Monday, May 29, 2006

J40 & J41 playing tag


J40 & J41 playing tag
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.

J40 & J41 playing tag 2


J40 & J41 playing tag 2
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
Very young Jpod Orca J40 and J41 play a quarter mile off Sunset beach on San Juan Island.

May 28th

Out hanging around the west side of San Juan Island, with our J friends. They were close to shore, spread out, foraging. We were treated to a few half attempt breaches by a young animal. Rough seas made for a bumpy ride on the way home!

Saturday, May 27, 2006

May 27th


Excellent day. Out all the way to Whidbey Island, a first for myself, to see J-pod mysteriously hanging out off the airbase around 3pm. Our 6pm evening trip found us traveling along San Juan, south west to Salmon Bank, and we saw groups of orcas all over the place. Offshore, inshore. We had a marvellous aerobatic display from Ruffles and Co, which involved them in a tight knit group breaching and doing back flips close together. Incredible. As more and more groups of orca were seen all over the place, we realised we had more than J-Pod here. After a beautiful look at L79, Skana, we realised we had a questionable amount of L's here. How magnificent. Only vessel on scene, oh how we love the evening trips!

Thursday, May 25, 2006

May 25th

Todays trips found J pod hanging out with several groups from the wonderful L-pod. They spent the morning moving north along the west side of San Juan island. Our afternoon trip found L-pod in 'Conference call mode', as they were undecisive on which direction to head. Follow J-pod through Active Pass? Venture back south? No, they tootled past Active Pass, north bound between Saltspring and Galiano Island. Where will tomorrow find them?!

May 24th

This morning found us venturing north east up to Bird Rocks in Rosario Strait where Ron had word from friends in the know, that J-pod were south bound in that area. The afternoon trip also found us out with J-pod off False Bay, San Juan. I had a surprise visitor on board, a friend from school in the UK, who found me on this blog. So any other friends, come say hello!

Monday, May 22, 2006

May 21st



Well 2 trips full of surprises today. We had J-pod off San Juan Island, and saw 4 breaches, Ruffles was lunging at the surface as he pursued a salmon or two! There was 2 minkes in the midst of J’s off Salmon Bank. We had a group of 4 or 5 harbour porpoises that we were passing by, and I saw one full body breach out of the water! I was amazed. Then to top it all off we had reports of a humpback whale in the harbour no less, our first humpback of the season. We came across the young animal off Ogden Point, east bound along the shore. Excellent day!

Sunday, May 21, 2006

May 20th - pm



Our afternoon and evening trip found us in the company of J-pod who had remained elusive that morning - grrr. They were in foraging mode in the afternoon, but we had a nice visit with Granny and Ruffles. The evening found us at Eagle Point where J's were bunching up together, we had a few younger members do a breach or two, and then they all settled down and had a bit of a snooze as they slowly ventured north towards Lime Kiln. Beautiful evening with spectacular animals.

May 20th - am


The day started with no reports, so we ventured north along Oak Bay in search of T's or a gray whale. No luck. We came across several feeding groups of Dalls porpoises and a hybrid or two within off Turn Point. On the way home we had 2 nice surprises perched on the Kelp Reef marker, a mature bald eagle atop, and a steller sealion at the concrete base!

Saturday, May 20, 2006

May 19th


Yeahhh - great big long trip up Rosario strait to see J pod off Tide Point, Cypress Island. They must have been kicking their tails some, because the afternoon trip had them at Pile Point, San Juan! Pretty darn good athletes these orcas!!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

May 18th

Oh what a fantastic day. An 8am report told us that J-pod were off San Juan Island, so off we trotted at 10am, and found the whole family north bound in a leisurely manner at Turn Point. On our way home we encountered a group of Dalls with 2 hybrids within the group. We noted a second group by one of our collegues, and they had a 3rd hybrid that was a grey brown coloration with a dark dorsal. very noticable even from a distance. By the afternoon trip we were pleased to find out that J pod were south bound and were all in foraging mode from Pile Point to Eagle Point. On our way home we had a surprise pop up from a lone grey whale in Enterprise Channel off Oak Bay. A great finishing point for the days trips.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

May 17th

Our two trips today did not find any orcas, but we had a brief encounter with a few playful Dalls Porpoises. We came across a small group of harbour porpoises foraging in the tide rip at Beaumont Shoals, with some young calves in tow. Fog at Race Rocks made for a mysterious sighting of the sealions and seals, with a fantastic standing tidal wave in mid Race Channel!

May 16th

After joining the SuperCat crew for the evening trip, we set off into a strong flood tide that was meeting some swift winds in the opposite direction, resulting in some 6-8ft seas. Very frustrating to be in the very place where we assumed J-pod would be, and we could not see them anywhere! Great bunch of people on board who loved every minute!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

May 13th

9am trip for us this morning, which found us in full search mode. No luck finding J-pod, which were reported later on in the trip to be somewhere around East Point. We had a collection of feeding Dalls porpoises, pairs of bald eagles up in their trees, and the usual comical harbour seals. Sunny skies and calm waters made for an enjoyable trip.

