We set off this morning with a boat full of eager and excited passengers hoping to find one of the various species of Cetacean that can be viewed near Victoria. Our vessel, Fastcat, decided to head directly south of Victoria Harbour on a hunch and it proved to be a wise decision as just 3 miles west of Race Rocks we encountered not one but two large Humpback Whales! This was a thrilling find as we do not usually see Humpbacks Whales at this time of the year and to see two was very exciting for both the passengers and crew. We paralleled the Humpback Whales as they slowly made their way east and did see a number of impressive tail flukes as the animals went on deep dives.
In the afternoon we headed out of the harbour and were on our way to Race Rocks when Ron Bates, MMRG, received reports that several Orcas had been sighted to the West, moving towards Victoria. When we arrived on scene a few minutes later we soon recognized a group of Lpod Orcas known as the L12's. We spotted L41 "Mega", a large male, further offshore than the main group and so we paralleled Mega as he traveled East. Whilst observing L41 we saw him fishing for Salmon several times along with a female that could have been one of his siblings. Watching these large Cetaceans move swiftly and skillfully through the water at speeds up to 20 knots as they chased the Salmon was awesome.
On our way home we stopped near Haystok to see the various Harbor Seals and also a Bald Eagle, what an end to a perfect day:)
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