To the Frazer River and Beyond!

A group of orcas photographed by guest Adam U from the Sea Lion on June 3, 2008. Yesterday we encountered members of J and K pods waaaaaaay north of the US/Canadian Border just outside of Vancouver, BC and slightly south of the Frazer River. The trip totaled over 60 miles round trip! (But it was well worth it because we got to see the animals foraging for salmon just outside the Frazer River.)

We got some great looks at J17 (Princess Angeline) and her fifteen year old daughter, J28 (Polaris). Polaris is my favorite animal, so of course that made the trip even better. Our guests were excited to see the orcas, and the long haul up there built the anticipation even more. They were able to ask many questions about the animals and before we knew it, we travelled north of the coal docks and Point Roberts and could literally look into the city of Vancouver. This is the farthest we've been on a whale watch and our guests couldn't have been happier.

We caught a few breaches from a distance, but most of their time appeared to be spent foraging and travelling north. We left the animals just south of the Frazer and just in time to get back for our 5:30 trip. We have two trips going out again today and look forward to seeing where the orcas pop up. (They can travel up to 100 miles a day, so even though they were far yesterday, they could end up right in our back yard today.)


Megan Young, Naturalist