October 10th - Afternoon Orca Spirit Tour

October 10, 2006

This morning we cruised out of the harbour to find not 2 but 5 Humpback whales! After spending some time watching a calf roll around and play with a few Stellar sea lions we headed east to see J-Pod. We found them fishing in their favorite spot along the San Juan Islands. It was a fantastic tour for all onboard.

For our afternoon tours we headed straight for San Juan Island. J-Pod was great, they decided they wanted to play and put on a nice show for us. Everyone onboard was shocked at the amount of spyhops (see photos above). Eventually we had to leave, but we had just enough time for a visit with the Humpbacks, and were lucky enough to see 6 traveling together. Does it get much better than this? I think not…

October 9, 2006

This morning’s trip was spent with a pair of humpback whales. This mother and calf duo has been visiting a few miles outside of the Victoria harbour for about a month now. After joining in the search pattern for porpoise and orcas, we drifted through Race Rocks to see the seals and sea lions. To finish the trip we were fortunate enough to spot a bald eagle sitting on top of a very tall tree. This was great for the onboard eagle enthusiast we had!

Photos from October 8th Tours

Hi,

I experienced the Zodiac whale watching tour at the beginning of September 2006 and was very fortunate to see many, many Orcas (Resident). I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the ride and also the excellent and knowledgeable people, who served as our Guides ( I'm sorry I forgot their names, but one of them was Chris, and there was a lady guide and one more gentleman driving the Zodiac, with a cap on). The 'bumps' were thrilling and the whales were beautiful. Wanted to share my favourite photograph from that day.
Keep up the good work!
Regards,
Pranati

October 4th Photos

October 4, 2006

Once again we headed out of the harbour into beautiful calm seas and clear blue skies above. As we set off west towards San Juan Islands we had a tip from our spotter that there was a whale in our vicinity. We stopped, got out our binoculars and soon spotted the whale. We then realized that this whale was neither a Minke nor Humpback but a Fin whale! Fin whales are rare to these waters and are the second largest whale in the world! What luck for our passengers! After getting a few good looks at the whale we continued on our way. We ventured over to the south end of San Juan Island scanning for whales, and then headed towards the Humpbacks that had just been reported. Seeing the Humpbacks was a great way to end the trip.

After a great morning the expectations for the afternoon were high. We headed out for the Humpbacks off the water front. Once we arrived there we realized there was not 1, 2, or 3 Humpbacks … but 4 within our view! A female and a calf that have been in this area for a while were resting, soon to wake up and display some amazing behavior. The calf became very playful and was rolling over showing us her underside as they passed by. We also traveled over to Race Rocks for a look at the sea lions and seals. Once again another amazing trip!

Have a look at the photos from today above.

October 2, 2006

This morning, we headed out into the Strait of Juan De Fuca in gorgeous sunny water and calm seas. We encountered a humpback whale just east of Race Rocks and watched as the massive animal as it swam gracefully. After viewing the humpback, we traveled west in search of more humpbacks and hopefully some orcas. Although we were shut out in the orca department this morning, it was still a spectacular day. We stopped in Whirl Bay as what appeared to be close to a hundred turkey vultures soared overhead, awaiting the perfect thermal to carry them across the strait. Another spectacular autumn visit to Race Rocks to view the sea lions made another great morning of whale watching complete.

Here are some great photos taken by Orca Spirit Biologist Corey

September 30, 2006

This morning our tours headed straight for San Juan Island following a report of transient Killer Whales. When we arrived, we found L-Pod, a family of resident Killer Whales fishing along the coast. We were lucky enough to be able to eavesdrop on them, listening to their vocals as they communicated with each other and their echolocation as they homed in on fish.

A future Marine Biologist joined us on this trip as a present for her 6^th Birthday! The whales had traveled North from their location in the morning. When we arrived on the scene we were delighted to find SUPERPOD! The afternoon was spent surrounded by Killer Whales fishing, breaching and vocalizing.

September 29, 2006

What a wonderfully fall afternoon trip we had today! We had beautiful sunshine as we headed out of the harbour towards Race Rocks. Just before we reached our destination we entered a thick fog bank that was moving in from the Juan de Fuca Strait (see photos below). The lighthouse at Race Rocks loomed through the fog while we visited the seals and sea lions. Next we went over to an area off of Trial Island where there were two humpback whales swimming around. Amazing! The smaller of the two humpbacks was splashing around, doing very large tail lobs and swimming upside down. It was the most interesting humpback behaviour that we have seen this season so far! After watching the whales for quite some time, we headed back into the sunshine toward the harbour with satisfied grins.

September 29th Photos