J and L Pod Sightings

July 17, 2010

Our morning trip aboard the Orca Spirit was spent on the waters off San Juan Island. It was a lovely morning spent in the company of J-pod. We had a great viewing experience of Ruffles (J1) and Spieden (J8) as they made their way towards Henry Island. Next, we headed towards the Victoria Golf Club where we encountered a gray whale again! It was a wonderful way to start the day with viewings of two magnificent species of whales.

On the afternoon trip, we had received a report of whales incoming near Sooke. We arrived on scene near Otter Point and discovered whales scattered over a few miles in definite travel mode as they made their way towards Race Rocks. We were able to identify the whales as L-pod, a large group of 40+ whales! We had a great encounter with a number of whales and were fortunate to witness a fantastic breach near the end of the trip.

On the Saturday evening trip. both the Orca Spirit and Pacific Explorer headed over to San Juan Island. We had a magnificent trip that was spent with members of J-pod near False Bay. Guests aboard the Orca Spirit had a great encounter with Doublestuff (J34), a large teenage male that is really starting to sprout the huge dorsal fin. As we watched J-pod and listened to them over the hydrophone, we saw take an abrupt direction change and head offshore. They had undoubtedly heard L-pod! L-pod met up with J-pod and together they left our guests awestruck. One female did a truly astounding spyhop that I am sure our back deck guests will never forget! Several breaches, spyhops and other fantastic acrobatic displays were sight to behold. We were able to show our guests the gray whale on our return to Victoria.