Little Orca Tail

Little Orca Tail
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.

T-102 Sunset Strait

T-102 Sunset Strait
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.

Transient male T-102 cruises southwest into a spectacular sunset off East Sooke Park, in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

T-102 into the night

T-102 into the night
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.

Transient orca gathered west of Race Rocks late Wednesday afternoon. Multiple orca pods and individuals were socializing and feeding on an unknown prey item. The Five Star FastCat stayed with the playful and surface vocalizing orca until sunset.

It was sublime.

Kind regards to all,
Jeff

Transient Orca - Porpoise Predation

Transient - Porpoise Predation
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.

Transient orca pod north of Beaumont Shoal, in Haro Strait attack a Harbour porpoise.

The orca spent nearly 20 minutes using the event as a predatory learning opportunity for the orca calf (possibly T-101C).

The adult whales seemed to encourage the youngest to participate and the calf was seen to attempt to chase after and leap upon the rapidly weakening porpoise. Here in the photo T-101 or 101A (not sure, speculating) drives the porpoise into the air after rapidly striking it.

An amazing sight and powerful reminder of who is boss in the sea.

September 24 - FastCat

Today we had the T20s (T21 and her brother T20) and the T100s (T100, T100B, T100C, and T100D), with T102. In the morning, we witnessed the transients surfing the wake of a large cargo vessel. In the afternoon, we watched the T20s travel past Roche Harbour in Mosquito passage and then went into Haro Strait to watch the T100s and T102. View the photos for the events of Haro Strait! Note: Photos zoomed in and cropped in.

Transient Carnage!!!!

Follow this link to see all of the photos I captured; 24 photos of T100s and T102s killing harbour porpoise

Humpback Whale Exhale

Humpback Whale Exhale
Originally uploaded by Jeff Lorton.

A beautiful encounter with a female Humpback whale and her calf Friday evening finished a really terrific and amazing day of whale watching.

Sept 22nd

I had to post this picture. Amazing! Welcome back Megaptera novaeangliae (Humpback Whale)!


Credit to Jeff Lamarche for the photo.

lpod & 5 star 2003

Sept 19th

Fantastic! Inbound Southern Resident Community of Orcas! We were all so thrilled. 12 days of no J's, K's and L's, and then they all file in past Race Rocks around 9am this morning.



We joined them as they were passing in front of Victoria waterfront, on towards Trial Island, towards Discovery Island. It was beyond amazing. Enjoy the videos below ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCLVsnWoUVo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyXiFqQgK2w

Sept 17th and 18th

Both days we were in the company of the delightful T30's, who have been very convieniently located just off Race Rocks for all trips! T30c has been very boisterous, with breaches and tail lobs! We have seen many behaviours over the past 4 days with this family, and from talking to other whale watching companies, they too have seen many! Porpoises in the mouth of orcas and floating seal intestines hooked out of the water. All music to the ears of a Marine Biologist!

T30's & Fast cat

IMG_9955.JPG
Originally uploaded by orcagirl.

Sept 16th

3 trips today for FastCat. We set off at 9am, with the intention of finding whales! As always! Captain Trev's keen eyes found the T30's out by the VG buoy. They were splashing around and causing alot of white water indicating a possible kill. Our day consisted of watching this family of 4 in the same area more or less, until 6pm that evening. It was wonderful. We saw the youngest perform 2 breaches, and a few spyhops from T30! We visited Race Rocks on 2 out of the 3 trips, and everyone on board enjoyed seeing these great pinnipeds. The afternoon trip had bow riding Dall's porpoises as well, so a great variety to the day for guests and crew on board! Enjoy the below T30 video from the afternoon and evening, and a clip from Race Rocks ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGpbCE2VQ3E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-L54q6GOxs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIyp26X0O4

Sept 15th

Our morning trip had a wonderful variety of encounters. We visited the harbour seals in Chain Islets, and then ventured on south of Discovery Island, where Ian on Cetacean had found a minke whale in the glassy waters of the morning. The people on board were very enthusiastic, and enjoyed the encounter, and the searching for where the minke would pop up next! We then had bow riding Dall's porpoises on the way to Race Rocks, where we saw the seals and sealions.
The afternoon trip found us in the company of the T30's who were south bound in Boundary Strait. The T30's consist of T30 herself, her eldest son, and 2 other juveniles. Excellent encounter. Enjoy the 2 video links below...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfjOvJ1gsU8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TakL5hyDqr0