July 30, 2006

Reports of inbound orcas had the Orca Spirit vessels heading west to Becher Bay this morning to find a large group of L-Pod whales foraging. It was a great morning, as our passengers had an intimate visit with an unidentified mother and calf, and several large males. To conclude the spectacular morning we traveled to the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve where we saw two incredibly large Stellar sea lions relaxing on the northern rocks and many Harbour seals hauled out on the rocky islets.

The afternoon trip found us at Pile Point visiting the J's and K's. The whales were spread out and traveling north up the west coast of San Juan Island, foraging on their way. It was a splendid afternoon spent in the company of a large number of vocal and active orcas. On the way home, we stopped off at Chatham Island to view the many Harbour seals that were hauled out on the rocks.

For the evening trip, we traveled north of Kellet Bluff where we met up with an active and incredibly vocal group of J's and some K's. Our passengers were treated to a spectacular display of killer whale behaviour that included breaches, spyhops, cart wheeling, pec slapping and tail slapping. We had an amazing visit with Mike (J26) and another awe-inspiring breach from one of our favourite whales Cappucino (K21).