Surprise Tour End

The wildlife kept us on our toes today. With less boats on the water our skipper and guests have to work extra hard to scan the horizon in search of distant blows and dorsal fins or flukes breaking the water.

The Humpbacks are the easiest to spot being at least three times larger than our resident toothed whales. Aswell their blows are three meters high and with no wind, this moist air lingers giving us more opportunity to find them. Numerous Humpbacks were seen today, all were foraging and diving deep. On occasion a fluke or pectoral slap was witnessed, the sound carried across the sea.

We observed a Harbour seal with a prize catch, carrying a salmon in its jaw. The abundance of seals, both adults and pups always adds an element of cuteness to the tour as they lay like a banana perched on the rocks and close to the water’s edge.

Eagles were present and a few Dall’s porpoise cruised on by however the big surprise of the day was the sighting of a group of at least 17 Orca which were first sighted by a fisherman near the Nimpkish River. As we headed towards Alder Bay, our first of two drop off points we were astonished to see Orcas swimming at a high speed, side by side and all surfacing at once; what a thrill to see them moving in such a synchronized way. They are truly an elegant and graceful creature with the astonishing contrast of black and white colouring. We are still unsure which pod this was but one guess is one of the Southern resident groups. We shall soon hear when the local researchers share the report.

By the end of our tour the low lying mist and fog burned away and brilliant sparkling sunshine warmed us and made the water glimmer like diamonds. A great day to share with our visitors.