The Residents are Back! - July 12 Trip Report

Our tour today started with some excitement, with huge strong currents pushing us around and creating rivers and whirlpools everywhere we looked. We cruised through the Stephansons to have a quick look at the harbour seals and black oystercatchers, but were quickly spit out by the current. Soon, however, we spotted Argonaut the humpback feeding in the rips in front of the Plumpers. We had a great time watching the playful sea lions, the eagle chicks, and flocks of phalaropes between surfacing Argo before heading closer to Donagal Head where there was another humpback.

As we were watching the whale, we got some exciting news on the radio from Captain Bill: Northern resident orca were making their way from Lizard Point on Malcolm Island and coming straight for us! We waited patiently and soon we spotted the first orca – a large male heading towards Blackfish Sound. We were in a perfect position to watch the first group swim past us into Weynton Passage. There were orca in almost every direction at one point and it was tough to pick somewhere to look! We suspected the group going towards Blackfish would change direction and go to Weynton with the rest of the group and it turned out we were correct! All of a sudden the Blackfish whales turned around and started porpoising very quickly to join up with the rest of their family! It was thrilling to watch them go by us with such energy and exuberance. Lots of smiling faces on the boat today! We watched all of the orca swim around the point and slowly followed behind them at a distance. They were heading down Johnstone Straight and it was already nearly three, so we had to wave goodbye.

On our way back to Alder Bay and Alert Bay we had a couple of stops for sea otters, which were the icing on the cake. It was a wonderful day and we’re so happy to be able to welcome the Northern residents back to their summer home!

(Only one photo today because Jeannine was too busy enjoying the excitement!)