August 18th - Killer whales to the north, killer whales to the south

Our vessels Cascadia and Keta departed the dock at 10:30am towards reports of killer whales in both Howe Sound and in the San Juan Islands.

A juvenile bald eagle perched on the beautifully coloured Java Islets. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher

"Rocky"/T2C1 travels slowly in front of a couple of kayakers. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher

Keta had a wet and wild ride as they headed across the Strait of Georgia to the northeast to visit with some of the T124's and T87. Upon arrival our guests were treated to many fins, including a crowd favourite, T87. This male travels on his own and is often seen with the T90's, however today he was with T124D's and T124A1. His fin is distinguishably by the chunk that is missing at the very top.

T87 surfaces with his unique dorsal fin. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes - 10:30 tour.

Cascadia headed south to visit with the T2C family pod of 5 killer whales. T2C, the matriarch named "Tasu", was born in 1989 and is a mother of 4. Her eldest, "Rocky"/T2C1, was born in 2002 and already has a huge tall and straight dorsal fin. When he surfaced guests watched in awe as the loud breath was heard and his fin sliced through the water.

A member of pod surfacing. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes - 10:30 tour.

Orca dorsal fins come in all different shapes and sizes! Photo by Rodrigo Menezes - 10:30 tour.

Tasu's second eldest, "Tumbo"/T2C2, was born in 2005 and has scoliosis, resulting in a severely twisted spine. Nonetheless, the family has stuck together and helped this guy out over the years. On August 19th they were seen actively foraging along Parker Reef where the high tide forced the harbour seals into the water. T2C3/"Lucy" was there to assist and T2C4 "Dynamite" was traveling close to mom learning her hunting strategies. 

Spotting that eye spot during a surface. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes - 10:30 tour.

Matriarch T2C reflects hazy light after surfacing. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher

Synchronized surfacing by three very different dorsal fins. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes - 10:30 tour.

Rocky's huge fin makes him the easiest to distinguish in his pod. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher

Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher

We're still running daily tours on both of our open boats at 10:30am and 3:30pm. It's not too late to get onboard for an adventure!

Diving down in the choppy waters. Photo by Rodrigo Menezes - 10:30 tour.

A juvenile bald eagle rips apart a fish head in front of guests. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher

T2C, T2C4, and T2C3 travel close to one another. Photo by Natalie Reichenbacher