Wildlife Photography by Andrew Lees

Here are more images from todays encounters with L-pod off San JuanIsland. The Orcas were spread out over a wide area all day and actively foraging (hunting) for food.

In the morning and afternoon weencountered most of L-pod off-shore and were observing a lot of foraging and fishing. We also saw some resting behavior whilst wewatched the Orcas.

In the evening we encountered L-pod closer to the shoreline of San Juan Island, again actively foraging.

Here are images from this mornings stupendous encounter with Superpod(J, K & L-pod) just off Victoria Waterfront. Despite the dull weather, neither the passengers or crews spirit could be dampened after this amazing trip! Ron Bates, MMRG, received reports early this morning that a large number of Orcas had been sighted near Constance Bank. Our vessel "Fastcat" was the first whale watching vessel that departed Victoria Harbour this morning around 9am and within less than 10 minutes of leaving the Harbour we made contact with the Orcas a couple of miles west of Clover Point! Not long after we had arrived on scene we soon realized that we had a Superpod as our Naturalist Kyla Graham and Ron, soon identified several members of all three southern resident pods. As we sat with our engines off we could see a large group of over 60 Orcas moving East towards Clover Point and another large group a few hundred yards ahead also moving East. The Orcas were in resting formation and tightly bunched, it was an amazing sight (as can be seen from the photos above)! The Orcas continued East towards Trial Island and seemed to be trying to decide to either go South of Trial or North through Enterprise. Eventually the Orcas did travel through Enterprise Channel and then L-pod split and traveled south whilst J & K-pod traveled towards 10 mile point. Not all of L-pod was present as Mega and part of the L-12's were reported to be heading West past Sooke. With wonderful passengers, an unforgettable encounter with the Southern Resident Orcas and so much other wildlife (Sealions, Elephant Seals and Harbor Seals), this has to be one of themost memorable trips in my career as a Marine naturalist

We headed out this evening with our two vessels, Supercat & Fastcat, full of excited passengers eager to see Orcas and we did not disappoint! A few miles off-shore of San Juan Island we encountered K & L-pod. When we first arrived on scene many of the Orcas could be seen in resting formation, whilst others were actively hunting.

There was one youngster being very boisterous and even made several vocalizations on the surface. As we continued to watch this youngster spyhop and pectoral slap, we suddenly noticed he came to the surface with a fish in his mouth

We also had a nice encounter with K21 "Cappuccino" and K40 "Raggedy". K21 is the oldest male in K-pod but was only born in 1996. K40 is a female born in 1963 and gets her name from the unique markings on her dorsal fin.

On our way home we stopped off at the Chain Islets to show our passengers the many Harbor Seals and Pups.

This morning we had only been traveling for about 15 minutes when weencountered a groups of Transient Orcas (marine mammal eaters), theT100's, near Trial Island! The Transients were moving through the Kelp Beds at Trial, possibly hunting for Harbor Seals.

We then traveled East towards San Juan Island where we encountered members of K & L-pod. The Orcas seemed to be in hunting/foraging mode and were spread over a wide area from the shoreline to 2 miles off shore.

We had a nice encounter with L26 "Baba" and her daughter L90 "Ballena", plus passes by L87 "Onyx", K13 "Skagit" & her son K34 "Cali".

Apart from the Orcas we also saw many Harbor Seals & Pups, Cormorants, a Bald Eagle, Harbor Porpoise and a number of Seagull Chicks

Here are just a few images from this evenings encounter with several members of L-pod including L73 "Flash", his mother L5 "Tanya", her other son L74 "Saanich" and L87 " Onyx".

Apart from a very intimate encounter with L-pod we also saw a Bald Eagle, Harbor Porpoise and several Harbor Seals with Pups! A full moon ended another perfect adventure on the Salish Sea

Here are a few images from today's encounter with a Humpback Whale. The crew on our 12.30pm tour found this Humpback in the middle of theStrait of Juan De Fuca! We had received reports from the earlier boats that there were no other Whales remaining in our area. So we had the job of finding some type of Cetacean to show our passengers and our experienced crew did just that, finding a Humpback Whale a few miles south of Victoria I was able to correctly identify that this Humpback Whale had been sighted in the area in previous years and it was nice to see the Whale had returned once again.

For a while we were the only boat on scene as other boats arrived on scene we left the Humpback to venture over to Race Rocks. Although race Rocks was shrouded in fog we did see several Northern Elephant Seals, Harbor Seals and both California and Stellar Sealions

In the afternoon we encountered several members of L-pod including L85, near Lime Kiln Lighthouse. We had a wonderful encounter, especially as we were the only boat on scene The highlight of the trip was a magnifacent breach by L85 "Mystery"! We also got to see Bald Eagles, and a large number of Harbor Seals and pups.

During our evening tour we had a breathtaking encounter with both J & K-pod off San Juan Island! As we arrived on scene we could see that J & K-pod were stretched from the shore and out to 5 miles west of San Juan Island and moving south. At first the Orcas were in close formation and traveling. Then we started witnessing a lot of interaction, playing and signaling between the Orcas. We saw countless Spyhops, tailslaps, breaches and cartwheels, it was amazing!

Here are just a few images from this mornings encounter with all of J,K & L-pod forming a Superpod out west What a way to end the monthof July! Ron Bates, MMRG, received reports early this morning that a large number of Orcas had been seen near Sheringham heading East. When we arrived on scene we soon realized we had all 3 pods together forming an incredible Superpod (over 80 Orcas) along the shore, it was a sight to behold

We had a spectacular evening Superpod (J, K & L-pod) encounter this evening! We had to travel past Turn Point towards Pender Bluffs but the travel time was worth the incredible experience of watching all 80+ Orcas of the Southern Resident Pods. When we first arrived on scene the pods were milling trying to decide which direction to travel. At first they began to turn to the East towards East point, then we witnessed multiple breaches and tailslaps and then the pods turned West and headed towards Bedwell Harbour. Many of the orcas went right inside Bedwell Harbour itself as they continued West along the southern end of Pender Bluffs.

A stunning sunset greeted us on our return journey to Victoria!

We had a unforgettable summer's day on theSalish Sea today! In the morning we had a surprise visit from T20 & T21 just off the Victoria Waterfront We also saw a Bald Eagle and severa lNorthern Elephant Seals at Race Rocks.

In the afternoon we ventured North East and caught up with L-pod near Turn Point. We saw a number of L-pod High-speed Porpoising down Haro Strait and then at least four Orcas could be seen fishing! We also had a wonderful encounter with L86 and her new calf L112

On our way home we saw Harbor Porpoise, a Minke Whale and several Harbor Seals with Pups What an amazing day!!!