August 27, 2011

This morning, we set out on the Orca Spirit and headed into Juan de Fuca Strait. Our search began off the waterfront with a search for humpback whales and transient orcas. We investigated a large bait ball near Trial Island and watched as harbour seals, gulls, murres and auklets worked at harvesting the baitfish. Following this interesting wildlife encounter, we travelled to False Bay on San Juan Island where we found the L-12's. Our orca encounter started with a fantastic viewing of a large male, Mystery (L85) and Alexis (L12). We noticed several other whales nearby, including Mega (L41), Calypso (L94) and a young calf (L113). The whales were foraging for salmon this morning. After a wonderful pass by Mattia (L77), we headed back to the harbour.

On the afternoon trip, we headed north where there were reports of two different groups of orcas working their way south. We headed for a group near Turn Point and found members of J and L-pod. Our encounter began with a wonderful viewing of Blackberry (J27). We watched as several more orcas passed us by, travelling towards San Juan Island. The whales were spread out right across Haro Strait, and watched distant breaches and even some nearby cartwheels. It was a great encounter in one of the most scenic areas on the coast. After the whale encounter, we travelled past Mandarte Island and the east coast of Sidney Island back to the harbour. It was another great day on the Salish Sea.