humpback whales and orca watching today
It was a fabulous day from the very beginning when the little family of river otters were first sighted on the dock at Alder Bay followed by a brief sighting of a minke whale by two of our passengers who not 
sure at what they were seeing. As we headed east, looking back a minke whale finally surfaced, having travelled further west of Alder Bay, a considerable distance away. Nearing the
Stephenson Islands two large
blows could be seen beyond the largest island and as we made our way slowly past some hauled out harbour seals (mothers and their pups) black oyster catchers and ruddy turnstones on rocks, we could better see that
two humpback whales were travelling together; surfacing and diving simultaneously, they were extremely graceful to watch. A third humpback whale was also seen making its way
towards Stubbs Island from the west and while we were watching the two companionable whales together, a third one surfaced behind us but closer to the Plumper Island shoreline. It really was incredible
because by now, we had also heard the report of the two orcas (A36 brothers) A37 & A46 who had just passed through Blackney Passage at the bottom end of Blackfish Sound and while our viewing of the humpback whales was superb, we began making our way down Blackfish Sound hoping to also see the two orcas. Across at Bold Head two more humpback whales could be seen and a third one was off West Pass bringing our count of humpback whales (near and far) to seven in the area today which was remarkable. Approaching Cracroft Point the two orcas could be seen foraging back and forth and as we came closer, A37 continued foraging near Cracroft Point while A46 began crossing Johnstone Strait where we later observed him foraging near little Kaikash Beach. It was fabulous seeing the two brothers and to also hear their A-clan calls and ecolocation via our hydrophone. Other species also seen today: Dall's porpoises with one bow-riding, stellar sea lions, bald eagles, red-necked phalaropes, herring and glaucous-winged gulls.