scene. We initially had two calves playfully splashing around our boat, followed by a surrounding of Orcas darting for salmon. We watched and listened as they busily chatted away on the hydrophone with high pitch squeaks and whistles. And if that was not to amaze, only a mile or two off, splashes from a humpback whales breaching! We could see their enormous blows from far and soon we were with a mother and her calf. The crew was shocked as it is not very often we see these whales in the Haro Strait. Leaving the scene, we got a big wave from their enormous pectoral fin.

2008-10-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 30th

This afternoon we went southwest of Victoria's Harbour. Watching the shoreline closely for the mammal-eating orcas, we had an adult bald eagle soar low, right over our boat. We were then observing the 40 to 50 turkey vultures flying over the cliff bank, to look down at a dozen harbour seals hauled out on the rock. Approaching Secretary Point we met our destination of transient killer whales. The pod traveling right on the shoreline in search of a good seal lunch. We had a close, long watch as they slowly snuck around the banks.

Monday, September 29th

Sunday, September 28th

2008-09-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 27th

2008-09-26T11:03:00.000-07:00

Message from passengers - and a fantastic photo of Ruffles!

Hi! Tim asked us to e-mail pictures in if we had good ones, and here is the one we have of Ruffles. My husband, Matt Kimel, took it.
Thanks for the great adventure!!
Kind Regards,
Angie Kimel

2008-09-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

A personal message from Tim:

Well folks, this blog is in fact the last blog I will be writing for the 2008 season, as I am off to travel and then return to my homeland in November. I want to thank you all for reading my blogs this season, and hope you have enjoyed reading them. I wanted to try to give my experience out there on the water from this Aussie naturalist’s point of view, and what a great experience I have had. With that being said, thanks very much to Orca Spirit for taking me on this year. I love being a naturalist, I love driving the zodiacs, and of course, being a self confessed whale nerd, I love the whales and other marine mammals of this beautiful part of the world! I might be back next season, so until then, (in my best Australian accent) “Ave a good one and I’ll catch ya later”

2008-09-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 24th

The Residents return!

Captain Rick and I (Biologist Tim) headed out this morning, with new trainee naturalist Norel, to again flat calm waters south of Victoria. Although it was raining lightly upon us it was still great spotting conditions, so if something was out there we were determined to find it. We headed south-east out of the harbour into the Strait of Juan De Fuca, always searching for the hint of a fin, splash, anything. Clouds were low and the fog was setting in, but we remained positive and kept on the lookout. Then, just as we were stopped a couple of miles south of Race Rocks to do a scan, we saw a black dorsal fin, and another, and another, and another! I looked around and saw fins way south as far as I could see. I grabbed my binoculars to get a better look at the fins and saddle patch, and yep, sure enough, it was the residents (fish-eating orcas) that had returned after being away for 4 days! Woohoo! We had found the residents and because we were the only 9am boat we got to watch these animals all to our self, their black dorsal fins and blows appearing all around us. There really is something special about just floating on the water and seeing dorsal fins pop up as far as the eye can see. I was able to identify members of J-pod and some of L-pod, so I knew we had at least 25 whales in the area. Spectacular! I then noticed a big black dorsal fin that cannot be mistaken, J1 (aka Ruffles) headed our way. This 57 year old male surfaced near the Pacific Explorer and passengers got a fantastic look at this iconic male with that unmistakable dorsal fin. We then left the residents that continued to head east towards the San Juans, and went and checked out Race Rocks. I just love coming to Race to witness the pinniped fiesta that is happening there this time of year. So many pinnipeds in one area, it’s just awesome. Passengers loved it as well, and again we had another very successful trip. I love being the first on scene with the whales, as there is a certain element of tranquillity I feel when this happens. I may be getting a bit deep here, but still, it certainly is special.

The Orca Spirit headed out this afternoon with Captain Rick and naturalists Aussie Tim, Kitimat Cheri, and trainee Norel to the west side of San Juan Island where J-pod was now moving northward. As we arrived on scene the heavens decided to open up and pour down on us, but thankfully it was short lived and the sun came out as we watched members of our most resident pod head northwards and forage up the Haro Strait. We dropped the hydrophone down and were able to pick up some amazing calls, clicks and even some sounds that baffle the human ear. Just awesome! We then headed north of the group and positioned and switched off to watch these amazing cetaceans go by. We seriously must have a J1 attractant at Orca Spirit because again Ruffles seemed to find us. As passengers and naturalists were on a high it was time to slowly make our way towards Victoria, and as we were exiting the scene we came across the very young calf J42 (16 months old) and her mother J16 (aka Slick). Wow! We’d just seen the biggest member in J-pod and then we got to see the smallest and youngest. Incredible! As we made the trip back to Victoria passengers reflected on what they’d just seen, we talked all things orca and as they left the dock I noticed many many grins from ear to ear. What can I say, another spectacular tour!

