Sunday, May 31, 2009

A very special and memorable afternoon trip! May 31st, 2009. Congratulations Mary and John from everyone at Five Star Whale Watching.



Congratulations Mary and John. Thank you for allowing FiveStar to be part of your special day.















We had a very special afternoon trip today and one that turned out to be a very memorable experience. Mary & John decided that they wanted to have their wedding ceremony on the sea with all their friends and relatives in attendance. They could not have picked a more perfect day with flat calm seas, sunshine and Orcas! What a perfect way to celebrate the start of your married life together. We wish you a long and happy Marriage!

Morning encounter with over 20 Transient Orcas! May 31st, 2009.























Harbor Seals at Chain Islets

Very excited passengers on the bow of Fastcat.

Today we encountered over 20 Transient Orcas, which is a rare occurrence. Usually we find Transient Orcas in groups of 1 to 4 members, so seeing so many Orcas together is a thrilling sight. The Orcas have been identified as the T30's, T100's, T101's, T124's, T90 & T90B in the large group and in the smaller group T12A (male), T109A (female) and T109A2 (calf).

We first encountered the two groups west of Hein Bank and both groups looked were close formation and surfacing in sync. The smaller group of T12A, T109A & T109A2, were slightly south of the main group but heading in the same direction. However, as we followed the Orcas this smaller group started to head north towards Discovery Island and so we left the larger group and followed this group as it took us closer to home.It was this smaller group that we encountered North East of Race Rocks in the afternoon.

Apart from the the large number of Transient Orcas, we also saw Harbor Seals, Harbor Porpoise, Bald Eagles, Northern Elephant Seals and Sealions. It was just the perfect day on the water and a great way to end a wonderful month of exciting encounters during May. We can only hope June is as good:)


SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2009 MORE, MORE, MORE TRANSIENT KILLER WHALES








SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2009 MORE, MORE, MORE TRANSIENT KILLER WHALES

We needed two postings just to get a small percentage of the pictures we had today on-line!

SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2009 WHAT A WAY TO FINISH THE MONTH OF MAY!!! Ove 20 TRANSIENT (Marine-Mammal-Eating) KILLER WHALES!!









SUNDAY, MAY 31, 2009 WHAT A WAY TO FINISH THE MONTH OF MAY!!! Ove 20 TRANSIENT (Marine-Mammal-Eating) KILLER WHALES!!

An almost unheard of number of TRANSIENT "Marine-Mammal-Eating" KILLER WHALES (more than 20) and exquisite weather helped passengers on Five Star Whale Watching's cruises today finish the month of May off in style. It make take several days to careful review the photos to determine exactly which whales were here today, but it appears likely that we had some who have never been seen off Victoria, B.C., before.