Saturday, April 26

Well what a fantastic morning to be out on the water this bright sunny Saturday. Conditions were great, with bright blue skies and flat calm waters. The 'Orca Spirit' went out with Captain John at the helm, marine naturalist Tim, and a bunch of eager passengers enjoying this Victorian Spring sunshine. We headed south out of the Harbor to the Strait of Juan De Fuca and looped around to Race Rocks where there was an abundance of Harbor Seals hauled out on the southern rocks. On the middle rock we observed around 20 Stellar Sea Lions that were quite active, and in amongst them was some very noisy Californian Sea Lions, barking to let us know they're not the only eared seal on the rock. A rare and exciting sight was in fact half a dozen juvenile Elephant Seals that were hauled out on the top rock, but instead of seeing them laying there lounging around, they actually had their heads held high showing off their proboscis and were giving each other a few snarls and nips on the neck. 'Twas certainly a pinniped infested haul-out!

After Race we proceeded to head further west along the spectacular coastline and were able to observe Bald Eagles in flight and perched on a rock, and we were lucky enough to see a raccoon on the rocks. Passengers certainly didn't expect to see land mammals on a marine wildlife tour! All in all though a great trip on this sunny spring Saturday morning.

After our fantastic morning wildlife tour, we received word that a large group of transient orcas had been located moving southbound in Haro Strait. Heading east, we travelled to Zero Rock, a harbour seal haulout and known transient hunting locale. We arrived on scene to find a group of whales that included Pender (T14), probably the most well known transient on the coast of BC. Fortunately (for the harbour seals anyways), the orcas did not appear to be hungry and were content to swim slowly southbound.

We travelled with the whales for almost an hour travelling slowly south with them and we were treated to some excellent passes. Besides Pender, we saw members of the T36 and T49 group, including at least one young calf, about eight orcas total. It was a sight to behold as these whales travelled in a resting formation. As an additional stop on the tour, we travelled to Chatham Island, where we viewed many harbour seals hauled out on the low tide. It was a great way to conclude the trip as our guests were able to see the majestic transient orcas and their favourite prey. After a nice cruise by Trial Island and a majestic bald eagle sighting we headed back to the harbour. It was another great day on the Orca Spirit.