August 2010 Sightings

 

- Yikes, what an ugly force gale storm!! No whale watch out today! But our grizzly bear tour went out as planned and once we turned into Nodales Channel, we were sheltered from the winds and we had another great "bear day"!

 

 

-This has got to have been the best day for whale sightings in the last 3 years!!! Our guests were ecstatic and even the local guys on the dock are talking in amazement about it! We had 60+ (!!!) resident orcas come down into Nodales Channel! We had 25 breaches!!! One whale alone did 8 breaches in succession!!! The sheer number of resident orcas coming down that far on one single day is extraordinairy! We are hoping for them to stick around to ring in a fantastic fall season!

 

 

-No whale watch went out today even though there were lots of whales in the area. Our Grizzly trip sure was a hit, we saw 3 huge bears and one of them decided to stop and pose for our guests and some AMAZING pictures were taken!!

 

 

-Whales, seals and bears OH MY! We had a great whale watch with those resident orcas again and the Grizzly trip continues to amaze everyone. Plus our usual sightings of seals, sea lions, porpoises and eagles!

 

 

- The whales were at Eve River in the Johnston Strait, our familiar residents, they are always a vocal bunch! We were also able to show our guests "Mr. Skinny", a very old sea lion, a black bear and about 40 Pacific white-sided dolphins.

 

 

- Camp Point was our orca meeting point today, 5 in total, and again we were blessed with the sight of playful Pacific white-sided dolphins as well. Also came across a steller sea lion, which we hadn't seen in a while, with an eagle sitting directly above. 

 

- Also sent out our FIRST Grizzly Bear Expedition of the season and had a very good start! We saw a sow with her 2 cubs and 2 more grizzlies after that. Every year, when we see them again the first time, we are in awe how big and majestic these animals are!!!

 

 

-We encountered the whales at Bear Bight and had an excellent time with them. Two lots of Pacific white-sided dolphins rode our bows, and the first one even harrassed the orcas!!! They went after them like the crows chasing an eagle! We finally left the orcas at Kelsey Bay. Also saw a black bear, and lots of eagles. A great day on the water and a great show for our guests! 

 

 

-We had to cover a bit of distance today - up to Robson Bight again - but it was well worth the trip! We had our highest number in sightings: 44+ resident orcas!!! Our guests were absolutely thrilled! 

 

 

-Over 40 Orcas today!!! They were all chatting with one another and the different dialects of vocalization were absolutely astounding! It was kind of like a giant family reunion! We also saw sea lions, seals, eagles and porpoises!

 

 

-We found a pod of 8 transient orcas today! They were hunting and managed to catch and eat an unfortunate harbour seal, our guests were very excited and it was definitely better than staying at home and watching the Discovery Channel! Eagles, seals and porpoises made their regular appearances and even though the sky was a little grey, the rain held off and we had a great day!

 

 

-Today we sent out our 4 hour Marine Wildlife Safari and we still saw Whales!!! They have been hanging out closer to Campbell River quite a lot this summer! We also caught glimpses of porpoises, lazy suntanning sea lions, seals and lots of eagles!

 

 

-LOTS of Orcas!! There are more and more coming down Johnstone Strait all the time! We also saw eagles, seals, sea lions, porpoises and a bear!!

 

 

-The best whale watching of the entire year! A 10 out of 10!!!  We encountered them just south of Camp Point and simply turned the engines off and quietly floated in awe with 30 orcas all around us - on either side of the boat, diving under us, coming towards us in line formation, line after line after line! It doesn't get any better than this!!! We had 2 full boats of very, very happy guests!

 

 

-Again lots of orca sightings - 14+! The same groups we encountered yesterday. Lured by thousands of finning and jumping sockeye passing by Naka Creek, the pods were then following them up West. Also had good fun with porpoises, seals and eagles.

 

 

-LOTS of orcas!! 15+ to be more accurate, the pods are slowly coming down from the North end of Vancouver Island! We also saw porpoises, eagles and tons of seals!!

