What a fabulous day for whale watching! With a clear sky and the sun shining bright we headed east down Johnstone Strait this morning where we encountered orcas. There were two groups, A12 was swimming alongside of A46 and we watched as A37 who had been foraging on his own, took his place on the other side of A12 so that she was in the middle, a beautiful sight to see, and they continued traveling slowly to the east while the other group of orcas, the A34’s (A12’s daughter and her offspring) who had also been traveling east and parallel to A12 and the A36 brothers, began crossing over Johnstone Strait moving towards the other group, finally when they all surfaced, they were all close to each other so that all 12 orcas could be seen moving slowly east together. It was a memorable and breathtaking sight to see the A34’s together with A12, A37 & A46. Leaving the orcas we cruised through the scenic Plumper Islands which were beautiful today with the kelp forests and trees sparkling in the sunshine. Near Bold Head in the Queen Charlotte Strait blows of humpback whales could be seen in the distance and as we drew closer passengers enjoyed the viewing of four whales, it was exciting to watch as they surfaced and dived. It was a glorious day and the lighting was superb. Other sightings included: dall’s porpoises, harbour seals, rhinoceros auklets, herring, glaucous-winged and california gulls, common murres, pigeon guillemots, harlequin ducks, belted kingfishers, red-necked phalaropes and bald eagles.