A lovely Monday with a mix of sun, clouds, and rain. There are still plenty of whales around feeding and we couldnt wait to see who was in the area for the day!

The endangered Southern Resident orcas (salmon eaters) are still in the Salish Sea fishing! We are glad to see them here and hope that they are able to find the salmon they need to build a healthy blubber layer and thrive. We try to give them space and encounter the Biggs orca as much as we can in order to reduce our impact on this endangered ecotype. The southern residents use echolocation to navigate their environment/hunt and boat noise means they have to expend more energy. Good thing there were many Biggs orca (mammal eaters) around scanning the area for harbour porpoise and seals!

Humpback whales are feeding throughout the area, with a lot of juveniles popping up right now! They will only be around for about another month before returning to their southern breeding grounds.

~ Stay tuned!

Despite the rainy conditions, it was a great day for whale watching! BC Luna, our fully enclosed zodiac was perfect for keeping everyone warm and dry. As the rains become more frequent the salmon begin their journey into the fresh water rivers to spawn, making their way back to the Salish Sea. This means the Resident salmon eating orcas are here (yay)! 

Biggs orca are also kicking around, so we went to check out them out. A mother and son duo, identified as the T11's, were scanning the shoreline for potential prey. There are a lot of seals and sea lions in the area right now, so there are many opportunities. Members of J and L pod are currently fishing throughout the San Juan Islands. It is great see them in the area, and we hope they are able to find the amount of food they need.

Humpback whales are feeding and being very playful lately, hey can some times be seen fin slapping and tail lobbing. After gorging themselves all summer they will head to southern waters to calf and breed in the winter. 

~ Stay tuned!

A very foggy morning in the Victoria area, with periods so dense we couldn't see the Provincial Parliament building across the harbour. It began to lift as our fleet set out for a morning tour, lucky us!

We are still buzzing from the large group of orcas off Sooke on Friday. There were over 30 whales and 9 different sub pods present, super cool! By yesterday they had dispersed throughout the area, and continued their never-ending patrol for prey. BC Nova and Luna encountered a group moving through the San Juan Islands, likely hoping to find a harbour seal or two. It began to rain in the afternoon so we decided to take BC Luna, the fully enclosed zodiac with a heated cabin. The whales are already wet so they don't care, but humans are terrestrial so we wanted to keep them warm and dry!

~ Stay tuned for whats next!! 

Happy Friday! Morning conditions were great with sunny skies, but by afternoon the clouds moved in and the rain began to poor. Our afternoon tour was originally booked on BC Tika but to keep everyone warm and dry we switched to BC Luna!

Lots and lots of whales in the area lately!! Our tours encountered Biggs Orca all day west of Victoria. By the afternoon there was a group of approximately 50 killer whales socializing off of Sooke!!! What an incredible and rare encounter!!

Humpback whales are always a pleasure to see as these large baleen whales feed in the Salish Sea. Soon they will begin to migrate back to their breeding grounds in tropical waters.

~ Stay tuned!

September is off to a great start! The weather has been perfect for whale watching, with sunny skies and calm winds. Although we are near the end of tourist peak season, we still have about a month left of peak whale watching season!

In the morning BC Orca caught up with a pod of Biggs Orca (mammal eaters) just south of Victoria. The group was identified as the T109A's and consists of a matriarch with her 3 calves. They were first spotted playing in the kelp beds just off the coast before moving east into the afternoon. They were spotted again during our afternoon tour right near Race Rocks Ecological Reserve! This is a great hunting opportunity for them because this small chain of islands is full of seals and sea lions.

Humpback whales are still around feeding on the many microscopic zooplankton in the water column. They often show a pattern of surfacing for 3-4 breathes before showing their iconic fluke as they dive to feed! In the afternoon passengers on BC Tika were lucky to witness breaching and lunge feeding humpbacks, a rare sight!!!

~ Stay tuned!!

A wonderfully calm sunny Sunday! Sightings of whales came in before our fleet left the dock! 

Orcas are everywhere!!! Biggs orca groups were spotted throughout the Salish Sea, so our fleet headed East to catch up with them. They were traveling north near the Schwartz Bay ferry terminal when we got on scene, sticking close together. These animals are often on the hunt and work together to catch their prey. 

A large California Seal Lion was spotted off Discovery Island where it was sunning itself on the shoreline. We always keep an eye out for the lone wolf that lives there too!

~ Stay tuned! 

A lovely Saturday in Victoria! The sun was shining and the wind was calm throughout the day.

We caught up with a Biggs orca (mammal eaters) pod heading south as they calmly swam together. This is indicative of sleep as they need to stay conscious to breathe, and will only shut half their brain down at a time.

Lots of humpback around feeding! They will stay in the area until late fall, when they will begin their long migration to the southern hemisphere. 

~ Stay tuned!

What a great way to end the month of August, whales were everywhere and close to home all day!! The winds were up but that is nothing our zodiacs cant handle!

There were several hunting Biggs orca pods in the Juan de Fuca Strait scanning the area for potential prey! This ecotype of orca target other marine mammal such as Harbor seals and porpoise! They have high energy requirements and so they will actively hunt about 80% of the time. Our fleet had the privilege of witnessing several predation events throughout the day, as these whales chowed down!!

By the afternoon the Southern Resident orcas (salmon eaters) were heading in from the open ocean to see if there is any Salmon in the area! Its great to sea them and always a wonderful teaching moment about the effects fishinf practices have on the survival of these iconic creatures!

Humpback whales are still around feeding on the large amount of zooplankton in the water column! In a few months they will begin to leave and migrate south to their breeding grounds.

Race Rocks Ecological Park is a popular haul out site for local pinnipeds and can often be seen relaxing along the rocky shorelines. The Stellar Sea Lions are quite load as they bark at one another and compete for space to sun themselves. 

~ Stay tuned!!!