September 4th

This morning got off to a fantastic start for we had not gone far when we caught sight of a lone black bear foraging through piles of washed up bull kelp in search of crabs! A little bit further on we encountered our first group of Dall's porpoises as they charged to the bow of the SV Tuan jostling for front place amongst the surf, their black and white bodies flashing under the water. Excitement grew as we spotted the distant blows of transient orcas as they foraged for seals along the shoreline where we observed a possible kill. There was lots of localized activity, as well as spy hopping and the odd tail slap, all of this overseen by the ever hopeful sea gulls hoping to snatch some free food. We eventually left the transients orcas as we sailed into Blackfish Sound in search of other cetaceans, though we hadn't gone far when we got caught up with a frenzied pod of Pacific white-sided dolphins! There seemed to be excitement everywhere, numerous dolphins were bow riding the SV Tuan, while other individuals were mobbing a pair of foraging humpback whales 100 meters in front of us. Where ever we looked something was happening! The journey home was just as action packed, for no sooner had we left the dolphins and humpback whales we then encountered another group of bow riding Dall's porpoises as well as 80+ hauled out Steller sea lions.