Transients & Humpbacks, Ocean Magic Adventures

(Transient orcas)


(humpback whales)


(photoset of both tours)

On the 12:15 Ocean Magic Adventure, we certainly didn't go far from home. After departing the Victoria inner harbour, we located 4 transient killer whales (meat eating orcas) milling and feeding in the Juan de Fuca Strait. Naturalist Mika identified them as T18, T19, T19b and T19c. The animals were active in a variety of areas of the Victoria waterfront about 2-4 miles south, and seagulls seemed to be hot on their trails so they were clearly feeding on something, either seals, sealions or porpoises. The hunts occurred under water so we could not see what they were. We saw a few spyhops from the group within their feeding or social behavior. Not far from them were 2 humpbacks hanging out. They were not really in any hurry to get anywhere and stuck together in a pair often giving passengers a lovely glimpse of their backs and tails in together. After this we stopped by the amazing Race Rocks to observe the incredible groupings of Stellar and California sealions. One never forgets the smell this time of year. We also encountered dome Dalls porpoise on our trip. They are a small cetacean with a white dorsal fin.

During the 3:30 adventure tour, we found the transients traveling along the Victoria shoreline, past Trial Island and close to the Oak Bay gulf course. Take a look at the photos and you will see a man down on the rocks trying to interact with the animals, who by the way just ignored him while making their way over to Oak Bay marina. After we caught up again with the two humpbacks who were still in in the Juan de Fuca. After this we took another spin past the Race Rocks ecological reserve. Check out the photos for images of that. It was a beautiful summer day, flat calm seas, blue skies and warm temperatures.

I have cut two videos here which involve both the 12:15 and the 3:30 ocean magic adventure trips together. They are divided into the various cetaceans; orcas & humpbacks. Enjoy.