Superpod (J,K + L-pod) in the morning off Victoria!! Aug 10th, 2009.

Here are images from this mornings stupendous encounter with Superpod (J, K & L-pod) just off Victoria Waterfront. Despite the dull weather, neither the passengers or crew spirit could be dampened after this amazing trip! Ron Bates, MMRG, received reports early this morning that a large number of Orcas had been sighted near Constance Bank. Our vessel "Fastcat" was the first whale watching vessel that departed Victoria Harbour this morning around 9am and within less than 10 minutes of leaving the Harbour we made contact with the Orcas a couple of miles west of Clover Point! Not long after we had arrived on scene we soon realized that we had a Superpod as our Naturalist Kyla Graham and Ron, soon identified several members of all three southern resident pods. As we sat with our engines off we could see a large group of over 60 Orcas moving East towards Clover Point and another large group a few hundred yards ahead also moving East. The Orcas were in resting formation and tightly bunched, it was an amazing sight (as can be seen from the photos above)! The Orcas continued East towards Trial Island and seemed to be trying to decide to either go South of Trial or North through Enterprise. Eventually the Orcas did travel through Enterprise Channel and then L-pod split and traveled south whilst J & K-pod traveled towards 10 mile point. Not all of L-pod was present as Mega and part of the L-12's were reported to be heading West past Sooke. With wonderful passengers, an unforgettable encounter with the Southern Resident Orcas and so much other wildlife (see post below), this has to be one of the most memorable trips in my career as a Marine naturalist:)