Transient Orcas and Resident Orcas! Sept 16th, 2008.

This morning Five Star was the first vessel out of Victoria Harbor and found Transient Orcas right outside the harbor mouth! We identified the Transient Orcas as the T40's and T46's, 2 groups of Transients that have been in our area for a number of days now. When we first discovered the Orcas they were playing amongst a kelp bed and we witnessed a number of amazing Spyhops! Throughout the morning trip the Orcas made their way south but were changing direction constantly. Before returning to Victoria we stopped off at Race Rocks to see the countless Harbor Seals, Stellar & California Sealions and at least one Northern Elephant Seal.

In the afternoon we caught up with the Transients again, this time a few miles North East of Port Angeles. As we were watching the Orcas we saw signs of hunting and a possible kill, probably of a Harbor Seal. We also observed some socializing amongst the group. Then we headed further East and came across Lpod and Jpod moving through the straight of Juan De Fuca, what a bonus!!!