Wednesday, May 16th

On our morning tour we ventured east through a choppy Strait of Jan De Fuca and then into the Haro Strait. As we came to the west shore of San Juan Island we were greeted by calmer waters and one of our resident pods, J-Pod.
As we arrived it was evident that the 25 members of J-pod were spread out over several kilometers foraging. The Orcas come to this area in the summer months to feed on the salmon, as they are running north to the Fraser River to spawn.
Slick (J16), her eldest son Mike (J26) and her new, 2 week old, calf (J42, female) were leading the way, closely followed by Ruffles (J1) and Granny (J2). We were all pleased to get a wonderful view of the whales in their natural habitat.
As we were getting ready to head back towards Victoria, we enjoyed several breeches, tail lobbing and even a spyhop. After a great viewing and then seeing rhinocerous auklets, pigeon guillemots, a Bald eagle and Harbour seals, it was hard to believe it was only a 3 hour tour!