August 17, 2006

This morning found us heading west in search of orcas. After stopping at Race Rocks to watch the seals and sea lions, we stopped in Whirl Bay to see the bald eagle nests. We were thrilled to see a large bald eagle perched on Church Rock. After we received news of transient orcas south of Otter Point, we headed west to find the T10's, a mother and her two offspring, traveling west. Viewing these magnificent predators was a fantastic end to a wonderful morning.

With the transient orcas out of range, we headed to Freshwater Bay to visit with what was most likely the same gray whale we saw yesterday. We had an absolutely spectacular pass with this magnificent animal, as we watched intently as the whale swam through a massive forest of bull kelp east towards Port Angeles. On the return to Victoria we stopped at Race Rocks to visit our pinniped friends.

At the start of our evening trip, we received news of another group of transients near Davidson Rock on the south end of Lopez Island. The unidentified group of 4 transient killer whales was an exhilarating sight when we met up with them a few miles south of Iceberg Point. We watched as the four whales surfaced and dove almost in unison, and waited in nervous anticipation as a Harbour seal surfaced a few hundred meters in front of the whales. Fortunately for the seal, the orcas did not appear to be hungry and the seal most likely lived to see another day. The sighting of a large bull killer whale and his three compatriots with the always spectacular Mount Baker in the background was a fantastic way to end another great summer day aboard the Orca Spirit.