30 Days of whale sightings and counting!

What a week of amazing whale watching, full of social and active Orcas! Clipping along on our Orca Spirit II vessel is a feeling like no other. The blue sky, calm water and fresh salty sea air set the mood for the tours this week. We have spent the week with both the L-Pod and J-Pod Resident Orcas. The oldest J-Pod Orca, Granny (J-2) made an appearance this week as well as many females with their young calves. The calves have been most playful this week as they breached, rolled, spy-hopped and rubbed up against each other.

We celebrated a few birthdays this week, including Canada’s 145th birthday! Bigger than Canada’s birthday was our Passenger of the Week, Tim Knight, who joined us with his family, from Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, for his 58th birthday! Thanks to Tim and his family for sharing his special day with us on the water! Of course, we must not forget to say Happy Independence Day to our American friends. It has been a week of celebrations!

We celebrated Canada’s 145th birthday this past Sunday with an exciting day along the South Western shoreline of San Juan Island. Both Resident J-Pod and L-Pod Orcas joined us to celebrate as we enjoyed the stunning weather and the playful whales. Orca whales are very social animals and display their socialization in playful behaviours like breaching, spy-hopping, and tail-slapping. Breaching is a behaviour expressed by whales where they leap completely out of the water. Breaching may be used for several purposes such as communication between animals, to knock off parasites, or for the pure pleasure of it! We have had many breaches this week, including a calf breaching three times in a row!

Spy-hopping is a behaviour exercised by whales where they raise their head vertically above the water to look around at the environment above the surface. Many whale species have excellent vision like the Orca for example, who may look above water to pick out landmarks for navigation or to check out our boats and passengers. Many whale species slap their pectoral (side) fins or their tail fluke on the surface of the water. This behaviour can be used for several purposes including communication with other whales, as a warning to competing males in the breeding season, or as a means of play.

It as truly has been a fantastic week with the Orcas! Check out our Captain’s Log to see details from every trip and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook where you can always stay up-to-date on the whale’s activities!