JULY 12, 2008

What a glorious day to be out on the water. Cruising down Johnstone Strait this morning we were headed in the direction that the incoming orca pods had taken more than an hour earlier. We passed small groups of Dall’s Porpoises along the way who were intent on feeding, as well, several small flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes that were feeding at Cracroft Point. We had clear visibility and numerous blows could be seen well off in the distance in the vicinity of the Robson Ecological Reserve. It was exciting seeing them there and realizing that they had stopped to rub. As it was, their rubbing at the beaches was brief and all of the pods (the A11’s, A23’s, A8’s and G17’s) began heading back to the west, some inside the Ecological Reserve Boundary and some well outside. We had some wonderful viewing of the G17’s and the A11’s including A73 (Springer). A few pacific white-sided dolphins were among them as they traveled, one was observed to be with A73 who was foraging alone at one point. As quickly as they had headed east, they headed back to the west, some foraging was observed. Seeing the familiar sight of the orcas, back in Johnstone Strait was indeed a wonderful sight!