J & K-pod plus the Gray Whale today! July 30th, 2010

Active J & K-pod off San Juan Island in the afternoon! July 29th, 2010

Here are a few images from our incredible encounter with a very active J & K-pod off San Juan Island in the afternoon!

We had received reports earlier in the day that the Orcas had been sighted moving towards East Point and by the time we headed out in the afternoon they had already past Turn Point and were still movin...g south!

Amazingly we encountered members of J & K-pod just north of Lime Kiln and it showed once again how fast Orcas can move when they need to. As we arrived on scene we could see the Orcas Porpoising (high speed swimming) towards Lime Kiln. We witnessed some amazing breaches as well!

I manged to identify a number of Orcas including J1 "Ruffles", J2 "Granny", J8 "Spieden, J16 "Slick, J42 "Echo", J26 "Mike", J33 "Keet" and J36 "Alki" along with several K-pod Orcas including K40 "Raggedy" and K21 "Cappuccino".

Earlier on our way to the Orcas we stopped at Oak Bay and encountered the Gray Whale once again!

To see more images from this afternoon's tour visit our Facebook site at the link below;
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-BC/Five-Star-Whale-Watching/83152127193

Minke Whales, Gray Whale and Harbor Seals in the morning! July 29th, 2010.

Here are a few images from our encounters with three Minke Whales, a Gray Whale and Harbor Seals in the morning!

We headed out with eager passengers on board hoping to see some type of Whale and we did not disappoint as we found two different species of Baleen Whale! At Hein Bank we found not one but three Minke Whale feeding in the area around the markers.

Then we found the Gray Whale just near Victoria Golf course, which was a real thrill for our passengers, especially when it came by for a closer look at our boat:) This Gray Whale has put on about a 1000lbs since we first saw it, almost 2 months ago.

We also stopped by the Chain Islets to show our passengers the Harbor Seals and Pups!

Gray Whale in the morning and J & K-pod in the afternoon! July 29th, 2010

Here are a few photo's by Ron Bates, MMRG, from todays encounters with the Gray Whale in the morning and J & K-pod in the afternoon.