In the Company of Orcas
July 24, 2010
This morning, we left on the Orca Spirit and headed for San Juan Island where we encountered members of L-pod foraging off the westside near Hannah Heights. It was a beautiful morning, with flat calm seas in the company of orcas. We had great viewing of several orcas, including L92 (Crewser), a 15-year old male. On the way back to Victoria, we stopped to view some harbour seals south of Chatham Island. We enjoyed the large group of harbour seals, which included some adorable young harbour seal pups. To conclude the eco-adventure, we spent some time with the resident gray whale!
On the afternoon trip, we headed to San Juan Island again, where we spent more time with orcas that were foraging now off the south end of the island and spread out over a few miles. It was a great trip, where guests were able to witness orcas doing what they do best - hunting salmon. Our orca experience was concluded by some fantastic vocalizations as we had a wonderful pass from a male and female. We headed back to the harbour after another wonderful adventure on the Salish Sea.
Our evening trip gave us another example of just how amazing orcas are. We spent some time watching whales foraging before they decided to enter play mode! We watched whales rolling at the surface, and our guests witnessed a remarkable breach! All of this thrilling whale action was made even more spectacular by the wonderful evening light of the setting sun with Mount Baker as a backdrop.
