Friday, July 6

This morning, we headed to the waters off Andrew's Bay on San Juan Island. We encountered a group of resident whales from L-pod who were travelling and foraging for their favourite food - chinook salmon. With the hydrophone down, we heard the echolocation and calls of L-pod and had an excellent pass from a female orca, and were able to see a very cute young calf. We also spent some time with a young"sprouter" male. It was an enjoyable trip in the sunny skies.

By the afternoon, the three pods of southern residents had all made their way to San Juan Island. As often happens when they get together, the whales were in a boisterous and playful mood. The vocalizations were amazing, as we heard the whales communicating with their enchanting calls. We watched some foraging behaviour and heard lots of echolocation. However, the highlight of the trip was a spectacular pass from a large group of whales with an absolutely extraordinary breach by a young male! We saw several breaches this afternoon an amazing spyhop. On the return trip to Victoria, we took our passengers for a tour of the Chain Islets, where we saw many gulls harassing a mature bald eagle and quite a few harbour seals. At Great Chain Island, we watched another eagle perched on the cormorant colony and then fly away with something in its talons. What a fantastic tour!