Sunday, September 30th
This morning, we headed into the waters of Juan De Fuca Strait in search of orcas and other cetaceans. We were in for a fun ride today as an early fall storm last night made the waters this morning like riding a roller coaster, which added to the adventure! Our journey this morning took us south and west of Race Rocks. After a tour of Beecher Bay, a favourite transient orca hunting ground, we spent time with a humpback whale just west of Race Rocks. We had some great views of this magnificent mammal, and we were thrilled when it showed us its massive tail flukes. After leaving the whale, we stopped at Race Rocks to view the northern (or Steller) sea lions. It was a wonderful trip and a true west coast experience.
On our afternoon trip, we travelled to the Olympic Peninsula coast near Freshwater Bay where we encountered another humpback whale. The whale was behaviing somewhat erratically, but we had a lovely encounter nonetheless. We observed it fluking, and in the calm waters we could even see it blowing bubbles below the surface, allowing us to follow its progress before it surfaced. We left the humpback whale to travel back across the Strait towards Race Rocks when we received word that a group of orcas had been located. We were thrilled when we arrived on scene to find a large group of about 7 mammal-eating killer whales including a large male orca named T102. It was a great way to end another fine weekend of whale watching.
