Tremendous Cetacean Experience
August 14, 2010
It was a tremendous cetacean experience, as this morning we encountered 3 species of whales on one trip! Our encounter began with a great encounter of a resting group of whales making their way slowly northward along the northwest coast of Vancouver Island. We travelled north with the orcas and enjoyed a brief encounter with a minke whale. Near the end of our viewing time with the orcas, guests were privileged to witness several breaches. It was another awesome trip, concluded by a fabulous encounter with a gray whale. Orcas, a minke and a gray whale - it was definitely a great start to the day.
Our afternoon encounter was a lovely experience spent in the company of the L12's, a subpod of our largest group of resident orcas. We had a great encounter with Mega (L41) and an absolutely wonderful encounter with L94 (Calypso) and her calf (L113). We concluded our ecotour by cruising the east side of Discovery Island to view harbour seals and had a scenic cruise of Trial Island.
Our evening trip was another fantastic trip, and one which we will remember for a long time to come. We started our whale experience by travelling near Hein Bank. The seas were stunningly calm, the air was warm and the whales were beautiful as usual. We watched Mega (L41) as he travelled slowly southbound, and his sister Calypso (L94) and her young calf thrilled us with an amazing pass. While we watched the resident orcas, a minke was spotted nearby! As we watched the resident orcas, our captain received a report of orcas near Victoria, so we headed back to the harbour.
Our fabulous day of whale watching was concluded with a great encounter with 11 resting transient orcas, including T31, an approximately 56 year old transient male. The lighting was superb with the sky at dusk and a rising moon. Rarely do we see such a large group of transient orcas. What a wonderful way to end a glorious day on the Salish Sea.
