New Jpod Calf, J43!!

At the beginning of November a new calf was spotted and confirmed in Jpod and has been designated as J43. J43 is the offspring of J14 a female born in 1974 and who has had four other calfs although the first one passed away in 1991. This is exciting news and brings the total of the Southern Resident Orcas to 88 and J43 is the fourth calf to be born this year.

For more information visit the Whale Research Centre for a full article and photo of the new calf;

http://www.whaleresearch.com/thecenter/News_110607_newcalf_J43.html

THANK YOU FOR A GREAT 2007 SEASON!!

This is the time of year when we reflect on the season past and get a chance to express our gratitude.

There is not a day during the year when we aren't fully aware of how lucky we are to work out on the water with these amazing creatures. Everyday we know that we will see something amazing and inspiring...We just never know exactly what that will be until we get out there! We are truly blessed.

Of course, we wouldn't be out on the water if it weren't for you, our visitors, booking trips and entrusting us with introducing you to and guiding you through this marine experience. Thank you.

With this fortune comes the obligation to provide information and offer avenues for education on what we all can do towards conservation and stewardship. The best way to ignite your interest is by having Captains, Marine Naturalists and Office Staff whose enthusiasm and passion is contagious.

Our goal is that everyone whom we are lucky enough to take on one of our cruises will remember the spirit of our crew. We hope that we can lead by example with our willingness to open ourselves not only to the opportunity to see and hear birds, whales and sea lions but to immerse ourselves in the experience.

Five Star Whale Watching is much more than just the Expedition Catamarans. Our greatest strength is our staff and I wish to thank our owners Kathy and Eric; Captains Trev, Scotty, Bill, Dave and Steve; Marine Naturalists Jacklyn, Merina, Kyla, Tove, Christine, Rachel, Marie, Amy, and volunteer Josh; Retail Manager Jacqueline; Sales Agents Jenn, Claudia and Lysanne; Commodore Ron; and Marine Naturalist/Photographer/Assistant Manager/Blogger Andrew, the Crazy Brit himself.

and lets not forget Jim Dale, 5*'s General Manager, Marine Naturalist and one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Jim really does have the patience of a saint, something that is a must dealing with the Five Star crew:) Cheers Jim!

This Season is over...and a new one soon to begin.

End of Season Highlights!

Here are just a small selection of some of my favourite pictures from the 2007 Whale Watching Season at Five Star Whale Watching. please visit our flickr page for even more amazing photos from 2007; http://www.flickr.com/photos/fivestarwhalewatching/

It was a spectacular season from beginning to the end full of magical and memorable moments that left you in awe at the wonders of mother nature.

This season we celebrated the births of three new Orcas, J42, L109 and L110. We also saw most of our old favourites including J2 "Granny", J1 "Ruffles", K21 "Cappuccino", L41 "Mega" and many more of the incredible Southern Resident Orca pods. Throughout the season J, K & L pod continued to provide unforgettable experiences for both our passengers and the crew. We also got to see many Transient Orcas, including old favourite T14 "Pender" hunt in our local waters. Watching these amazing Marine Mammals and top predators in their natural environment is a true privilege!

The Salish sea was also home to many other marine mammals and other wildlife, including Stellar & California Sealions, Harbor Seals, Elephant Seals, Harbor & Dalls Porpoise, Eagles, Brown Pelicans, Grey Whales, Minke Whales and perhaps the most exciting aspect of the season, the large number of Humpback Whales.

The strong return of Humpback Whales in the area is an exciting prospect for all of us fortunate to be in the Whale Watching industry. These Humpbacks provided some of the most amazing trips of the season. We witnessed lunge feeding, bubble feeding, Tailslaps, Cartwheels and the most impressive breaches that just took your breath away!!!!!

So now another season has come and gone but the memories from the season and the wonderful passengers we welcomed aboard our boats, will remain for a long time to come.

Thank you to all out passengers for choosing Five Star Whale Watching, it was a pleasure meeting you and we look forward to you joining us for more adventures in 2008!

End of Season Tribute to the Five Star Crew!!

