Wednesday, October 3rd

As we headed South from Victoria we began to search for humpbacks in the Juan de Fuca Strait. We then turned towards the West and travelled past Race rocks towards Sooke. We made a couple of stops on the way, even to check a log that looked remarkably like a small Orca!! We turned back towards the shoreline and saw 2 bald Eagles sitting on some rocks. We then stopped off at Race rocks to see the harbour seals, Stellar and Californian sea lions, before doing one last tour of the Strait towards the end of the trip.

Within 6 miles of Victoria we encountered a couple of humpbacks surfacing together and then going on their deeper dives, throwing their flukes up one after the other. One of the whales surprised us after its longer dive by surfacing right behind the boat, close enough to see the all the bumps on the front of its head, and the 2 nostrils of the blow hole. We then travelled closer in to shore where we found the bald eagle we had spotted in the morning, and then travelled out into the strait, where we were joined by Dall's Porpoise playing in the turbulent water caused by the boat. After this we headed to Race Rocks, there were a lot less sea lions hauled out on the rocks than the morning trip, but it was still a nice end to the day.