The day whale watching means we travel to the area of Johnstone Strait near Telegraph Cove on Vancouver Island BC. The resident, salmon eating orca, arrive in early late June and stay through October while the transient, mammal eating orca are in the area all year. Confused? The first serious study of the orca populations in the mid-1970’s started as a summer study so when the scientist arrived in July and left in September the orca were always in the area and therefore there named resident orca. Little did they know that this was a summer feeding area as the orca followed the salmon? The transient orcas, which were in the area, spend more time in the remote inlets in the summer because there was more boat traffic. The transient orca still travel through our viewing area in the summer but this photo is of a resident as determined by the size and shape of its dorsal fin, taller and narrower at the base. Photo provide by guest Alferd Bittner.
Whale watching – Florence and Ray 8

While on our whale watching day we managed to see stellar sealions, harbour seas, eagles and a few dolphins but all these are hard to compare to a humpback whale rising out of the water behind the boat while we are taking a lunch break. The important part of the previous sentence is the word “day”. We are not limited to as four-hour tour like the companies from Telegraph Cove or Port McNeil nor do we arrive late in the morning and have to leave early as the companies that travel from a greater distance. We are close to the viewing area, approximately 50 minutes, and unless it is your departure day there is no set time to return to camp so if the activity occurs later in the day we are later returning to the lodge.
Visit our Blog