Five Star Whale Watching

Happy New Year!

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Best wishes for 2012!

New Calf in J-pod! Excellent news just in time for Christmas:)

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The image above was taken by the Center for Whale Research of the newest member of Jpod, J48, born on Dec 17th, 2011! J48 is the 5th calf of J16 "Slick" and we wish them all the best.

New Calf in Jpod! Welcome J48:)

What a wonderful Christmas present!

Season's Greeting!

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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

from everyone at

Five Star Whale Watching!

Annual Winter Bird Count! Dec 17th, 2011

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Bald Eagle

Common Murre

Double-crested & Pelagic Cormorants

Harlequin Ducks

Trial Island

Race Rocks

Rhinoceros Auklet

Northern Elephant Seal!

On Saturday, Dec 17th, a group of volunteers led by Ron Bates, MMRG, departed Victoria Harbour to take part in the annual winter Bird Count. During our 3 hours on the water we spotted 25 species of birds and counted almost 900 birds! The species spotted included Canada Goose, Mallard, Harelquin Duck, Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, Pacific Loon, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, Pelagic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Bald Eagle, Black-bellied Plover, Black Oystercather, Black Turnstone, Surfbird, Mew Gull, Thayer's Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Common Murre and Rhinoceros Auklet.

It was a beautiful day on the water for mid December with calm seas and apart from the various birds we also saw Harbor Seals, Steller & California Sealions and even a large male Northern Elephant Seal!

We go places reveiw for Five Star Whale Watching.

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If you have been on one of our cruises recently please take a few seconds to visit the above site and write a review on Five Star Whale Watching.

We Go Places Review for Five Star Whale Watching

We appreciate all the feedback we get from our guests:)

2011 Season Highlights!

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Here are a few images showing the highlights of our 2011 Whale Watching Season! This was one of the most consistent season in recent memory for sighting whales. From the end of May we saw some type of whale every day until the end of the season!

The types of whales we saw included Resident (fish eaters) Orcas, Transient (marine mammal eaters) Orcas, Gray Whales, Minke Whales and Humpback Whales:) In the Resident Orcas we had a couple of new calfs to add to the population, which is always excellent news! We saw a large number of Humpback Whales off Victoria again this fall, with the record being 11 Humpbacks during one day:) The return of the Humpback Whales to the Salish Sea is an exciting success story as these whales continue to rebound!

Apart from the whales we saw lots of interesting wildlife including large numbers of Harbor Seals, Stellar & California Sealions, Northern Elephant Seals, Dalls & Harbor Porpoise. The bird sightings in the Salish Sea were amazing with lots of different species of Marine Birds, attracted to the area by the large quantity of bait fish. We even saw Pelicans once again this year off Victoria, as well as Bald Eagles, Great Blue Herons, and even the odd Tufted Puffin:)

Thank you to all our wonderful guests that joined our excursions this season, you helped make 2011 one of the most successful seasons for Five Star Whale Watching! We look forward to seeing many of you again in 2012:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends! Have a wonderful day with your friends and family:)

Highlights from our 2011 Evening Trips!

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Here are a few Highlight images from this season's evening tours! I love evening trips, incredible wildlife and amazing Pacific Coast sunsets, what more could you ask for:)

You can see even more images at our Facebook page!

2011 Five Star Crew & Vessels!

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Kirsten enjoying a stunning sunset!

Marine Naturalist & Photographer, Kaegan.

Captain Bill & Naturalist Christa

Christa & Rachel, otherwise known as the "Mac attack":)

Captain Trev & Christa in costume for the "Boat for Hope" charity event.

Andrew & Christa....... Arrggg Maties;)

Andrew at the wheel:)

Andrew & The Lancashire Lasses from Bolton:)

Taira waiting for the Symphony Splash fun to begin:)

The crew socializing on a lovely summers evening!

Ron Bates, The Whale Guru;)

Cpt Rachel? We hope so next season!

Christa's famous "Deer in the Headlights" impression!

Naturalist Laura enjoying a lovely evening trip!

Naturalist Kirsten & Ron

Naturalist Nick!

Amy & Ron

Here are a few images of the wonderful 2011 Five Star Whale Watching Crew and our beautiful vessels, Fastcat & Supercat! This years crew was one of best ever and made the entire season so much fun:) We are like family and united by the passion for the wildlife we are fortunate to see every day!

