August 30, 2006

This morning we headed west on the search for transient orcas. To our surprise and delight we found four transients south of Beachy Head. After spending some time with the whales, watching them forage for marina mammals feasting on large bait balls, we headed for historic Race Rocks. This time of year the ‘Rocks’ are covered with noisy, fragrant seals and sea lions.

For our afternoon tours we returned west to watch the transients. We got some fantastic looks at their large dorsal fins.

For the evening tours we went in search for an elusive Humpback whale previously sighted west of Race Rocks. After passing by Race Rocks to take a look at the sea lions battling for the prime haul out sites, we headed to Whirl Bay to see a Bald Eagle’s nest. While spotting for the eagles, a family of Black-tailed Deer were seen on the bluff below the nest. The tours concluded with a beautiful sunset as we made our way back to the harbour.

August 29, 2006

This morning we went on a whale search out towards Race Rocks. We were very successful and found a group of transient orcas at Beacher Bay, including a very large male named T63. He is a distinctive whale with a large notch out of the top, rear of his dorsal fin. It was very exciting to see him since he came to visit all the way from Alaska! He was accompanied by about 5 other whales and we had an excellent show!

This afternoon was an adventure! The naturalist and the teenagers on board had a great time on the top deck ducking the splashes from the waves. We saw the same whales as this morning (T63 and about 5 others) just south of Race Rocks! They were swimming and diving in many different directions; indicative of hunting! We did not see them make a kill above the water, but were quite sure that it happened below the surface. Afterward we went over to race rocks (still having fun in the waves) to visit the seals and sea lions.

August 28, 2006

It was another great day for whale watching as we headed east towards Salmon Bank in search of the L12's. We arrived on scene to find the whales resting and moving slowly towards Eagle Point. It was truly an inspiring sight to see as the large group of approximately 9 whales surfaced and dove almost in unison in the calm seas. After our time with the whales, we completed our journey with a trip through the Chain Islets to view the Harbour seals and sea birds.

This afternoon, we arrived off of Eagle Point to find the L12's foraging and socializing. We saw a tremendous cartwheel almost immediately upon arrival, and were treated to a very intimate pass from Mega (L41). The periods of intense foraging were interrupted by some excellent breaching and percussive behaviour (tail slaps and pectoral slapping). What a spectacular experience!

The evening we traveled to the waters north of Lime Kiln Lighthouse where we met up with members of K and L-Pod foraging as they made their way south along the coast of San Juan Island. There appeared to be whales every where this evening and we were treated to some fantastic passes by several whales. The whales were really vocal tonight, with lots of echolocation and some amazing cries and whistles that were heard through our hydrophone. We were treated to some amazing breaches, and were also treated to a visit from a very small calf (most likely the new K-Pod baby) and its mother. It was yet another great evening trip for passengers aboard our Orca Spirit tours!

Here is a note and some photos from our passengers.
(It is never too late to send us a message and some photos – we love to see them!)

Hello All,

Here some pictures from our vacation on Victoria 4th (morning trip zodiac 9.00 am) and 5th (afternoon trip orca spirit) of July 2005. Sorry that it is one year later, but better late then never, so we think. Hopefully you have something of our pictures, and you can put them on your site. We had a great time, maybe we see you about a several years again.

Bye, Bye

Mrs M. Tijink and Mr A. de Jong from The Netherlands.

August 27, 2006

This morning, we did not have to head far as our spotter Brenden found whales off the Victoria waterfront! We arrived on scene to find a resting group of J and K-Pod whales making their way slowly towards Haro Strait. We were thrilled to see the newest addition to our southern resident community, K41, in the group. After visiting with the J's and K's, we traveled rest to find another large group of L-Pod whales also in a resting state. Another highlight of the morning was a trip to Race Rocks to view the California and Stellar sea lions. What a spectacular morning!

In the afternoon, we traveled to Haro Strait where we again met up with L-Pod, who were still in a resting state. We got some excellent views of Faith (L57) and many of our L-Pod favourites than continued traveling east to meet up the J's and K's. After an intimate visit with Ruffles (J1) and a few other J-pod whales, we traveled to Eagle Point, where we watched some whales foraging actively off. It was an amazing afternoon spent with all 3 pods, concluded with a spectacular visit through the Chain Islets.

August 26, 2006

This afternoon we spent time with members of J-Pod! We had an intimate encounter with one of the females from the pod, who turned around to come and check us out - who's watching who? We were also able to see one of our favourites, J1 (Ruffles) who was foraging in an area close to our boat. It was a wonderful, flat calm afternoon and we were able to see many other animals in the ocean, including Lions Mane Jellyfish. Also, to top off our afternoon we came across a small seal pup lounging on a floating log out in the middle of Juan de Fuca strait. Very cute and sat still for some very nice photo shots for our guests!

We had a beautiful evening on the 5PM Orca Spirit trip. The weather was very nice and we had a little bit of chop for the trip home, just enough to have fun in the bumps! We spent our time with members of K and L-Pod and many times during the trip we were surrounded by whales. The acoustics were awesome; sound was traveling far and we could hear the blows from great distances. We also had many opportunities to put the hydrophones down and listen to the whale chatter below the surface. There were many clicks, squeals, and whistles.

A note and some GREAT photos from a passenger:

Hello,

My family and I had a great time on a zodiac tour on August 23rd. Thank you! I have attached a few photos from the 1:00pm tour,

Thanks again,
Kirsten Brown

August 25, 2006

As the fog lifted we began our tour by heading to the west side of San Juan Island. While we approached, we received word from the Spotting Network that the whales had traveled offshore. When continued on to Salmon Bank and immediately enjoyed a beautiful look at Skana (L79)! We carried out the rest of the tour while a subgroup of L-Pod, the L12’s, searched the water for salmon.

Our afternoon tours led us to Eagle Point on the west side of San Juan Island. We enjoyed another great viewing of the feeding L12s’. On this tour we were able to positively identify males Skana (L79) and Mega (L41) as well as female Spirit (L22). On our return home we stopped by Discovery Island where we watched a large group of Harbour seals getting in and out of the water. Our last stop was at the Chain Islands to identify sea birds.

This evening proved to be another beautiful tour. We headed east again, this time past San Juan Island to Iceberg Point on Lopez Island. The L12’s had finished feeding and began their peaceful resting state. We enjoyed watching the whales rise to the water’s surface – a spectacular end to another great day on the water!

August 24, 2006

Here are the staff favourites from the 5pm tour – it was absolutely AMAZING! The whales were very social and we got to witness some mating behaviour.