Whale Watching Report

Today we started our trip by spotting purple sea stars, pigeon guillemots, and a great blue heron right after we left the dock at Cap Sante Marina. We worked our way southward through Rosario Strait where we spotted several cooperative harbor porpoises. Next we stopped at the south end of Lopez Island at Castle Rock to watch some harbor seals hauled out on the rocks. A black oystercatcher was also feeding right next to the seals. Just around the corner we watched an adult bald eagle perched next to his nest with an eaglet in the nest. Eventually we found L-pod orcas just northwest of False Bay. The first two orcas we spotted were L74, Saanich, and L85, Mystery. They were swimming in circles and appeared to be feeding on some salmon. They cruised over and visited us and gave our passengers some great views. The orcas were gradually swimming northward so we paralleled them as they swam. L12, Alexis, cruised by and gave us another great pass. Near the shoreline we saw a few more groups that were becoming active with some breaching and tailslapping. We moved up to take a look at them. L79, Skana, was in this group along with a female and calf. At one point the calf breached for us. After leaving the orcas our next stop was at Colville Island where we stopped to watch another group of harbor seals. Naturalist Bart Rulon