Monday, August 25th

On our morning tour, we headed out into Juan De Fuca Strait in search of orcas and other marine life. Our wide search took us well southeast as we combed the waters looking for whales. Continuing our search, we made our way to Race Rocks, where we watched the antics of both California and Steller sea lions. It is always enjoyable this time of year with the sea lions returning to the area in abundance. Unfortunately, we were not able to see any whales this afternoon, but it was a beautiful trip nonetheless.

On our afternoon trip, we had some more positive news as a large group of transient orcas had been located in Juan De Fuca Strait. They had made their way west during the morning and we found them a few miles west of Race Rocks. We spent time with two groups of transients, approximately 9 animals in all, with reports of a second group further south. This is particularly unusual for transient orcas as they are usually found in groups of about 3 to 5 whales. For most of the tour, we were travelling with the T100's, including the large male T102. We saw evidence of a kill, with a quick lunge from a female and then some circling and most likely feeding dives. As the whales continued their way west, we decided to leave temporarily and travelled to Race Rocks to view the aforementioned amazing marine life. Returning towards Victoria, we concluded our tour with one last quick visit with the transients. This time, we were able to get some really great looks at Pender, T14, who was travelling with an unidentified female. It was great to see this usually lone orca, enjoying some company. We also had a very young harbour seal pop up near our boat, no doubt looking for a place to hide from his nearby predators. Fortunately, for the seal, the whales either did not notice him or were full and continued on their way. It was another great trip!