We departed the harbour with hopes of finding the humpbacks that our zodiac found in the morning. We set out under sunny skies and breezy conditions. The breeze kissed our faces with salty sea spray.
Before long we saw it. The blows from a group of Bigg’s Transient killer whales. The group was the T37as and T99s. This all female and juvenile group (no mature males) was milling doing circles and changing direction quite frequently.
Then a few made a few quick leaps breaking the surface just enough to show their white eye patches. Then they did some tail lifts and slaps. Activity like this is unusually playful these whales that rely on stealth when hunting. Clearly they were off the clock and just having some fun.
It was most exciting when the group disappeared for a bit. Suddenly they popped up closer to our boat. We follow approach distance regulations , however if the whales come closer we stop our engines. One of the whales belly rolled and checked out our boat before turning away to rejoin the group. It was a magical moment.
We then went and found a humpback whale. It was busy feeding, doing deep dives with short surface intervals. We even saw the bait ball of small fish. Bait balls attract birds and humpback whales alike. The tight ball of fish makes for easier feeding.
We went over to race rocks to wrap up the trip where we saw (and smelled) many sea lions and harbour seals. Even Harry otter the sea otter made an appearance. What an amazing afternoon on the Salish sea.
Check out our Facebook albums for all the photos from the day.