A30's & A42's + 6 Humpback Whales ~ Beautiful BC coastline at its best!
What an incredibly beautiful day we enjoyed and the Beautiful BC coast, we saw it at its very best! Waking up early this morning it was raining but by 8.00 a.m. the rain had almost subsided and was gone by 9.00 a.m. and so began the magic of moment by moment changing hues of light in Johnstone Strait and later Blackfish Sound. We encountered the A30's and A42's slowly working their way against the ebbing current at the bottom of Hanson Island and resting in a back eddy with some playful interactions between the younger calves with spy-hopping, tail and pectoral slapping. We observed as they all turned, allowing the ebbing current in Blackney Passage to take them out through Blackfish Sound, the A30's were in the lead with the A42's trailing behind. They were all spread out and angled towards Bold Head with A38 well in the lead and with our engine off and our hydrophone deployed we all enjoyed listening to their beautiful A-Clan vocals. The A23's and A25's were meanwhile working their way east along the Vancouver Island shoreline. It was absolutely wonderful, the lighting was forever changing, turning from grey when we faced east to inky blues when we faced west while whispers of white cloud rose upwards before our eyes. Nearing the top end of Blackfish Sound we enjoyed viewing five humpback whales with a sixth one in Weynton Passage. Also seen today: stellar sea lions spy-hopping when the orcas went by them, dalls porpoises, pacific white-sided dolphins swimming with the orcas, bald eagles, fork-tailed storm petrels, rhinoceros auklets, common murres, belted kingfishers and gull species. Today's penned comments: "It's been a great trip, awesome! Many thanks for taking us to such beautiful places. Next time we will come back to see bubble netting humpback whales!" ~Patricia & Gorka, Spain
"Thanks a lot for the beautiful trip and the good weather you ordered for us after a rainy night! Orcas are just amazing and this will not be our last whale watching trip!" ~ Fabienne, Dirk and Maya, Germany
"Wonderful, we enjoyed every minuter and saw our first orcas and in their natural element. Thank you so much for explaining the local things and for safe guiding and driving and for the humpback whales! " ~ Birgett, Dieter & Tanja, Germany
"What started with thick dark clouds and to be expected a heavy rainy day ended with sunshine as a lovely day with beautiful views into the sky, on the islands and the mainland and of course into the sea. This is truly the home of the orcas and that's the reason why we came all the way from Munich, absolutely worth the trip. A fantastic journey - so many thanks for your enthusiasm, knowledge on sea life and the wonderful muffins and scones." ~ Petra & Wolfgang, Germany
