Our I pm charter Zodiac with guest Nicole from Edmonton, Skipper Mark 'Mallard', Capt. Gord of the Ocean Magic, and Marie 'Orca-Magic', POW whale blog photographer, left the inner harbour to find J Pod Orca that had been reported earlier in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The conditions on the water were excellent for finding ORCA. Although there was some cloud overhead, it was indeed a very calm and unusually warm day for January. It wasn't long before the keen eyes of both Mark and Gord spotted the black dorsal fins of the Resident J Pod Orca, the fish eaters. Our experienced 'Naturalists' on board shared a wealth of knowledge with our guest, as we watched family groups of Orca swim past , heading toward the south west. We had initially located the J 42, J 26, J 14 and her family group 2-3 miles west of the ODAS buoy. The whales were spread out across the Strait and slowly heading west. Several mothers with their babies swam by. It was awesome to see the two tiny ones that were born during the last three months, one in November and the other, early this month. The oldest male J1, affectionately named Ruffles, is 59 yrs old, but can still chase salmon actively. He was off foraging by himself, then headed south against the backdrop of the Olympic mountains to follow the pod. Being able to commune for a while with this dearly loved Pod of whales was simply amazing. Our stay with these magical creatures was soon over. It had been another fabulous winter, wildlife adventure with 'Prince of Whales '.
Marie, Orca-Magic.
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