Sunday, June 1st

The Orca Spirit and passengers, Captain Brad, marine naturalists Tim and newcomer to the OS team Sean, headed out to some bumpy waters of the Salish Sea on the morning of this first day in June. We had not got any reports of J-pod’s whereabouts so decided to head east across to San Juan Island and scan the coastline. Upon arrival to the west side, we scanned, but no luck, so Captain Brad decided to head further south. As we cruised south, constantly scanning the horizon, we had got a report that J’s were in Rosario Strait, southbound, but where exactly we did not know, so decided to chance it and try to get there to show passengers the majestic Orcinus orca. We got to the south end of Lopez Island and headed north into Rosario, still with no contact, and time was running out. Where are you J-pod?! Just when we thought we might not see them… off in the distance we saw a black fin. We had contact! Woohoo! The first individuals that passed us by were the sprouter male J30 (aka Riptide, 13 years) and younger sister J37 (aka Hy’Shqa, 7 years). Although J30 is only 13 years of age, his dorsal fin certainly is developing, and this can be noticed by the way it sways every time he goes to the surface. That cartilage has not fully matured yet, and won’t fully harden until he is around 20 years old. We witnessed a couple of tail slaps and watched another 8-12 individuals pass by, with passengers thoroughly delighted to be able to catch a glimpse of these animals. We witnessed a breach off in the distance, another pass-by by a mother and calf and then unfortunately it was time to make the long journey back to Vic. ‘Twas a bit of a bumpy ride home, with a few passengers braving the top deck and spray, while others sat inside watching a fascinating documentary on whales. Although a little bit late to the dock, we had a bunch of extremely content passengers that will certainly remember the first day of summer for 2008.