It was a gorgeous day spent out in the Queen Charlotte Strait on the north side of Malcolm Island, a beautiful place to find ourselves on the first day of September! The water was calm and blue and the sky also with a crisp feel to the day and the orcas had a head start and a fast flowing ebb current enabling them to be well ahead. En route we sighted two humpback whales and rounding Donegal Head we could see orcas off in the distance, they were moving steadily to the west and were spread from Lizard Point to the Foster Islands in small groups and some could be seen porpoising ahead. They were foraging as they made way and we caught up to some of the I15’s, two of whom turned back to the east as did some of the others momentarily, at this point a humpback whale surfaced nearby and we enjoyed some wonderful viewing before it continued on its way east and we to the west. It was a beautiful sight seeing so many orcas spread out across to the mainland with the Coast Range Mountains looming behind as a majestic backdrop! Turning back we sighted several humpback whales off Bold Head and down into Blackfish Sound and making our way back around Donegal Head we sighted one across at the Plumper Islands and another off the north east end of the Pearse Islands. It was in Cormorant Channel that one, followed by another, surfaced suddenly nearby. Watching closely as they surfaced and dived, it was a grand finale to a beautiful day of viewing. Other sightings included: dall’s porpoises, harbour seals, rhinoceros auklets, common murre, red-necked phalaropes++, california, mew and glaucous-winged gulls, bald eagles, fork-tailed storm-petrals and double-crested cormorants.