Thursday, October 1, 2009, What a Way to Start OCTOBER!!!

Thursday, October 1, 2009, What a Way to Start OCTOBER!!!

T-10 Transient "Marine-Mammal-Eating" Killer Whales, and a Humpback Whale nicknamed "Split-fin".

The Humpback was just off Victoria's waterfront.

The Transient Killer Whales traveled past Victoria heading East, went through Oak Bay and heading up past Kelp Reef in Haro Strait.

Note the large male T10A, 31 years old and (8.5m (28 feet)long, 8.5 tonnes,with a Dorsal Fin nearly 1.6m tall(nearly 6 feet)).

Also notice the notch half way up the trailing edge of the Dorsal Fin of the older female T10. She is thought to be 46 years old.

Sunday, SEPTEMBER 20, 2009, Morning Trip, Transient Killer Whales, Humpback and Sea Lions near Race Rocks!!

Sunday, SEPTEMBER 20, 2009, Morning Trip, Transient Killer Whales, Humpback and Sea Lions near Race Rocks!!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009, Afternoon Trip, T-30 Transient Killer Whales

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2009, Afternoon Trip, T-30 Transient Killer Whales

Well, well, the T-30's, those "little Dickens" that we watched this morning, turned around and retraced their path back from Port Angeles all the way North East to Eastern Bank in the middle of Juan de Fuca Strait.

After playing around and "skylarking", they got down to business and attacked an ate a Harbour Seal. We did not get a good photo of the half of the seal that they carried away to share.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2009, Afternoon Trip with T-18 Group of Transient "Marine-Mammal-Eating" Killer Whales & Two Humpback Whales!!!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2009, Afternoon Trip with T-18 Group of Transient "Marine-Mammal-Eating" Killer Whales & Two Humpback Whales!!!

When we at Five Star Whale Watching provide our overview prior to our cruises of what to expect out on the water, we usually tell our passengers that there is a good chance that what they will see on their trip will be different from what passengers on our last trip saw. To me this just adds to the excitement as it is a testament to the bio-diversity of the ocean near Victoria.

After a morning with J-pod of Resident "Fish-Eating" Killer Whales Five Star Whale Watching's afternoon passengers witnessed Transient "Marine-Mammal-Eating" Killer Whales as well as Two Humpback Whales!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009, MORNING TRIP with Transient (Marine-Mammal-Eating) Killer Whales T 31, T 11 & T11A

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009, MORNING TRIP with Transient (Marine-Mammal-Eating) Killer Whales T 31, T 11 & T11A

Do you know how lucky we at Five Star Whale Watching are to come to work each day not knowing what we are going to show our passengers...but knowing that it will be something wonderful, even if we know know the specifics.

Will today we have Transient (Marine-Mammal-Eating) Killer Whales?
Resident (Fish-Eating) Killer Whales?
Minke Whales? Humpback Whales? Gray Whales?
Steller or California Sea Lions? Harbour or Dall's Porpoise?
Northern Elephant Seals? Bald Eagles? Harbour Seals?
Even on the very rare day when we don't see a whale there is the mystery, drama or intrigue of why didn't we see them?

This morning we headed out with a report, unconfirmed, of a lone Killer Whale moving away from us out to the West past Race Rocks Marine Protected Area. That animal turned out to be T 31, a large male Transient (Marine-Mammal-Eating) Killer Whale. On our way there we found two more Killer Whales, T 11 and T 11A, also Transient (Marine-Mammal-Eating) Killer Whales searching for seals, porpoise or sea lions to eat.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2009, Afternoon Trip Transient Killer Whales Everywhere!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 23, 2009, Afternoon Trip Transient Killer Whales Everywhere!

To paraphrase Yogi Berra's "No one goes there anymore...It's too crowded!", Five Star Whale Watching's crew was saying "We have no reports of Killer Whales...But we can't get back to Port because we keep finding Killer Whales".

When we left the dock at 2:00pm we had only one report of whales, and those animals were too far away for us to get to. And then, over the course of the next three hours we came across three different groups of Tranient (Marine-Mammal-Eating) Killer Whales, and heard a report of another group 10 miles (16kms) to the North.

Incredible!

Note: Ron Bates of the Marine Mammal Research Group (MMRG) will review these photos and identify who these animals were, as each Killer Whales has been given its own identifier based on the shape of its dorsal fin, Saddle Patch and any obvious nicks, cuts and/or scratches.