Our vessels were designed by whale watchers for whale watchers and offer the perfect platform for whale watching in the waters of Victoria and San Juan Island! Plus our complimentary coffee and especially our hot chocolate are famous:)

This year we had 3 great Captains Trev, Bill & Scotty. Our incredible team of Marine Naturalists included Rachel, Kirsten, Christa, Kaegan, Nick, Laura and Andrew. With guest appearances by Amy, Kyla & Jac:) You were all a joy to work with throughout the season and did an amazing job!

The office crew of Taira, Christa, Nick & Laura were awesome:) Thanks also to Kirsten for helping run the office this year and for the incredible job you did as Sales and Marketing Rep for Five Star Whale Watching! Thanks to your efforts we had one of the most successful seasons in a long time:)

And dare we forget the Whale Guru, Ron Bates, it was a pleasure working with you once again Ron and thanks for keeping us all grounded throughout the season.

The 5 Star crew would also like to thank Five Star's owners, Kathy & Eric Johnson, you are wonderful people to work for and make Five Star feel more like a family once again:)

Aspart of Five Stars Management team for the past 6 years I can honestly say I've never had as much fun as I've had this season and look forward to another wonderful season in 2012!

Thank you to all the Five Star Crew for making 2011 so unforgettable:)

Have a great winter and see you again in 2012!

Andrew Lees
Manager
Five Star Whale Watching

2011 Highlight images by Marine Naturalist, Kaegan!

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Marine Naturalist & Photographer, Kaegan Shepherd.

Here are a number of images by Marine Naturalist Kaegan Shepherd, showing some of the Highlights of the 2011 season! Great job Kaegan:)

You can see even more of Kaegan's images at our Facebook page.

Ron Bates,MMRG, highlight images of the 2011 season!

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Ron enjoying a moment with Amy & her sister:)

Tufted Puffin (image by Kaegan), Ron's favorite bird:)

Here are a number of images by Ron Bates, MMRG, showing some of the Highlights of the 2011 season! Thanks Ron (also known as the Whale Guru), for your excellent pictures again this season and for putting up with the Crazy Five Star Crew;)

Visit our Facebook Page for even more highlights image by Ron, from the 2011 season!

Incredible Final trip of the 2011 Season! Oct 29th, 2011

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This afternoon we left the dock at 2pm for the final trip of the 2011 season and what an amazing trip to finish the season:)

We had received a report earlier in the day that the Southern Resident Orcas had been heard on the Port Townsend Hydrophone at 9am moving north out of Puget Sound (they had been spotted near Vashon Isl the previous day, north of Tacoma)! So we crossed our fingers hoping that they would move far enough North that we would be able to encounter them on our 2pm tour.

In the meantime we received a report of two Humpback Whales south of Discovery Island and that was the first Whales we encountered during our afternoon tour. Amongst the 2 Humpbacks was "Split Fin", I first encountered this particular Humpback back in 2007 and one of my favorite Humpback Whales:) So I was very happy I got to see "Split Fin" on my final trip and say au revoir until next year!

As we were watching "Split Fin" and the other Humpback we suddenly started to spot several dorsal fin near Oak Bay Flats and realized we had members of J-pod withing 200yds of the Humpback Whales:) We watched several members of J-pod chasing Salmon and I managed to i.d. J27 "Blackberry", J26 "Mike", J22 "Oreo", J34 "Double Stuf", J16 "Slick", J17 "Princess Angeline" and J38 "Cookie"! It was so exciting but also a little sad to realize this would be the final encounter of the 2011 season with the Southern Resident Orcas!

This was the perfect trip to end the 2011 Whale Watching season, one of the best seasons we have had in recent years:) I look forward to seeing our friends, both the Marine Mammal's and our many passengers that have become friends, again in 2012!

You can see even more pictures from our final tour at our Facebook site. See the link on the right hand side of this page.

Southern Resident Orcas and 2 Humpback Whales off Victoria! Oct 29th, 2011

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Here are a few images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's incredible encounter with the Southern Resident Orcas and 2 Humpback Whales south of Oak Bay Flats:)

We headed out this afternoon on what might have been our final trip of the season and were delighted to encounter one of our favorite Humpback Whales, "Split Fin" and a friend, just a few miles south of Discovery Island. As we were watching the 2 Humpback Whales we suddenly started seeing dorsal fins popping up over at Oak Bay Flats and realized that the SRKW's that had been reported near Hein Bank had moved swiftly towards Victoria:)

Final Trips of the 2011 Season!