May 12th

Oh, the start of evening trips. Our 6pm trip turned into a very late 7.25pm trip. So we headed towards Lime Kiln Lighthouse, where we had heard that J-pod had been last. Our eyes and binoculars were trained along the San Juan shoreline and slightly offshore. Captain Trevs keen eyes scanned across to Kelp reef and D'arcy island, and what d'ya know, J pod were spread from Kelp reef to the north end of Sidney Island. Resting time, they were lazing at the surface in their 2's and 3's. Amazing vocalisations too!

Friday, May 12, 2006

May 11th

2 trips today. Up good old Haro strait on both occasions in search of marine critters. we have an active feeding group of harbour porpoises, east of Kelp Reef, and then bowriding Dalls in Andrews Bay. 2 steller sealions resting side by side in the water on the south end of Speiden Island. Bouncy seas made for a rough ride home!

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

May 10th

Lovely collection of 4 couples on board, who were all extremely interested in everything out on our morning trip. we ventured round Trial Island, Enterprise and Chatham, admired the many mature and immature bald eagles around. Round to Race Rocks to see the usual suspects. Had an elephant seal wobbling down its perch, at 'top speed' (for an elephant seal!).

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

May 9th

Another early morning on the water, with a lovely excitable group of Thai kids, visiting Canada on a scholarship! Can't be bad! Search mode for orcas/minkes was unsucessful, but the passengers were happy with seals, bald eagles abound, calm seas and a warm sun.

Monday, May 08, 2006

May 8th


This mornings early 9am trip found us out at Race Rocks, admiring the jostling going on between elephant seals, quite active for a change, and seeing our sealions and seals lazing up on the rocks.
after receiving a report from the Victoria Clipper we excitedly headed to San Juan Island, where we found J-pod spread out in foraging mode. Two nice encounters with Mike and Speiden. In the afternoon trip we found J's bunched into two groups, heading north past Lime Kiln. great to see J-pod again.

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Fisgard Light


Fisgard Light
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
Bad Weather Rain and Wind. Ugh! Then this sight at the end of the trip. Really. The Sea Lions, Eagles and Elephant Seals, plus this moment at the Fisgard lighthouse, really made for a great trip.

Young Calgary Boy


Young Calgary Boy
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
This young whale enthusiast liked learning lost about the whales from Tove. I think Tove really enjoyed his excitment.
Ok, Claire's first time creating a blog, so testing testing, one two, one two. Yeah, a very blustery, wavey wet day on the water today. Great to see several stellar sealions logging together, heading off for a hunt together in the high waves off Race Rocks. Brave UK folk on board today. We Brits though, we can handle anything out there, and come back having had a great time!

A blustery day on the water.


Race Rocks Light Station
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
Race Rocks was a dramatic respite after the bumpy waves and steady 15 knots of wind. Great Race was very pretty though, (even in grey).

Friday, May 05, 2006

Dalls Porpoise Salmon Bank


Dalls Porpoise Salmon Bank
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
One last encounter as we headed home was with a small group of Dall's Porpoise; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dall’s_Porpoise
Every one was thrilled to see them race by, in and out of our wake wave and then zip past our bows.

Dalls Porpoise under water.


Dalls Porpoise under water.
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
Fast and friendly this Porpoise played in front of our bows.

Traumatized by my big head!


Traumatized by my big head!
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.

Having fun!


Having fun!
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.

Claire Mosely Our Marine Bio.

Claire loves to share here knowledge of the marine world with our guests.

While slowly idling away from Whale Rocks...


Minke Whale
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
We were delighted to see some two dozen Harbour Porpoise on the Starboard side of the boat. Suddenly Capt. Trev spotted a small Minke whale off the Port side! I went to the back deck to let the folks know about the Minke Whale and found them all looking up! A Mature Bald Eagle was hovering just 50 feet overhead! Wow! animals everywhere!

Whale Rocks; Steller Sea Lions and Seals


Whale Rocks Steller Sea Lion
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
30 Minutes after leaving the Orca, we visited Whale Rocks marine wildlife refuge. The preserve is under private monitoring and may become a part of the San Juan Preservation Trust. Read more: http://www.sjcmrc.org/minutes/minutes_july6_05.htm

Learn more about Steller Sea Lions here: http://stellersealions.noaa.gov/

J Pod Spotted at Bird Rocks


J Pod
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
The SuperCat was flying down the Strait at nearly 28 Knots when we sighted some friends and The Whales just north of Bird Rocks. Well spread out over two or more miles the pod was taking advantage of a strong ebb tide and were "coasting"
down towards Colville Island. See the map: http://static.flickr.com/51/106676420_decd79a45c_o.jpg

What a great trip! Orca & Minke whales plus Porpoise and Sea Lions


J Crew
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
With the J Pod Orca coming south down Rosario Strait on Thursday the SuperCat headed for the entrace to San Juan Channel. The Orcas position in mid Rosario made for a interesting and unusual route throught the heart of the San Juans. Comming out of Peavine Pass between Orcas and Lopez Islands, we turned to starboard and started looking out for J Pod whales.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

I think they had a good time.


P5021587.JPG
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.
These two with Dad and her brother inside were enjoying the SuperCats back deck. Just windy enough to feel a little thrill!