September 10, 2011

This afternoon we headed out aboard the Pacific Explorer. With reports of transient orcas off the waterfront this morning, I (naturalist Corey), the probability of seeing orcas this afternoon was very high. We headed to Pedder Bay to start our search, where orcas had been spotted about ten minutes before are arrival. This trip, our guests got to see the elusive nature of the transient orcas as despite an intense search, we could not find them. We took a brief respite from our search and made the 1 mile trip to Race Rocks, where we had a great experience viewing Steller and California sea lions and the many harbour seals hauled out along the rocks. We then headed back towards Pedder Bay, intent on finding the orcas.
It would be more accurate to say that they found us!
As we sat just offshore of William Head, one of our guests saw the first orca. A young orca leapt out of the water in a high-speed porpoising manoeuvre, while the rest of the group skirted the shoreline. Lots of gull activity was a sure sign that a seal or harbour porpoise had been dispatched. We travelled with the orcas as they made their way back towards Pedder Bay, travelling along the shoreline of the William Head federal prison. Who needs jail guards when you have mammal-eating orcas patrolling the shoreline? There were at least 5 orcas in the group that include the T41 group, including T41A and her first offspring T41A1. This group is one of my favourite groups of transient orcas, they have a habit of exploring every little nook and cranny along the Victoria coastline and have even been seen right inside the Victoria harbour! It was great to see these orcas again. After the whales reached Bentinck Island, we left the orcas and headed back to the harbour after another great afternoon on the Salish Sea.