Center for Whale Research The Center for Whale Research is responsible for the longest ongoing marine mammal monitoring project in the world. This organization is going on 44 years of research in the Pacific Northwest. Its biggest focus is the endangered southern resident killer whale population, which their staff and volunteers monitor from boat and… Read more »
Salmon are an iconic species group in the Pacific northwest. They act as both predator and prey, and their presence is vital to many species, most notably, the endangered southern resident orca. Pacific salmon make up 90% of the diet of a southern resident orca (80% of which is Chinook), and the protection of the… Read more »
Aside from their cultural and economic value, Pacific salmon have a strong ecological value that spreads across lakes, rivers, and deep into the Pacific Ocean. Salmon are a key part of west coast food webs and are especially significant to our endangered southern resident killer whales. There are five species of Pacific salmon: chum, sockeye,… Read more »
So, the season is winding down, and people are preparing for their winter migration or hibernation; this is normally the time of year when I would write a summary of the summer’s activities and sightings, as well as a prediction for what next year will look like. But this year I am forced to write… Read more »
As the tug boat with its load left the harbour, and the cruise ships headed into Victoria, the 3.30pm Ocean Magic 2 vessel turned east on route to find the Transient killer whales that had been seen on an earlier trip. We were traveling north up Haro Strait when word came in that many Orca… Read more »
And what an exquisite day to start 2011 off with. Our three hour wildlife adventure took us just south of Victoria. The weather gave us great conditions with flat calm water and plenty of sunshine. It even felt relatively warm simply because there was no wind for a change.! Our skipper ‘Rush’ headed us south… Read more »
Today may have started dark and wet, but once out on the water the rain stopped and the sun came out. Our Skipper Anna took us west to Race Rocks where we were on scene with a SUPER POD. The Orca from all three resident pods, J K and L were headed east. The Killer… Read more »
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… Read more »
Today the ocean magic set out in search of orca. On route to San Juan Island, we crossed several groups of harbour porpoises. These are small grey cetaceans who resemble a small dolphin. We arrived at Hein Bank where we observed a Minke whale which is a baleen whale about 30 feet in length. The… Read more »
It was a calm and sunny late afternoon when Skipper James headed the 4pm Zodiac out of the harbour and toward the east where Southern Resident Orca were reported. We found members of L Pod traveling slowly toward the shoreline of San Juan Island. They were in a resting formation. We saw the L2 family… Read more »