September 21, 2011

Today we embarked on a whale watching adventure with high hopes and excitement.  We left the harbour, making a left turn to head over to San Juan Island, WA.  We stopped the boat just north of Lime Kiln Park, as we had a tip that there would be Southern Resident Orcas moving south past us.  Soon we saw tall and curved black dorsal fins moving towards us!  It was exciting.  A procession of whales, members from all three resident pods, J, K, and L.  We were able to identify J-27 (Blackberry), L-92 (Cruiser), L-87 (Onyx), and many others.  Each whale can be identified by their unique dorsal fin and saddle-patch.  The males are the easiest to pick out, as their dorsal fins tower 6 feet into the air compared to the 2-3 foot curving dorsal fins of the females.  The whales appeared to be traveling and looking for food.  The whales spend much of their time between May and November in these waters feeding and the runs of salmon that are moving towards the Frasier River to spawn.  After a sunny and calm visit with these fascinating and intelligent animals, we headed back to Victoria, the waters dotted with the splashing of porpoises in the area.  Everyone was wearing a smile as they left the boat, happy to be fortunate enough to see one of the world's largest and most spectacular predators!