Lpod off Victoria

(todays complimentary eCard, click to enlarge and download)




(see the salmon behind the orca in mid air)


















This morning Jpod was headed north again towards Vancouver through Active Pass and were almost out of range by the time we departed at 12:15 today. We headed out thinking that we were possibly not going to catch them however we also knew that Lpod was around but no one had yet spotted them. So we took a chance and headed out into the Juan de Fuca Strait and sure enough, our naturalist Nicola spotted half of Lpod who present in the area. They were spread apart for miles feeding. Way off in the distance I caught some breach activity by Trial Island while our friend Mega / L41 was off doing his own thing hunting. We had a beautiful look at Ino / L54. I am pretty sure I saw another larger male in the group today possibly L73 or L74 however I am not 100% sure who it was. Early on the in the trip caught some predation behavior as one of the females was airborne and when I got home I found in the photo a salmon in mid air behind the animal. I guess she bumped the fish out of the water during her attack. The animals were heading towards the Esquimalt shoreline area so we decided to check out Race Rocks in the hopes that on the way home we'd find them grouped up doing something different.

When we arrived at beautiful Race Rocks, we found some of our harbour seal friends hauled out on rocks basking in the sun. They have the appearance of a large maggot but furry and cute. After that we headed over towards Sooke area taking observing the eagles nest with the eagle sitting perched high above the nest. On our way back to Victoria, we found Lpod moving very quickly in high porpoising behavior. There was a mother and calf moving together with one group, this is not a new calf but possibly the calf born in 2005 but again I am not 100% sure. There were a few younger orcas in the group today but did not get a chance to see who they were as they were moving so quickly. One youngster breached a few hundred yards from us framing Victoria perfectly behind.

What started out as a possible no orca sighting day, turned into a "we found the orcas on the Victoria waterfront" kinda day. It was perfect. The rest of the group were out west and this group was in high porpoise activity to probably meet up with the others. We have not seen Kpod yet, we anxiously await their arrival! Tons of stuff to see today and right off the waterfront.