Sunshine on our shoulders made us happy - and whales did to!

What a stunning, hot, summery day and with fog that only lasted for fifteen minutes. We were all very happy to be able to see where we were going and have an easier time looking for whales. 

It was a busy day out on the water with sports fishing boats trawling along the coastline, a few tugs with numerous logs under tow and groups of kayakers silently paddling by. The whale watching boats were working together trying to find whales and with cooperation we all had success. Drifting in silence we enjoyed a lone Humpback whale which foraged in circles in a strong ebb current. We soon decided to make our way to a region where three Humpback blows could be seen from a distance. Once in the area, we watched synchronized surfaces by three different whales, perhaps two of them were the mum and calf. The sun was strong, the wind calm, so their blow lingered as it drifted high to the sky and the water descending from the fluke glistened in the sun. 

We heard a report of Orca in the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve and decided to investigate. We sat at the Western boundary and observed a group of at least six Orca close to the shore and only visible through the binoculars. How relieved to know that they have one place to go where boats can not.  

By the afternoon another group of Orca had made their way in from the west which enabled our second group of guests to get a closer look. They rested in their family group, side by side as though nearly touching. 

A stellar Sea lion wrestling a salmon, Harbour seals discreetly following us, Bald Eagles drying their wings and bow riding Dall's porpoise were all the sights and scenes we enjoyed during a hot summer day on the Northern Coast of Vancouver Island.