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.

OM & L41

Here is an image I caught while I was on another boat today. This is of Mega L41 and the Ocean Magic

T14

T14 out kelping! Photo by Brian Glennon

T14 & Jpod

Today's complimentary eCard, click to download




(Pender / T14 above)





(Double Stuff / J34) sequence above



(Slick / J16 hunting on her own)

(Ruffles / J1)

Today the L12's (4 minus L12) were headed out west so we headed over to San Juan Island where we heard that Jpod was feeding. On the way we spotted a transient killer whale named Pender / T14. He is a solo orca who travels alone, his mother passed away a few years ago and since then he is sighted alone however is also seen traveling with girls from the Alaskan transient orca groups. Was awesome as I unexpectedly saw him lunge out of the water no doubt killing a seal as many seagulls hovered up top. He stayed milling back in forth in the same area giving us many amazing photo opportunities to photograph his impressively large profile. In the early 70's I think it was, he was captured for a short time and radio tagged however soon after they fell off. Left behind are two indentations in his fin, making him very easy to recognize. I have not seen Pender / T14 for two seasons now, was a great surprise to get another look at him.

Take a look at the Center for Whale Research's page on T14's predation of a Harbour Porpoise

We then ventured over to San Juan Island (False Bay) where Jpod was spread wide apart hunting. Caught some breaches in the distance and some tail slaps as well. A jouvenile orca (Double Stuff / J34) passed us turning upside down tail slapping. Also noticed that Slick / J16 was off hunting alone without her new calf. Many of the animals were close to shore so I didn't get a look at where the calf was but assumed was being babysat by other family members. Of course the best way to end any trip is to see such a magnificant pass by our famous largest and eldest SR; Ruffles J1. Spendid!


(Ruffles J1)

On board today were guests all the way from Mexico City! It's always wonderful to find our guests coming out to enjoy the orcas from different countries.

Jpod / Pender Island

(downloadable eCard, click to enlarge)



(Granny / J2 (mother age approx 98) & Ruffles J1 (son age approx 56)









We ventured quite the distance to catch up with Jpod who was traveling along Pender Island by the time we caught up with them. Guests on board today were delighted to see famous J1 Ruffles (around 58 years) and J2 Granny (around 98 years) who are assumed to be mother and son traveling along side by side. How sweet is that? Those two are never far apart and today we caught a beautiful glimpse of the pair swimming so close. The group was spread far apart from each other however groups of 2 to 5 were seen together. Most of the action took place a fair distance from us, as the animals were pretty close to the shoreline and we were a ways back. Our guidelines do not allow us to enter the shoreline area however we were able to see some interesting activity such as; breaches, pec slaps by J1, tail slaps and an lazy spy hop by who I thought was J1. Noticed J42 (calf born early May) and J16 (mom) swimming together as well. The crowd onboard today gave out lots of "ooo's and aaaa's and were excited to see the amazing family on their journies.

L12's But no L12 & Minke Whale

(downloadable eCard, click to enlarge)



(Mega L41 Breach Crop)








Today on yet another lovely day, we ventured to southern San Juan Island not far from Salmon Bank to find the few L12 group spread apart. Two of the ladies were kelping in the distance, playfully syphopping, bobbing at the surface and maybe even some rubbing. Some playful tailslaps and then they moved on. I could not see who it was but can only assume it was Mega L41's sister Calypso L94 and Matia L77. Mega L41 was on his own and in the distance gave us a half breach. Being such a big boy, his very rotund body seemed fairly heavy to bring fully out of the water, perhaps he was full :) He is about 30 years of age now and is probably one of the biggest of all the SR boys, just next to Ruffles J1.






After our wonderful view of the orcas we headed towards Hein Bank in search of Minke whales. I was snapping away admiring the Rhinoceros Auklets (a puffin species of bird) when all of a sudden a Minke surfaced quite close to us by surprize. I certainly was not ready for it so the image is blurry however I have included it because it was captured and we did get a look-see of the wonderful being. This animal was busy feeding. We saw the Minke a total of 2 maybe 3 times however because of their unpredictable movements was hard to get a decent photo today. A few fish balls with herds of birds indicated good feeding below the surface.