Sunday, July 6th

This morning, we were headed out into the Strait of Juan De Fuca when we received word that a pod of orcas had been spotted off Lime Kiln State Park on San Juan Island earlier in the morning. The Orca Spirit headed east in search of the southern resident orcas and after a long search, they were found by Captain John aboard our zodiac vessel the Aquatic Dancer. We encountered the orcas offshore of False Bay and travelled with a small group of orcas as they made there towards San Juan Island. On this excellent trip, we were fortunate to see the whales porpoising, but the highlight for our guests and crew were 3 spectacular breaches!

In the afternoon trip, we headed offshore of San Juan Island and travelled with a group of orcas as they made there way slowly towards Hein Bank. This is my fourth season in the whale watching industry and I continue to be astounded by these majestic animals. We saw percussive behaviour (tail slapping), which is often used by whales to communicate, in addition to their discrete calls. High-speed porpoising was also observed. I just love this behaviour, as it is a true demonstration of the power and speed of a killer whale (which may reach speeds of 30 miles per hour). With sunny skies, it was another fantastic day for the passengers and crew of the Orca Spirit.