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Victoria | Vancouver | Seattle
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Tag Archives: humpback whales

Zodiac Wildlife Adventure Nov 7 12

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Today, Sunday was one of those afternoons when everything magical occurred. With a rather stormy set of clouds above, our 12 noon yellow Zodiac left the harbour. The calm sea however, gave incredible visibility for spotting wildlife. Our seasoned and knowledgeable skipper ‘Mark’, headed south where he had seen some misty blows on the horizon. 5 miles south of Victoria we caught up with three Humpback whales, a mother and her calf and a new whale to this area that appeared to have a fairly fresh tear in its Fluke. We watched these incredibly, graceful whales foraging in these productive waters. Ten years ago there were no humpbacks seen in these inland waters, so it is wonderful to see them return year after year. Our skipper then took us deeper into the south west looking for Orca, Transient killer whales. We found a family of River Otters rushing up a rocky bank and Harbour Seals resting along the shores of the picturesque rugged coastline of Vancouver Island. A stop at Race Rocks Ecological Reserve gave us great looks at a Brown Pelican, a rarity for this area. Steller Sea Lions, and three Elephant Seals were also seen. Just as we were leaving our keen-eyed Skipper saw more misty blows south of Race Rocks. We spent time with these two Transient killer whales, identified at T 87, a male and T88 a female. It was fortuitous to see two different kinds of whale for our guests from Brazil, Alberta and Victoria. If that wasn’t enough we had a beautiful rainbow to top it all off. There were plenty of Common Murres and many flying Ancient Murrelets, migrating through. November brings many surprises. We were so privileged today to see so much incredible wildlife and dynamic scenery from a ‘ Prince of Whales ‘ zodiac. Marie, Orca-Magic

Ocean Magic Adventure Nov 3 12:15

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The Ocean Magic set sail out of the Victoria Harbour at 12.15pm with Capt. Anna at the helm. Scott and Dan were are Naturalists for the afternoon and they shared their knowledge with our guests. Several visitors from The USA and Europe were on board to enjoy the magic of the wildlife here on the coast. Sunshine was the order of the day and we had whales… the really big ones! Humpback whales were seen south and west of Victoria. We observed two initially taking deep dives and lifting their Flukes high so we could see the unique colouration on the underside before they dove. Off in the distance three more were observed traveling together. A mother and her calf and a familiar 4 year old called ‘Split-fin’. Another two Humpback Whales showed up not far off Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. It was amazing to see these behemoths foraging for small schooling fish below the surface. To complete our wildlife adventure, we took in the sights and sounds of the Harbour Seals, and Steller Sea Lions all lounging on favourite rocks at Race Rocks Lighthouse. There were plenty of sea birds on the surface of the water including small Bonaparte’s Gull on their migration. It was incredible to see 7 Humpback Whales in a three hour wildlife adventure with Prince of Whales. Marie, Orca-Magic.

Ocean Magic Adventure Oct 30 12:15

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Our Skipper Anna took our passenegrs out into the Strait of Juan De Fuca to a report, from one of our Zodiacs, of Humpback Whales. We arrived on scene to view three Humpbacks, with another three close by. With a total of six Humpback Whales to view it was hard to tell where to look. These gentle giants would raise their tails each time for a deep dive, such gracefull animals. Our trip then took a tour fo the world famous Race Rocks Ecological reserve. Here we took in the sights of Stellar Sealions, California Sea Lions, Harbour Seals and even a Bald Eagle. This was yet another wonderful marine wildlife tour by Prince of Whales! Clint “Orcawizard”, Marie “Orca-Magic”

Zodiac Adventure Oct 29 12pm

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It was one of those days where the clouds above gave way to some much needed sunshine on the west coast. It was a great day too, to see some of the incredible wildlife found in these waters off Victoria. We had guests from Austria, Holland, Germany, Italy, and Victoria. Our very knowledgeable and keen-eyed Skipper ‘Mark’, headed the yellow Zodiac out of the harbour and almost immediately saw the big, bushy blows of two Humpback Whales in the distance. We motored over and watched a mother and her calf take several breaths at the surface and then saw them take deep dives that lasted 5-10 mins. It was awesome to witness their immense size and noisy blows. South of us and closer to the west, we saw another two ‘teenage’ Humpback whales traveling together. These two were identified by Mark to be 4 year olds that have returned each year to these waters. Their behaviour indicated that they were just traveling rather than foraging. A visit to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve gave us great looks at Elephant and Harbour Seals. Barking California Sea Lions, and growling Steller, were seen jockeying for position on favourite rocks. A cruise along the rugged west coast shoreline showed our guests what a magnificent area of the world we live in. It was another wonderful wildlife adventure with Prince of Whales. Marie, Orca-Magic.

Ocean Magic Adventure Oct 16 12:15

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Yet another perfect sunny, flat, calm warm day. Ok, so it’s not summer warm but it’s warm enough that when the sun shines on you, you don’t need your hat and coat out on the water! We departed the Victoria inner harbour intending to head east to where we heard there were orca off San Juan Island and possibly a superpod. Imagine that in the middle of October. On our way, we came across 2 humpback whales hanging around just a few miles south of Victoria in the Juan de Fuca Strait. We stopped to watch a few of their dives and magnificent tails before heading east. On our way to the orcas, we found a mother and calf humpback whale pair swimming a couple of miles off San Juan Island. The humpbacks have been hanging around in Haro Strait recently (usually over in Juan de Fuca), I am sure this has been very exciting for our friends across the boarder! We arrived at San Juan Island / Henry Island to find members of Lpod and possibly Kpod and Jpod. Passengers got views of some of the youngsters breaching and traveling with their parents. We were fortunate to get a look at one of the new calves L115 + mom L47. You can see images of the calf in the slide show. Video of humpback whales to come. Wonderful day out there, and the sold out boat proved that many other people had the same idea – to get out on the water and enjoy the elements and wildlife.