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Five Star Whale Watching will be offering a tour at 2pm on Saturday Oct 29th and on Monday Oct 31st, which will be the last day of our 2011 season!

The sightings have been amazing this year and this has been one of the most consistent years for Whale sightings in recent years:)

We would like to thank all our passengers & friends for their support this season and for helping to make 2011 one of our most successful seasons.

Enjoy the winter and we look forward to seeing you again in 2012!

Humpback Whales & Transient Orcas off Victoria once again:) Oct 26th, 2011

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Here are images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's encounter with Humpback Whales and Transient Orcas (T30's) off Victoria!

Transient Orcas & 5 Humpback Whales off Victoria! Oct 24th, 2011

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We were one of the few boats out on the water this afternoon but still managed to encounter at least 5 Humpback Whales and Transient Orcas (the T30's & T49c) all close to Victoria:)

Earlier we had received a report that a couple of Humback Whales had been sighted east of Race Rocks, which is where we were heading when the T30's and T49c were encountered! As we watched these Apex predators, we observed at least one kill, and probably a second one.

We then headed over to the Mother & Calf Humpback Whale that have been hanging out in the Salish Sea for a number of weeks now. As we followed the Humpback Whales we could see the blows from the Orcas and the mother started to Trumpet and slap her tail as a warning to the Orcas!

Apart from the Orcas and Humpback Whales we also visited Race Rocks to check out the Harbor Seals, Northern Elephant Seals and both Stellar & California Sealions.

Transient Orcas (T30's & T49c) plus 5 Humpback Whales! Oct 24th, 2011

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Here are a few images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's encounter with Transient Orcas (T30's & T49c) plus at least five Humpback Whales, all off Victoria waterfront.

Amazing Breaching & playful Humpback Whales! Oct 23rd, 2011

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Today was one of the most amazing trips of the 2011 season with at least 11 Humpback Whales off Victoria, including a breaching and very playful mother & her calf!

We headed out this afternoon we excited passengers from all over the world including Wales, Australia, England all excited about the possibility of seeing whales in the wild, little did we know the incredible trip that awaited:)

First we headed out to Race Rocks were we encountered Bald Eagles, Nothern Elephant Seals, Harbor Seals and hundreds of California and Stellar Sealions!

The we started to move towards Constance Bank and immediately we started to encounter Humpback Whales, in fact their blows could be seen in all directions and we counted at least 11! We then encountered a mother & calf with one more large adult and as we arrived on scene the calf began to breach, an amazing sight:) As we watched in awe the calf breached, spy hopped, tail lobbed and cart wheeled!!!

We also witnessed the three Humpbacks lunge feeding near the surface and even a couple of pectoral slaps. Just when we thought all the action was over the adult Humpbacks started to tail lob and cart wheel, watching these 30-40 ton whales throw themselves through the area is always breathtaking!

Everyone on board agreed that we had just witnessed one of the most exciting trips of the season and and unforgettable day on the water:)

For more pictures from this wonderful trip please visit our Facebook page at the link below;

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Five-Star-Whale-Watching/83152127193#!/pages/Five-Star-Whale-Watching/83152127193

11 Humpback Whale off Victoria! Oct 23rd, 2011

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Here are some wonderful photo's by Ron Bates, MMRG, from our amazing encounter with at least 11 Humpback Whales off Victoria! Our encounter included a very active and playful Mother & Calf that were breaching, cart wheeling and tail lobbing, for over an hour:)

Superpod (J, K & L-pod) plus 10 Humpback Whales off Victoria! Oct 21st, 2011

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Here are a few wonderful pictures by Ron Bates, MMRG, from an incredible day on the water with all three pods of the Southern Resident Orcas forming a Superpod, plus up to 10 Humpback Whales all off Victoria waterfront:)

We also took our guests to see the wonderful Marine life at Race Rocks that included Harbor Seals, Northern Elephant Seals, California Sealions and Steller Sealions!

Resident Orcas (J & K-pod) plus Humpback Whales! Oct 20th, 2011.

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We headed out this afternoon with our two Expedition Catamaran's, Supercat & Fastcat, with over 60 excited passengers on a beautiful autumn day! During our tour our guests witnessed several Humpback Whales, Sealions, Seals, Porpoise and best of all we had J & K-pod south of Race Rocks:)

The Orcas were doing a lot of foraging and had hardly moved all day, just traveling back and forth feeding on Salmon. We witnessed a couple of breaches by a juvenile, always a thrill:) The Orcas were spread out and everywhere you looked you could see the blow or dorsal fin of an Orca!

