Phenomenal Whale Watching!

July 18, 2010

Today's whale watching was absolutely phenomenal. When we left the orcas last evening, we were hoping they would still be around today, but the whale behaviours we witnessed today were truly beyond our wildest expectations. Our tour this morning took us to Turn Point, where we encountered members of J-pod and L-pod moving north. The spectacular display of breaches, spyhops, and cartwheels were equalled by the wonderful vocalizations we heard on the hydrophone. We left the orcas as they rounded Turn Point and headed east in Boundary Pass. What would this afternoon bring? Before we had to worry about that, we had a nice encounter with the gray whale near the Victoria Golf Club before we arrived back at the dock with both passengers and crew ecstatic about what we witnessed. Please enjoy the photos below!

We left the dock with great news! The whales that had been making their way towards the Fraser River had met up with Ruffles (J1), Granny (J2) and a few other whales that had been making their way towards San Juan Island via East Point. We were in for a truly stellar afternoon tour. By the time we reached the whales, they had made it all the way towards Kellet Bluff. Members of both J-pod and L-pod had been making their way south, but they were in a playful mood! We saw several spyhops, lots of breaches, and some incredible porpoising behaviour. Enjoy the photos attached as words cannot truly express how amazing it is to see the displays we saw today! Our afternoon tour was also fortunate to be able to conclude the whale watching with another visit with the gray whale that both crew and guests have been privileged to see over the last several weeks.