Captain’s Blog

Orca Spirit Naturalist Corey Vink: The Experience of Whale Watching

January 15, 2019

Corey Vink can feel the emotion welling up inside every time he embarks on a new whale watching adventure as a naturalist with Orca Spirit. “It still gets to me,” says Corey. One of the rewarding parts of his job is that he gets to share that experience time and again with visitors from Victoria, […]

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! […]

What Do Killer Whales Symbolize in First Nations Culture?

June 20, 2018

The killer whales living off the coast of British Columbia hold a strong home in the hearts of the First Nations people living in the Pacific Northwest. Just seeing an orca whale breach the surface of the water from land evokes raw emotions that tie generations of Canada’s First Nations together. In fact, it ties […]

Transient Killer Whales, Seals, Sea Lion & Sea Otter

June 14, 2017

Glassy sea’s were a welcome sight for our whale watching tours today. Although the sun decided to hide for much of the day, the conditions made for excellent sighting capabilities. As we travelled into the Juan de Fuca Strait, guests eagerly pointed out Harbour Porpoise feeding in the productive waters south of Race Rocks. As […]

Humpback Whales, Bigg’s Killer Whales & Race Rocks

June 6, 2017

10 am Excursion We departed the harbour and transited slightly southeast towards Constance Bank, scanning the waters for cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises). The MV Pacific Explorer shifted to a southern direction transiting across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Off the waterfront of Port Angles on the Olympic Penisula, we encountered a foraging humpback […]

June 2, 2017 – Transient Orca, Seals & Sea Lions

June 2, 2017

There could not be a more perfect afternoon! It was sunny and the ocean was calm as glass. We took a turn for the west when we left the harbour and set our sights on locating the male transient orca that was found earlier this morning. We made it to Beachy Head when his tall, […]

May 12, 2017 – Bigg’s Killer Whales & Chain Islet

May 12, 2017

We departed the dock on the MV Pacific Explorer and proceeded east in the Strait of Juan de Fuca towards Haro Strait. Off the west side of San Juan Island, we encountered a group of four Bigg’s killer whales (mammal-hunters) entering the Lime Kiln Park. The T101 group, which consist of the female matriarch T101 […]

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 […]

Southern Resident Orcas & Humpback Whales

August 13, 2016

Saturday morning was spectacular, with sunny skies and really calm waters as we made our way west on the Juan de Fuca Strait. We passed by beautiful and rugged landscapes of Vancouver Island, then something else caught our attention. Triangular black dorsal fins started popping up! We found members of both J and L pod […]