Captain’s Blog

Remarkably Close Encounters with Orca in 2021!

November 24, 2021

Written by: Lori, Naturalist There are few experiences in life that compare to seeing an orca in the wild. There is something about their unique colouration, intelligence, and obvious power that makes experiences with them absolutely unforgettable. People from all over the world travel to Victoria and book whale watching tours with the hope of […]

Victoria Sightings Report: Brown Pelicans, Whales, Ollie the Sea Otter, and Much More!

July 22, 2021

Weekly Sightings Summary July 12th to 18th As we approach the middle of summer, sightings of wildlife continue to be diverse and abundant here in the Salish Sea! This week was full of experiences with creatures who depend on the salty waters that surround south Vancouver Island, including rare species like Brown Pelicans, mammal hunting […]

New Southern Resident Killer Whale Adoptions!

December 16, 2020

Every year Orca Spirit completes new Southern Resident Killer Whale adoptions from the Whale Museum on San Juan Island, Washington. This year we adopted one whale from both K and L pods.  Adoption funds support the important work of the Whale Museum including the operation of their amazing, educational Exhibit Hall, operating the Marine Mammal […]

Victoria Whale Watching Report: Quadrupal Whale Day! Southern Residents Orcas, Bigg’s Orcas, Humpbacks & a Minke Whale

September 25, 2019

9 AM TOUR As fall settles in, the air on the Salish Sea becomes crisp and the swells from the open Pacific roll down the strait. The fleet fanned out across the Juan de Fuca and Haro Straits to search for whales. We travelled far west and south of Victoria where we found a humpback […]

Victoria Whale Watching Report: Humpback Heaven!

August 22, 2019

MORNING TOUR This morning we headed out West into the Juan De Fuca Strait. After a bit of travelling, we arrived at our first stop with Humpback Whales all around us! This was such an amazing sight to see. Everywhere we looked, we could see small groups of these whales swimming together and fluking. There […]

Victoria Whale Watching Report: Killer Whales, Seals & More

June 10, 2019

MORNING TOUR It was a beautiful, calm morning to set out on the water. We began our search by heading east out of Victoria Harbour, to the Chain Islands. As we arrived, the first things we saw were the birds – many species of gull, pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets, and cormorants. Many of the cormorants […]

Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown with Orca Spirit!

February 1, 2019

It’s that time a year again! Be a Tourist in Your Own Hometown is back and full of amazing things to do right here in Victoria on the weekends of Feb 22-24 and March 1-3. Thousands of people flock to our city every year to experience the amazing food, craft beer, breathtaking wildlife and spectacular […]

Whale Watchers Scholarship 2018 Contest – 3rd Place

December 28, 2018

This is our second year of our whale watchers’ scholarship in order to raise awareness and give back to the community. As we said last year, We understand that the pursuit of education and knowledge will lead to better solutions in the future, and want to help students to be able to afford the costs […]

Transient Killer Whales & Splitfin the Humpback Whale

August 19, 2018

Today was a great day on the water. We had reports of orcas just a few minutes from the harbour when we left the dock. Shortly after leaving the harbour on our 10 am trip, we encountered a well known group of Bigg’s killer whales, the T10s. The whales traveled along the coast of Albert […]