Now that another exciting season is over I wanted to pay tribute to an incredible group of friends that make up the Five Star Crew! You guys are awesome and I enjoyed every minute working with you and will miss you this winter:)

Five Star Crew from left to right: Kathy (The Boss), Jim (GM and overall nice guy), Tove and Christine (2 of our more experienced Naturalists and adored by our passengers). Don't they all look just adorable:)

Tove and Amy having a spare moment on Supercat. Poor Amy, she came for a holiday and we ended up making her work;)

Tove showing the Orca i.d. book to a family.

Above and below, Capt Trev. One of the good guys!

Rachel and her hot pants, with Ron and Cpt. Dave in the background. I'll never forget those pants:)

Rachel and her fan club;)

Rachel relaxing on Supercat.

Kyla watches as I work my magic;)

Here Kyla is showing the i.d. book to interested passengers.

Above and below, Cpt. Scotty. Another one of the good guys.

Claudia and Jen enjoying the Fireworks on Canada Day!

Our office girls, Jen, Claudia and Jacqueline (who is also the retail Manager)



Cpt. Bill with his assistant:)



Commodore Ron:)

Ron and Bill on Supercat.

Our Naturalist Merina talking about the Hydrophone to our passengers.

Merina amateur photographer that took some wicked shots this year!

Marie, our newest Naturalist in her diving gear and below in fire gear during her course for the Coast Guard.

Josh, a volunteer who has a real passion for Transient Orcas and will be joinging our crew next year. Welcome aboard Josh!

Here Merina & Jac II are trying to identify the two Transient Orcas near Supercat.

Cpt. Bill, JacII and Ron. No one gets more excited about a possible Transient Kill than JacII:)

Here I am, 5*'s unofficial Photographer, Naturalist, Asst. Manager and Blog editor and another overall nice guy;) Apparently I also have a sexy and sophisticated accent, though often a translator is required for our passengers and crew:)

Please find below a brief description of the Five Star Crew.

Eric and Kathy Johnson, the co-owners of 5* and you could not wish for better people to work for. Thank you from all the staff for another fun filled season.

Jim Dale, The General Manager and one of the most patient men I have ever met. Thanks for everything you did to help make our job easier Jim, you really are a saint!

Ron Bates, or Commodore Ron as he is affectionately known. Ron is a Marine Mammal Researcher that comes out with Five Star every day and we are very fortunate to have him aboard. He is the Whale Guru and mentor to most of us in the industry, just don't speak to him, feed him or touch him as he may bite:)

Cpt. Trev, One of the most experienced Cpt. in the industry, a marine Biologist and a good mate to all the crew. We had some good times on and off the water this year, cheers mate!

Cpt. Scotty, Another very experience Cpt. and one of the nicest guys you'll meet on the water. Thanks for all the good times mate, you are not bad considering you are a Scot:)

Cpt. Bill, one of our relief skippers and another nice guy. It was great working with you this summer.

Cpt. Dave, another relief skipper, it is never dull when you are on the boat with Dave:)

Naturalist Amy, Amy only did a few trips for us this year, but that is not bad considering she was supposed to be here on Holiday:) Amy worked for 5* a few years ago but then deserted us for the East. However, we will not rest until we have persuaded her to return to Victoria:)

Naturalist Christine, Christine moved up island this summer but we still had the fortune of her working with us at the weekend. I've worked with Christine for 3 seasons now and I can't remember her not smiling when about to do a trip, no wonder the passengers love you:)

Naturalist JacII, this was Jac's last season with Five Star as she is moving on to be a Researcher in the Gulf of Mexico and will be missed by everyone at Five Star:( No one ever gets as excited about a possible Transient Kill as Jac and I will miss seeing her leaping up and down on the bow of the boat clapping her hands together in sheer delight at the thought of blood:)

Naturalist Kyla, I don't know any Nat that could i.d. the Orcas as quickly and accurately as Kyla, what a gift you have! Kyla is now at St. Andrews in Scotland and will be working at the Whale Research Ctr next summer. It was a pleasure working with you Kyla and I look forward to seeing you on the water next summer, you better wave at our boats;)

Naturalist Marie, our newest nat joined us near the end of the season and fitted in straight away. Marie is a keen diver and hopes to get her dive masters soon. She also passed the Coast Guard crew training course and may get called upon to join the Canadian Coast Guard in the future. However, we hope she will join the Five Star crew again next year as she was a joy to work with and she had a natural ability to interact with the passengers. Marie became an official 5* Nat when she was the first to spot Orcas off the San Juans in fog on Sept 27th, she was the hero of the day;) I still owe you a Five Star badge of honour:)

