This time the Humpback was near Discovery Island and was doing lots of
surface feeding. As we entered the harbour we were treated to a
breathtaking west coast sunset, which was the perfect way to end an
unforgettable day!
We
then moved towards Cattle Point where we encountered several members of
Lpod! The pod split as part of them moved west towards Hein and part
moved north up San Juan Island. It was great to see members of Lpod once
again!
We started out with a wonderful encounter with Jpod north of Lime Kiln
and got to see most of Jpod including the new babies plus old friends
like J2 “Granny”, J34 “Doublestuf” and J28 “Polaris”.
We soon identified these Orcas as the TO60’s, a group that had been
seen a few days earlier. What a nice bonus for our guests as these
Transient Orcas moved swiftly west, closer and closer to Victoria. It
was as if they were escorting us to our home port!
We also got to spend some time at Race Rocks where we encountered a very relaxed Sea Otter!
The Orcas were also playing in the kelp beds at the southern end of
Discovery and we saw a lot of them with kelp wrapped around their
bodies. We also got to see the three new Jpod babies, which is always a
thrill!
Jpod was spread out and doing lots of porpoising (high speed swimming)
and foraging (hunting for Salmon). We had some nice views of several
members including J27 “Blackberry”, J26 “Mike”, J28 “Polaris”, J46
“Star” and L87 “Onyx” who performed several spectacular breaches
We then got word that two Transient Orcas had been spotted near
Victoria Harbour and when we arrived on scene they were right by Ogden
Point breakwater! We soon identified the two male Transients as TO77A
and TO124C, the same two Orcas we encountered by Saltspring Island the
day before. Once again this shows the great distances Orcas can travel
in less than 24 hours! Resident Orcas & Transient Orcas during the
same trip, what a way to start the day 
These two large males had been hanging out in the area for the past
couple of days as they travelled together looking for Harbor Seals &
Harbor Porpoise! Not only did we enjoy the 2 Transient Orcas, we also
enjoyed the incredible scenery around Saltspring Island 
J50 seems to be a very happy & healthy baby! In the morning we
encountered Jpod off the west side of San Juan Island doing a lot of
foraging (hunting for Salmon) and in the afternoon we caught up with the
Pod south of Lopez Island.