It was a magical day to be out in the Salish Sea:)

Resident Orcas and 5 Humpback Whales off Victoria! Oct 20th, 2011

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Here are a few images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's amazing trip where we encountered at least 5 Humpback Whales and members of J-pod & K-pod all a few miles south of Victoria:)

Today we had both our boats out together, probably for the last time this season, and over 60 passengers enjoyed this incredible day on the water!

Transient Orcas & Humpback Whales off Victoria! Oct 18th, 2011

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We headed out this afternoon with a a very international diverse and wonderful group of passengers that were eager to see the wonders of the Salish Sea, and we did not disappoint!

First of all we headed out west and encountered a Bald Eagle and several Harbor Seals at Haystock Island. Next we encountered Dall's Porpoise west of Race Rocks and were delighted when they began to play in our bow and stern wave:)

Our next stop was at Race Rocks where we encountered more Harbor Seals plus Northern Elephant Seals, California and Steller Sealions. We also saw a large number of marine birds and in particular Boneparte's Gulls.

We then headed back to the east where we encountered 4 Humpback Whales including "Split Fin". Whilst we were looking at the Humpbacks we suddenly saw more blows near the sun line and soon realized we had discovered a pod of Transient Orcas:)

What a wonderful day to be on the water, with so much wildlife right off Victoria waterfront!

Transient Orcas & Humpback Whales! Oct 18th, 2011

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Here are a few images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's wonderful encounter with Humpback Whales and Transient Orcas! The Orca's literally appeared from no where whilst we were watching the Humpback Whales:)

Resident Orcas & Humpback Whales! Oct 17th, 2011.

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Here are a few images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's incredible encounter with both Resident Orcas and Humpback Whales! This is why we love October, we often get trips with both Orcas and Humpback Whales on the same trip:)

Apart the whales we also visited Race Rocks to show our passengers the Sealions and Seals that hang out there.

Five Humpback Whales & Dall's Porpoise off Victoria waterfront on a perfect day! Oct 16th, 2011

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This afternoon we headed out into the Salish Sea and encountered a total of 5 Humpback Whales off Victoria:)

We had a Mother & Calf that have been hanging out in the area for over two months now, plus Split Fin, a Humpback Whale that has been returning to the Salish Sea for at least the last 5 years!
Split fin was the most entertaining this afternoon and is always fun to watch. For a while a Sealion was playing around Split Fin, something we see from time to time.

Apart from the Humpback Whales we also saw a large number of Harbor Seals, Steller & California Sealions and even a couple of Bald Eagles! We also had a wonderful encounter with a groups of very playful Dall's Porpoise:)

Another great day on the Salish Sea!

5 Humpback Whales off Victoria! Oct 16th, 2011

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Here are a few wonderful images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's encounter with up to 5 Humpback Whales off Victoria waterfront! Apart from these magnificent whales we also saw two Bald Eagles, Harbor Seals, Dall's Porpoise, and both Steller & California Sealions:)

Transient Orcas out West! Oct 15th, 2011

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Here are a few wonderful images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from this mornings incredible encounter with 7 Transient Orcas a few miles south west of Victoria! This group has not been positively id yet but it could be the T103's.

Apart from the Orcas we also showed our guests the countless Sealions and Seals hanging out at Race Rocks Marine Protected Area, which is always a delightful experience:)

Highlights from recent trips in September & October!

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Here are a few highlights from our recent trips in late September and early October, proving once again what a fantastic time to go whale watching the fall can be:) Over the last few weeks we have had some of the best trips of the season with both Resident & Transient Orcas, Humpback Whales, Minke Whales, Dall's & Harbor Porpoise, Sealions and Seals, sometimes all on one trip! We will continue to offer trips until the end of October, subject to demand and weather.

Happy Thanksgiving & Columbus Day!

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Everyone at Five Star Whale Watching would like to wish our guests and friends a very Happy Thanksgiving and Columbus Day! This year we have a lot to be thankful for:)

Southern Resident Orcas & 3 Humpback Whales off Victoria! Oct 9th, 2011

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We had an incredible encounter this afternoon with the members Southern Resident Orcas (J, K & L-pod) and 3 Humpback Whales off Victoria waterfront!

