Friday, August 31

It was a grey morning as we headed out of the harbour but the group of eager whale watchers aboard were in high spirits. As yet, there had been no reports of any whales in the area so we headed south-west. After 30 minutes, the boat slowed down as Brad had spotted a group of three Transient orcas. Brad soon identified them as the T10 group, which includes an adult male, a female and another individual which could be either another female or a juvenile male (it's difficult to tell them apart until the males reach their early teens). The group were heading for Race Rocks and the possibility of some breakfast as this is where many harbour seals, California and Steller sea lions hangout. We watched from a distance as they entered Race Rocks but with mixed emotions from everyone on board there was no sign of a kill. After the group had cleared the islands we went in for a closer look at the animals the transients call breakfast. We then caught up with the group again, who had moved closer to the shoreline and were heading in westerly direction.

In the afternoon, we again headed west as the news was that the T10 group of transient orcas we had discovered on the morning trip, were still in the area. On our way, we stopped off at Race Rocks to view the Harbour Seals and California and Steller Sea Lions. We soon caught up with the Transient Orcas to the great excitement of everyone on board. The group were feeding near to the coastline. After a while, we then received a call that there was another group of transient orcas not far away to the west. In 10 minutes we were watching more Transient Orcas, this time with approx 6 individuals in the group. As with the last group they also appeared to be feeding as there was a lot of splashing and tail lobbing. We were also provided with the opposite of a spyhop and can only be described as a whale headstand as one individual held their tail straight up and out of the water. They continued to play around in the bull kelp and as they passed closer to the boat we noticed a small calf travelling with the group. We then travelled south as there were reports of two humpbacks in the area. Soon we were watching two humpbacks swimming around the boat. We were soon rewarded with the sight of their 18 foot tail flukes as the whales went down for a deep dive. We returned to harbour as the sun started to break through the clouds. A great end to an excellent trip.