Humpback whales and Orcas in the fog!

Today's sightings: Orcas, Humpback whales, Dall's porpoises, Harbour Seals, Bald Eagles and two Eaglets, Great Blue Herons, Black Turnstones, Black Oystercatchers, Belted Kingfishers, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets and Red-necked Phalaropes.

Conditions were challenging on the water today as thick fog had formed overnight and was in our company for most of our tour. It had a dense feel about it as well as a slight hint of orange to its colour. Like a fancy cocktail, our fog was now mixed with another substance, smog. The fires that have been burning for the past few weeks, throughout the interior of BC, has caused so much smoke. This smoke has finally made it to Vancouver Island. Although the sun was out in full rays, this fog acted like a barrier, denying us the heat kindly offered.

We had beautiful encounters with three Humpback Whales and two were identified as Squiggles and Guardian. The best part about watching Humpbacks fluke rise up from the sea, is the rate in which it occurs, as though in slow motion. This gives our guests time to take a photograph to capture a memory 'on film' and we get a moment to view their unique patterns on the underside of the tail using binoculars. This tells us not only which whale we are observing, we can then look up the historical record and find out information about the individual. It is wonderful to find out whether the whale is female or male, perhaps it was seen with a first calf last year so we get an idea of the age, and we may even have notes about sightings of this particular whale elsewhere, so we know it's migration route.

Our viewing of Orcas today was superb, the A5's and I15's were among those seen while resting, travelling and socializing activity was observed. How great a day it was indeed!

Seasmoke Whale Watching photo's have been taken with a telephoto lens and cropped