Resident Orcas ~ I15's, a Minke and Humpback Whales ~ Fantastic viewing!

What a fabulous day we had! It all began as we left the dock in Alder Bay when a minke whale was sighted and we enjoyed a quiet viewing of it before we headed east in Johnstone Strait. En route to seeing the I15 Matriline (Resident Orcas) we suddenly saw a humpback whale go by us heading west in the opposite direction and were able to enjoy watching it prior to seeing orcas. Another humpback whale was also feeding in Weynton Passage as we went by as well as dall's porpoises feeding. The orcas were well spread out across the Strait, moving slowly in their family groups with two orcas in the lead, all of them were swimming against the flooding current and the first two orcas arriving at Blackney Passage began to forage in the current as soon as they arrived. We cut our engine and deployed our hydrophone and drifted off Cracroft Point while listening to the beautiful G-Clan calls of the I15's, as well as echolocation as the orcas, following the lead ones, neared our boat. They were relaxed and resting as they slowly moved forward and the viewing was superb as they came closer; we watched in disbelief as they turned, changed direction and made their way towards our boat, and alongside. We all watched in awe, it was incredible viewing. Also seen: dall's porpoises, harbour seals, bald eagles, black oyster catcher, rhinocerosauklets, commonmurres, pigeon guillemots, red-necked phalaropes, herring, glaucous-winged and mew gulls. Today's penned comments:

Thank you for this wonderful trip! It was an experience that we will always remember. Seeing and hearing these beautiful orcas was just incredible. We'll take our memories back home and tell everyone what amazing creatures are here in this area. It showed us again how important it is to preserve these wonderful mammals and their natural habitat. Thanks again, it was simply blowing our minds. Best wishes. 

Steph and Matthais ~ Germany

What a unique, wonderful and mind blowing experience! We feel blessed to be so lucky that we got the chance to watch so many killer whales today! We just got on the boat and we saw a minke whale. Wow!! Thank you so much guys, for your awesome trip and for the info, learned a lot! We'll keep these memories forever. It even brought tears to our eyes...You're doing one heck of a good job, so keep up the good work! And keep making those delicious treats. Thank you so much!

Take care, Sam and Sharon ~ Belgium