Naturalist Merina, is one of the best naturalists I've ever worked with and we had some great trips together over the last 2 seasons. Merina is also off to the Gulf of Mexico this winter and we all wish her luck. Her kelp talks are legendary:)

Naturalist Rachel, our youngest Nat but also one of most enthusiastic. Rachel, like Christine, was always smiling and occasionally giggling, when on our boats. She is also by far the tallest Nat I have worked with and commanded respect by her sheer size:) I am looking forward to working with you again next summer, even if you wear those bright orange pants:0

Naturalist Tove, is a real sweetheart and one of our most experienced nats. I know Tove loves this job as much as I do and even though she had a busy life this summer still found time to do trips. She is now busy being a teacher but will be back next summer to do more trips with Five Star, something we are all very happy to hear:)

Retail Manager Jacqueline, Jac always has a smile on her face whenever you see her. She is responsible for all the retail side of 5* and in particular our Humboldt office. Jac is also a very good hearted person and a true friend. However, we need you to get out on the water more next year young lady:)

Office Staff Claudia, Claudia is from Holland and was part of our ticket sales and office staff. She has a real zest for life, is a keen surfer and a lot of fun. We wish you could stay in Victoria and join us for another season next year, but we all enjoyed working with you:)

Office Staff Jenn, we are very fortunate to have Jenn work in our ticket sales and office as she has a natural ability to sell, due in no small part because she is a genuine person and people believe what she has to say. Jenn is now at teacher training school but we hope you will return next year both in the office and on the boat (ignore Eric just get your MEDS).....:):)

and finally me Andrew, 5* Asst. Manager, Naturalist, trainee Skipper, unofficial photographer, Blog editor and known as the crazy Brit:) I worked for another company before and had a great crew there, but I believe the crew we had at Five Star this year was the best bunch of people I have ever worked with and I am going to miss them all when I head down to Belize in a few days. We had some great times on and off the water this season and I have so many great memories;) You guys are awesome and I am proud to have worked with you all and consider you my friends!

So until next season, enjoy your winter and I'll see some of you again in April. Cheers from the Crazy Brit;):)

Wildlife extravaganza! Oct 28th, 2007.

Harbor Seals

Rhinoceros Auklet

Common Murre

Deer in Pedder Bay

Surf Scoters

Stellar Sealions

Bald Eagle and Gulls at Trail Island.

Pelagic Cormorants.

Passengers enjoying the wildlife extravaganza!

Race Rocks with Mt Olympus in the background.

Harbor Porpoise

Harlequin Duck

BaitBall

This afternoon we ventured out into the rich biodiversity of the Juan De Fuca Strait and witnessed all the wonders this incredible marine environment has to offer.

As we ventured out of the inner Harbor the first thing that struck the crew and passengers was the enormous amount of birds on the water, including Scooters, Gulls, Common Murre's, Rhinoceros Auklets!

We also noticed a large amount of Harbor Seals in the water, in fact we saw one every few hundred yards, proving there was an abundance of food in the water. Two Harbor Seals that we saw were resting amongst a patch of Bull Kelp. As we were watching the two Seals in the Bull Kelp we suddenly caught sight of Harbor Porpoise just behind the boat. So we sat and watched these second smallest of the Porpoise family, swim by.

Next we headed to Race Rocks where we saw several Stellar Sealions and many of them were playing in the water. As we were watching one particular group move towards out boat we suddenly caught sight of a lone Stellar with a large Salmon in its mouth and being harassed by several Gulls.

After spending time at Race Rocks we ventured into Pedder Bay and shortly after our arrival Ron spotted a Deer on the shore in one of the meadows. We also saw several more Harbor Seals as well as a group of Scooters fly by.

Then we headed over to Trial Island where we saw even more Harbor Seals on the rocks and also in the water. Whilst at Trial we also saw a large Bald Eagle perched on a post and also a Harlequin Duck close to the waters edge. We then had to return to the inner Harbor and it was sad to have to leave so much spectacular wildlife behind.

Unfortunately this proved to be the last trip of the 2007 season for Five Star but what a spectacular season it has been! Thank you to all our wonderful passengers for joining us on our countless adventure. We look forward to seeing you again next season for new adventures on the Salish Sea!