Sightings Report for July 4th 2018

It was a hot and humid day in the capital region. Clouds moved in by the afternoon, and trapped the heat from the morning sun. Lucky for us the water conditions remained calm into the evening, so we sent out a sunset tour!!

A group of Biggs Orca were first spotted by Pender Island, identified as the T99's and T36A's. They were travelling north, against the current, scanning the area for potential prey. This ecotype feeds on other marine mammals including seals, sea lions, and porpoise! It wasn't long before they were snacking on their latest catch, then seen celebrating by tail lobbing and rolling on their backs at the surface! We love to see happy whales!! In the afternoon our captains caught up with other Biggs orca identified as the T37A's in US waters were they were encountered travelling along the coast of Lopez Island!

We headed back out for a sunset tour and caught up with yet another Biggs Orca group in Cowichan Bay! They were identified as the T65A's and T124A's with a large male, T175. Thats a lot of whales socializing!! In the 165A's there is a small newborn calf, seen in this photo taken by Peter Wilcox of Whale Watch Tenerife (Canary Islands) earlier this season! 

By the end of the day we encountered five different pods of Biggs Orca!! Its amazing to see how well these whales are doing compared to their salmon eating cousins (Southern Residents).

~ Stay tuned for what we encounter next!!