Here are more photos from our tours on June 25th - what a great day on the water!

Afternoon Tour

Evening Tour

We left the harbour on our evening cruise with absolutely clear skies and calm waters. We had a fun group of guests on board, who were eager to see and learn about the orcas. We made our way east of Victoria to a place called Eagle Point on San Juan island, WA. Here we found southern resident killer whales belonging to J-pod. The whales were hanging out close to shore, chasing salmon in a big circle. We were able to pick out Polaris (J-28) and her daughter Star. Polaris' mother Princess Angeline (J-17) and her calf Moby were also amongst the group. It was very exciting to watch the mothers and the calves play! This is my second season as a naturalist, and I have never seen such playful behaviour for an entire trip before! The mothers were pushing their babies with their rostrum (the front portion of their head) all over the place. The young calves were having a wonderful time rolling all over their moms and each other. Orcas are a very tactile species, who love to touch each other and rub on rocks or roll in kelp beds. Polaris and her calf stuck their heads out of the water to give all our guests a good look. We saw many tail slaps, spyhops and small leaps out of the water. All of this excitement with a wonderful sunset for a background! It was one of the best trip's I (naturalist Rachael) have had during my two seasons at Orca Spirit! I know that all our guests enjoyed the trip just as much!