It was a wonderful time that we had from the moment we left the dock this morning. Traveling towards Weynton Passage we could see a heavy fog was out in the Queen Charlotte Strait while Johnstone Strait was clear and the sun was already warm upon our backs and so it was nice being able to travel in the direction of sunshine when it was reported that orcas were east in Johnstone Strait. The orcas were traveling to the west and we encountered them as they approached the ‘Cliff’, A46 was in the lead foraging, A37 followed close behind with A12 parallel to him but closer to the West Cracroft Island shoreline. A light wind was blowing enabling us to sail and with our hydrophone deployed we were able to listen to some A-Clan vocals that sounded a distance away. The vocalizations belonged to another group of orcas who were sighted on the Vancouver Island side of the strait moving through the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve nearing the western boundary and it was fabulous to see the A34 matriline (A12’s daughter and her offspring). They too were spread out, three mothers and their calves foraging along the shoreline and it was exciting when A55 (A34’s oldest offspring and son) passed close alongside the boat surprising and delighting everyone on board; seeing his body under the water was an image that will last a long while for many onboard today. Other sightings included: dall’s porpoises, harbour seals, a stellar sea lion, rhinoceros auklets, herring, glaucous-winged and california gulls, common murres, red-necked phalaropes and bald eagles.