Captain’s Blog
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J-Pod Orcas, Humpback Whales & Race Rocks Ecological Reserve
October 8, 2018
On Monday morning we departed Victoria harbor aboard the Pacific Explorer and headed southwest into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. There had been morning reports of J-Pod (part of the Southern Resident killer whale population) fishing in the strait. It was not long until we saw the characteristic large black fin of a male […]
Bald Eagles, Humpback Whales, Orcas, Seals, Sea Lions
October 7, 2018
It was a rainy Sunday morning but lucky for us, marine mammals are already wet! We took the Pacific Explorer west of Victoria and scanned the water’s surface for puffy, white exhales, dark fins, and foamy white splashes. We made it out to Race Rocks Lighthouse, a marine ecological reserve that is just 9 nautical […]
Bigg’s Killer Whales
October 6, 2018
It was a beautiful fall day in Victoria with the first sun we have had in awhile. Fall is a time when the waters are often like glass and the crispness in the air is refreshing on the water. We traveled east into Haro Strait and turned north until we spotted the distinct fins of […]
Transient Orcas, Seals & Sea Lions
October 5, 2018
Today we headed west in search of a group of orca that were said to have been spotted in the Race Rocks area. As we headed through Race we had seen a few humpback but decided to push further. Once we had gotten more towards Becher Bay we spotted a couple of orca! With there […]
J-Pod Southern Resident Orcas
October 3, 2018
Today it was a little foggy but the water was very calm. We headed east towards the San Juan Islands and crossed the water border between Canada and the United States. As we approached closer to the shoreline, we started to see a few dorsal fins emerge above the surface. They were a group of […]
Transient Orcas & Humpback Whales
October 1, 2018
This morning we headed up by Stuart Island, which is quite a ways east, but were lucky to find and spend some time with a couple of Transient orca called the T11 group. In this group it is only a mother and her son. The mother has a knick in her dorsal fin near the […]
Humpback Whales
September 30, 2018
It is a good thing that the west coast wildlife are equipped for the rain because it was a bit of a wet one for part of today’s trip! We cruised through the Strait of Juan de Fuca until we spotted the blows of humpbacks in Race Pass. We actually came across THREE humpbacks that […]
Humpback Whales, Sea Otter, Seals & Sea Lions
September 29, 2018
Despite the clouds in the sky, we left the harbour optimistic about finding lots of Salish Sea inhabitants! Sun or cloud, rain or shine, wildlife are out and about hunting, traveling, socializing, resting or looking for love! We found such a creature near Race Rocks Lighthouse – the biggest creature in the Salish Sea – […]