A day of Biggs (Transient ) Orcas ~ a beautiful day and evening on the water!

Today's Sightings: Biggs (Transient) Orcas, Dalls Porpoises, Harbour seals++, Humpback Whales, Stellar Sea lions, Dall's Porpoises, Bald Eagles, Belted Kingfishers, Red-necked Phalaropes++, Cassin's Auklets,  Black Oystercatchers, Marbled Murrelets, Black Turnstones and Rhinoceros Auklets+++. Beautiful Intertidal marine life: Sea Urchin, Anemone and Sea Stars!

It was an incredibly intense day with the viewing of Biggs (Transient) Orcas on our morning and afternoon tours and Humpback Whales on our evening tour. Biggs (Transient ) Orcas prey mostly on marine mammals unlike Northern Resident Orcas who target mostly Spring Salmon. The Transients (T046s) were on the hunt this morning and a Stellar Sea Lion finally managed to escape by heading to shore after an intense battle. The Transients travelled into Johnstone Strait via Weynton Passage and then turned east while yet another group travelled east in Blackfish Sound. The leading group of these Transients were the T019s and T018 who continued east in Johnstone Strait while others, the T060s, T090s and T02B ventured into Baronet Passage and these orcas we viewed on our afternoon tour.

Highlights were numerous throughout the day, not only of orcas but also of numerous Humpback Whales which included Freckles among the sighting of six on our evening tour. There were hundreds of Rhinoceros Auklets feeding this evening, it was amazing to see them diving under water and reappearing with herring in their beaks! The evening tour was made magical with a beautiful tail lob by a Humpback Whale and a glorious setting sun as the grand finale!

Photo credits: Sarah Hauser. Please note that the photos have been taken by telephoto lens and cropped for viewing purposes.