Saturday, June 6th

This morning aboard the Orca Spirit we headed to Haro Strait in search of orcas, porpoise and other wildlife. On this amazing adventure, we arrived on scene near Kellet Bluff. Before we even saw the orca, we noticed a positive sign as we noticed Tucker, a scat detection dog aboard the research vessel Moja. This dog is specially trained to sniff out orca feces. Although not overly glamorous, scat can be of tremendous value to researchers and can provide all sorts of valuable information. Anyways, the sight of Tucker was good news and sure enough we saw a our first dorsal fin shortly thereafter. Today was an unusual day in that two K-pod whales (K20) and her calf K38 were the only two orcas spotted. This is rare to say the least. However, the sight of these two magnificent orcas was truly magnificent. We travelled with these two whales as they slowly made their way north, leaving them just west of Speiden Island. On the way back, we were able to do some harbour seal watching with a quick visit to Trial Island. It was a great trip to start another spectacular day on the Salish Sea.

Our afternoon trip could be considered an epic journey. Determined to see orcas, we travelled northeast of East Point on Saturna Island. There again, we found K20, or Spock as she is nicknamed, and her offspring Comet slowly making their way towards Vancouver in flat calm seas. Again, I cannot stress how rare it is to see two resident orcas travelling alone like this. Spock is an interesting whale, as she has a very large dorsal fin for a female. She fooled researchers and whale watchers alike for a long time, who thought she was a he until the birth of her calf Comet.

On our evening charter, we travelled to Hein Bank to look for minke whales. Highlights of this wonderful evening trip including a minke whale, several harbour porpoises, a harbour seal and a plethora of seabirds. Three gulls circled our boat at Hein Bank battling very intensely for a chunk of fish. We watched a "bait ball" near Beaumont Shoals, Here rhinoceros auklets and gulls were feeding on a school of baitfish that were being pushed to the surface by the auklets and then swallowed by the gulls. All in all, it was a fascinating experience.