Captain’s Blog

J-Pod Southern Resident Orcas

August 18, 2018

We set out this morning with high hopes of finding whales and discovering other surprises in the process. We received a report that one of the Southern Resident pods known as J-pod was inbound from the open Pacific! It was a long run, but worth it because we came across ALL of J-pod near Sooke! […]

Port Renfrew Tour, A Whale Extravaganza

September 14, 2017

The last tour of the season brought us more whales than we could count! Cruising up to Carmanah lighthouse. Taking in the epic beauty of the ocean carved shorelines we soon spotted a few blows in the distance. A group of killer whales appeared. Quickly ID as members of J-pod of the southern resident. After […]

May 31, 2017 – J-Pod Orcas

May 31, 2017

As most days begin, today we could not wait to get off the dock. Beautiful skies, calm water, and reports of J-pod near by, we darted off East this morning. We were able to catch up with J-pod as they traversed North along the Haro Strait. Members were spread out along the straight with many […]

May 7, 2017 – JPod Southern Resident Orcas Return

May 7, 2017

This morning was a special treat in the Victoria whale watching world as we welcomed one of our Southern Resident Killer Whale pods back! Our morning trip didn’t have to go too far out of the harbour before encountering the J16 family group of J pod heading east towards their favorite foraging grounds. The J16s […]

Remembering J-2 Granny

January 13, 2017

The Orca Spirit family is mourning the loss of the oldest member of the Southern Resident Killer Whales and the oldest known orca in the world, J-2 Granny. Granny was a force to be respected on the water. This ultimate matriarch led J-pod with intelligence that only a wise leader could; a whale who has […]

A Record Breaking 2016

December 18, 2016

Here at Orca Spirit, we can’t believe another whale watching season has come and gone. The flurry of activity from spring until winter makes the time fly by, but every season is unique and memorable no matter how busy we get. The 2016 season was full of surprises, from unexpected visitors, record setting sightings of […]

Why is it So Hard to Watch Killer Whales Hunting?

August 30, 2016

The slight fluttering of the water’s surface is always a dead giveaway. At first you tremble with excitement as you realize what’s currently happening, but then, more often than not, you cringe in terror from what’s about to happen. Killer whales hunting in the wild is one of our planet’s most powerful scenarios, and it’s […]

August 29, 2016 – J, K and L Superpod!

August 29, 2016

Our morning trip raced out west to Sheringham Point in order to catch up with our Southern Resident Orca. When we arrived we realized that all three of our resident pods were spread out over a large area. Our captain took us to see several groups of orca with members of all pods represented. At […]

Resident Orcas and Amazing Humpback Encounter

August 24, 2016

Today was a beautiful sunny day spent searching for whales on glassy calm waters out in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Our morning trip journeyed west along the shoreline of Sooke to catch up with a group of our resident killer whales who were on their way out to the open Pacific in search […]