Our first encounter was with at least one and possibly two Humpback Whales a couple miles to the east of Victoria. After watching the Humpback Whales for a while we headed further south and encountered several members of the Southern Resident Orcas, who were spread as far as we could see across the Strait of Juan De Fuca:) We saw some breaching and tailslaps as well as some foraging (hunting for Salmon).

The Orcas were heading East so we did not want to miss out showing our guests Race Rocks so that is where we headed next. At Race Rocks we saw Stellar & California Sealions as well as Harbor Seals and Northern Elephant Seals!

We then received a report that two more Humpback Whales had been sighted just north of Race Rocks so off we went to investigate. Sure enough we did encounter 2 more Humpback and this time we witnessed some amazing tail flukes:)

Before heading home we went back to the Resident Orcas and found a group of 4 juveniles hanging out and frolicking around:) We even witnessed a double spyhop, a real treat, as well as more breaching and tail slaps.

Today was a very special day with incredible weather for October, wonderful guests and lots of Marine life right off Victoria, it added up to one of the best trips of the season:)

Please visit our Facebook page for even more images from this trip;

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Victoria-BC/Five-Star-Whale-Watching/83152127193

Resident Orcas & Humpback Whales off Victoria! Oct 9th, 2011

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Here are some wonderful images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's incredible afternoon encounter with the Southern Resident Orcas and at least 3 Humpback Whales all off Victoria waterfront! It was a wonderful day on the water with Sun, calm seas, great guests and lots of wonderful Marine Life:)

Resident Orcas, Humpback Whales & Dall's Porpoise! Oct 8th, 2011

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What an incredible day on the water with Southern Resident Orcas, 2 Humpback Whales and bow riding Dall's Porpoise all within a 2 mile area just north of Lime Kiln Lighthouse!

We had an almost full boat of excited passengers today eager to see some of the wonderful Marine Life that can be found in the Salish Sea and they were definitely not disappointed today:) Our first encounter was with group of Dall's Porpoise that charged over to our boat and began bow-riding, an incredible experience!

Next we headed just south Kelp Reef where we encountered a Mother & Calf Humpback Whale. This pairing have now been hanging out in the Salish Sea for almost 2 months preparing for their long journey to the warm waters of Hawaii or possibly the Baja peninsula.

Then we headed towards Lime Kin and a little north of Lime Kiln we encountered members of J & K-pod traveling along the west side of San Juan Island. We had some wonderful encounters and witnessed tail slaps, tail lobs, a couple of breaches, and spyhops:)

On our way home we stopped off at the Chain Islets to show our guests the Harbor Seals and various marine birds. We even saw a number of Bald Eagles today!

Resident Orcas, 2 Humpback Whales and Dall's Porpoise! Oct 8th, 2011

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Here are some beautiful pictures by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's incredible afternoon trip! Within a 2 mile area just north of Lime Kiln we encountered Resident Orcas, 2 Humpback Whales and Dall's Porpoise:)

Resident Orcas Return to the Salish Sea! Oct 7th, 2011

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Here are a few images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from our encounter with members of the Southern Resident Orcas, who returned to the Salish Sea today after a few days out in the Pacific Ocean! We also saw Sealions, Seals, Porpoise and even Pelican's a rare sight in our area:)

Humpback Whale, Sealions and an Eagle! Oct 7th, 2011

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Here are a few images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's encounter with a Humpback Whale, Sealions at Race Rocks and a Bald Eagle!

L41 & L-pod encountered off San Juan Island! Oct 2nd, 2011

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We headed out this afternoon towards Beaumont Shoals after receiving an earlier report that members of L-pod had been spotted East of Race Rocks heading towards San Juan Island.

When we arrived on scene the Orcas were south East of Beaumont and heading towards Hein Bank. I managed to i.d. a number of the Orcas including L41, L12, L25, L77, L94, L22, L79 & L89 & L113!

We also headed down to Hein Bank where we had a brief glimpse of a Minke Whale and also encountered some Dall's Porpoise.

After spending some more time with L-pod we headed back to wards Victoria and on our way had an exciting encounter with some more Dal''s Porpoise, that this time rode our bow wave! We also stopped at the Chain Islets where we saw a Bald Eagle and a large number of Harbor Seals:)

L-pod off San Juan Island! October 2nd, 2011

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Here are a few images by Ron Bates, MMRG, from today's encounter with members of L-pod off San Juan Island. The Orcas identified included L41, L12, L25, L77, L94, L22, L79 & L89!