Friday, July 27th

Today on our morning tours we made out way up to Turn Point where orcas were spotted. This area is on Stuart Island and the narrow passage where the Island is located separates Canada from the United States. We managed to see a number of whales spread out in all directions around the boat. It was believed that there were members from all three pods in the area. We did manage to see Ruffles (J1) on our trip back to Victoria.

In the afternoon we met up with orcas along San Juan Island. They appeared to be traveling as they moved at a constant speed heading south along San Juan.

For our evening tour we met up with a group of orcas at Hein Bank, a bit more offshore from San Juan. We had a great pass by Cappuccino and on our way back to Victoria we had one of the new calves and her mother swim by.

Thursday, July 26

All of our tours today were spent viewing our amazing population of Resident Orcas off the west side of San Juan Island, from Eagle Point up to Open Bay. Despite the rolling waves and occasional spray, all of our guests were still smiling as they got a chance to get to personally know the different members of J-Pod (25 whales in total). Ruffles (J1 – a 56 year old male), Mike and Blackberry (J26 and J27) and many others made sure that our guests had the experience of a lifetime viewing these beautiful and large dolphins (also part of the toothed whale family).

Throughout the day we saw feeding behaviour (they are feeding on the running salmon) but also got a few glimpses into their social and playful personalities as we saw a breeches, spyhops and many tail slaps.We also saw Harbour seals, Bald Eagles and many more sea birds when we stopped at the Chain Islands on our way back to Victoria’s Inner Harbour.