2008-09-26T09:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 23rd

Expect the unexpected…

The Orca Spirit headed out this morning on the search for cetaceans, and luck was upon us. After heading out to the again calm waters south of Victoria, we had gotten a report that one of the vessels had picked up some transient orcas just south of Beecher Bay. Arriving on scene we ID’d them as the T46’s, a group of four orcas including a brand new calf that is less than 6 months old and we know this because its white patches are still orange! These animals were going on really deep dives (4-7 minutes) and surfacing in different directions (typical transient behaviour they say) so we decided to go and check out some Pacific White-Sided Dolphins (aka “Lags” around here due to their Genus Lagenorhynchus). Now folks it is extremely extremely rare to be able to see Lags in these waters as they are typically found further north up the island, but today was passengers lucky day as they got to witness two Lags swimming side-by-side at extremely high speeds, jumping and leaping in the wake and beside the Orca Spirit. It was just incredible! Now there are whale watchers that I’ve spoken to that have been working here for more than 4 years and never seen Pacific White-Sided Dolphins, so passengers today were unbelievably lucky to be able to witness, these fast-swimming, agile, acrobatic delphinids leaping out of the water right next to our boat. I was seriously jumping around like a little kid at Xmas! Absolutely amazing to witness this! Then just when I thought the trip couldn’t get any better, we look up and literally less than 200m away we saw a huge male orca surface! Then a female right next to him! It was T20 and T21! It was as if they came out of nowhere! Passengers got a phenomenal look at this big male mammal-eating orca as he surfaced again from his deep dive. Wow! It seemed as though the Lags high-tailed it out of the area, which is not surprising as they are a menu item for some of these mammal-eating orcas. We were in Race Passage as we witnessed all this delphinids action and as T20 and T21 made their way towards Race Rocks we saw an abundance of Turkey Vultures hovering around Bentick Island. There were easily 30 of these condors hovering over the island. It was another incredible trip with Orca Spirit. This was my second time seeing Lags. The first time was back in April so I was truly lucky (as were passengers!) to be able to see these majestic white-sided creatures again. And of course seeing orca is always spectacular!

The afternoon trip headed out to unbelievably flat calm seas where we again came across the iconic male T20 and his believed to be mother T21. The sun was out, the water was flat calm, and with the tall peaks and snow caps of the Olympic Peninsula as a backdrop, passengers really couldn’t have asked for better conditions taking photos. As these top predators in the ocean surfaced in the Strait of Juan De Fuca, water broke over their rostrum, the sun reflected off their jet black dorsal fins, and sprays of water shot into the air and faded away into mist, and the sound of their blow echoed for all to hear... just amazing. We then headed across to Race Rocks and upon arriving we had got a report that there was in fact another male orca in Race Rocks. I had never seen an orca within Race Rocks before, and when this happens boats aren’t allowed in as it is a Marine Ecological Reserve. It was very interesting to watch an abundance of Stellar Sea Lions swim around in the waters, not seeming to be too bothered by the presence of their predator. Still, a lone orca is going to have a very difficult time taking down a Stellar on its own. The orca swam through the kelp, draping it over its 6ft tall dorsal fin, and then eventually continued on east towards the San Juan Islands. We then went through Race Rocks and as we watched the Stellar sea lions hauled out and socialising on the rocks I counted at least 60 of them, all together, being very vocal (and a tad on the nose!). I seriously cannot believe the diversity and abundance within this area.
Within one single area you have orca, 4 species of pinniped (Stellar and California sea lions, harbour seals and an Elephant Seal), harbour porpoises foraging just south of the Rocks, and then an abundance of marine birds (at least 5 species). Literally where else in the world can you travel half an hour from the capital of a province and see soo much diversity in a single area?
There aren’t too many places I can tell you that!

Another great day on the water. I seriously cannot get over how much you can see in one trip. It truly is breathtaking folks. Check out some pics below of T20, and the numerous turkey vultures hovering above Bentick Island, the abundance of Stellar sea lions on Race Rocks and a nice landscape shot of Race Rocks with the Olympic Peninsula.