Sunday, April 26th

On Sunday, we again ventured out into Juan De Fuca Strait. Transient orca sightings have been fairly common this season and we headed out to see what today wiould bring. After visiting the harbour seals hauled out at the Chain Iselts, we found a large number of harbour porpoise southwest of Trial Island. We watched these timid cetaceans for quite awhile before we continued our journey. Eventually making our way to Beecher Bay and ultimately to Race Rocks. On this tour, Captain Brad and I counted at least 7 bald eagles, a record for both Brad and I! Race Rocks continues to be a hotbed for pinniped sightings as we saw Elephant seals, harbour seals and both Califiornia and Steller sea lions.

Our zodiac trip Sunday afternoon was able to witness transient orcas near Race Rocks. The exciting encounter ended with the group of 5 transient orcas dispatching a harbour porpoise.

Saturday, April 25^th

Before we even left the harbour this morning, we were treated to a great wildlife sighting. As I (naturalist Corey) was leading our guests to the Orca Spirit, we watched a river otter climb along the dock. These endearing mammals are frequently seen in the harbour. Once aboard our vessel, we travelled a familiar route in search of whales and other marine wildlife. Heading east out of the Victoria harbour, we travelled to the Chain Islets. Several harbour seals were hauled out, basking in the morning sun that was trying somewhat unsuccessfully to peak through the clouds. Through the binoculars, we spotted a brilliantly coloured male harlequin duck. On a wide arc southwest, we eventually made it to Beecher Bay and travelled east to Race Rocks. We stopped to admire a mature bald eagle and headed to the wonder that is Race Rocks. With sightings of Steller sea lions, elephant seals and harbour seals and a couple more bald eagles, it was another great early season wildlife tour.

Sunday, April 19th

It was another beautiful spring day as we headed out aboard the Orca Spirit this afternoon in search of marine wildlife. We travelled to the Chain Islets to start our trip to view the many harbour seals that use the many rocky islets as a haul out area to rest and warm up. Our tour took us south and west into Juan de Fuca Strait in search of orcas and other cetaceans. A few porpoise were spotted although these shy animals were being very elusive. We travelled into Beecher Bay, east of Sooke. Touring the rocky islets, we found a mature bald eagle and watched a California sea lion out foraging. The highlight of the tour was once again Race Rocks, where we saw several elephant seals and Steller sea lions. With sunny skies and calm seas, it doesn't get much better.

Saturday, April 18th

It was an amazingly calm afternoon as Captain Brad and naturalist Corey headed out on the Orca Spirit with an excited group of tourists on our first trip of the season. With a large number of transient orca sightings recently, we decided to head to some of heir usual hunting grounds to see what we could find. Our first stop was the Chain Islets where we stopped to view harbour seals hauled out on the low tide. After educating our guests about these wonderful little marine mammals, we travelled to Trial Island to view the lighthouse and also saw our first bald eagle of the trip. We then travelled on a south-western arc across the Victoria waterfront deep into Juan de Fuca Strait. Along the way we spotted several harbour porpoise, our smallest and most common cetacean. Eventually we made our way to Whirl Bay where we spotted another bald eagle and an old nest! Our final stop and the most exciting part of the trip for our guests was Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Here we saw four different species of marine mammals: both Steller and California sea lions, harbour seals and the absolutely massive elephant seal. Although we saw no orca this trip, it was a wonderful afternoon on the Salish Sea.

Here are some of my pictures from the whale watch on October 11, 2008. Please post on the blog to share with the rest of the group from that day.

Thanks!

Nathalie