Jpod near Lime Kiln Whale Park. May 28th, 2008.

J28 "Polaris", a female born in 1993.

J1 "Ruffles" born in 1951, passes by Lime Kiln Lighthouse.

Today we caught up with Jpod south of Lime Kiln Whale park during our 2pm trip. Our first boat out at 10am had already observed Jpod moving towards the park in the morning. As both our boat filled with eager passengers arrived on scene we watched as most of Jpod passed along the West Coast of San Juan Island close to shore.

Despite a little choppy weather on the ride home it was another perfect day on the water. Whales, sunny weather and beautiful scenery, no wonder I love my job:)

Transient Orcas off Victoria Waterfront! May 27th, 2008

The 2 images above were taken by Ron Bates, MMRG.

Not long after our first boat left Victoria Harbor T20 & T21, two Transient Orcas, were discovered in Oak Bay near Great Chain. T20 is a Male Orca born in 1963 and has a distinctive notch at the top of his almost 6' tall dorsal fin. T21 is a female Orca born in 1968.

In the afternoon T20 & T21 were joined by another 4 Orcas and traveled past Victoria waterfront towards Race Rocks, providing a thrill for our passengers. It was anther great day to be on the water:)

JPod ventures West! May 26th, 2008.

The picture below and four above were taken by Ron Bates, MMRG.

The Elephant Seal in this picture has been observed for a while now after it was first noticed fishing line was wrapped around its body. As a result of pictures taken by Five Star being sent to the appropriate authorities, steps are going to be taken to try to untangle the line from this animal.

Today JPod decided to travel out west possibly to see if they could detect one of the other two resident pods, K & L, or they may have been drawn in that direction by Salmon coming in from the Pacific Ocean. What it meant was that our passengers were able to enjoy watching JPod as well as the visiting Race Rocks, which is always worth the visit with the various Marine Mammals attracted to the area.

Jpod off Salmon Bank:) May 25th, 2008.

We have Orcas every day this past week and today continued the streak with Jpod being sighted at the southern end of San Juan Island. As we set out this afternoon to catch up with Jpod none of us on board had any idea what a treat we were about to experience.

After receiving reports that Jpod were at the southern end of San Juan Island we headed in that direction and caught up with Jpod near Eagle Point. We saw several members of Jpod including J1 "Ruffles", J16 "Slick" and her daughter J42, J27 "Mike" and J26 "Blackberry". We saw a number of breaches in the distance by a large male. However, the highlight was when we saw some Intimate behavior including touching & rubbing together by a number of Orcas, it was breathtaking to watch!

Apart from Jpod we also saw several Northern Elephant Seals, Steller & California Sealions, Harbor Seals, Bald Eagles, a Great Blue Heron and Canada Geese with Goslings.