 

 

-Once again we saw orcas (the A23's), porpoises, eagles, seals, and a bear!!!! There was also lots of sunshine and our guests had a great time out on the water

 

 

-We once again found the A23's (a resident pod of orcas), as well as 2 Humpback Whales! The eagles, seals, sea lions, and porpoises made there regular appearance around the boat as well.

 

 

-It was a truely spectacular day out on the water. After travelling very far we finally met up with the orcas and during the long boat ride back to our dock we had an amazing full breach by a humpback whale 10 meters from the bow of our boat!!! After spending some time with him we continued on our way to find another humpback who preformed several breaches leaving our guests in complete awe! We also managed to find porpoises, eagles and seals along our travels!

 

Wednesday August 11

 

-This morning, after a bit of searching, we found the orcas just below Camp Point and were able to spend quite some time with them. Also encountered a humpback heading East, so hopefully he will stick around for a bit. The seals are showing in great numbers, eagles are everywhere to be seen, but especially around and behind Sonora Island are their favourite places to be seen.

 

 

-There was magic in the air today! Having made our way up into Johnstone Strait, we were first to encounter the A23s as they headed slowly West. We happened upon a large school of salmon, where we shut our engines off and drifted. The orcas spent the next 30 minutes milling and feeding on the salmon all around the boat. It was a sight to behold, and our passengers from Germany, Holland and Italy looked on in absolute awe. On our way back we had to deliver seals for our youngest passenger, 6 year old Paulis from Holland, who has a short, life-long fascination with these marine mammals. So we ducked into Gowlland Harbour where we encountered up to 20 lounging on the rocks. A quick sweep of the eagles' nest near April Point completed a memorable day for everyone.

 

 

-We shared the sunset with the A23s, the mountains and some very happy guests! It's always a priviledge to be the only boat in the water, in complete silence, surrounded by orcas and their blows. The currents were fast, and the rapids thrilling.
 

-We were delighted to find both resident and transient orcas today! We also saw both Dall's and Harbour porpoises as well as some big steller sea lions, sun bathing seals, and the ever-present bald eagles! There were white-sided dolphins riding on our stern. We went out for an afternoon trip, and witnessed a transient taking a seal. After the meal an eagle swooped down within 3 feet of the boat to pluck some let-over seal meat from the water. A little bit gory, but at the same time an awesome sight! A black bear on the beach was also a welcome sight to our already very happy guests!

 

 

-The orcas are back again, we saw the A23's as they slowly made there way towards Nodales channel! We also saw porpoises, seals, sea lions, eagles, and a black bear!!! It was a little cold and rainy but our guests were nice and cozy inside our heated cabin and they all had a great time watching all of the wildlife!

 

 

-The Resident Orcas are still at the North end of Vancouver island, but we managed to find some humpback whales, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and eagles!!

 

 

-We once again saw orcas on both our Whale Watch and our Marine Wildlife Safari! A group of marine mammal eating transients swam through the Discovery Passage yesterday! We also found a pod of over 50 playful dolphins, who especially loved riding the bow wave of out big boat, the Tenacious III! Around Stuart Island we had the usual appearance of seals, sea lions and eagles! All in all it was a great trip!

 

 

-We didn't see any orcas today, they have gone far west off the radar at this point. But we saw everything else, including a humpback and just past Port Neville we even caught sight of a grizzly bear! 

 

 

-Ahhhh, what a day in the sun Tuesday was! The wildlife thought so too: on our Whale Watch Safari we had sightings of 5 transient orcas, dolphins, eagles, seals - and even the elusive black bear was out and about again. And it gets better: our Marine Wildlife Tour had a great time as well, with transients right here in the Discovery Passage! They even caught a porpoise while we were with them!!! Our marine biologist was truly excited as well and called it one of his best trips ever: the waters being so calm, and us spending almost 2 hours all alone with the whales and their show was an incredible experience!

 

 

-Another great safari day! We saw absolutely everything but the bear: 10 orcas, 2 humpbacks, seals, sea lions, porpoises, dolphins and eagles!

 

 

-No whale watch out today, but our Marine Wildlife Safari sure did see lots of stuff! There were Dall's and Harbour porpoises, seals, eagles and even a black bear!