It was truly to be a '' Magical '' 10am Zodiac trip this Tuesday, Oct 28th. We left the inner harbour, under some what cloudy skies and headed straight south into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. After a short run Mark, our experienced Skipper, stopped to look around with his binocular. Off in the distance south of Race Rocks at Constance Bank , three Humpback whales could be seen. We headed toward these behemoths, huge ballen whales plying the smooth waters of the Strait. We hadn't gone far when suddenly we were surrounded by southern resident whales that were identified as K pod. Even L 87, ' Onyx ' was with this group once again. The baby K 42 , was swimming close to its sibling K 36, while mother, K 14 was busy foraging. Lobo,K 26, a young male surprised us as he swam close by. We had good looks at these illusive whales as they headed south east. We then headed toward the Humpbacks. These giants were actively feeding and ''fluking '' with their huge tails as they made their deep dives looking for small fish and krill. Skipper Mark gave an indepth account of the marine life found in these waters. Our international travellers from as far away as South Africa, Japan, Germany, Sweden, Britain all enjoyed a quick trip to Race Rocks to see the Harbour seals and the two types of sea lion, Steller and California. We even found a Herring Gull enjoying the very calm waters among the kelp beds. With big smiles on our faces, we headed back to the harbour. Truly an amazing encounter with the whales in October. Photos by Marie "Orca-Magic"
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