Tag Archives: Killer Whales

Perfect day for pictures

Killer Whales (orca)It does not matter what the subject of you photo, when you are on the water, you do not want a bright sunny day.  Guests in the lodge are often upset as most mornings are overcast with the clouds burning off by noon.  That is the nature of the north coast and that is good. Bright sun reflecting off the water makes for a poor picture whether of a grizzly bear on the shore, eagle in a tree or orca swimming. Most afternoons on the water are spent maneuvering the boat so the sun is at our backs to improve your chance of a good photo.

 

 

Orca dive Set 1 of 2

orca divingorca tailorca tailOne of my favourite sequence or photos provided by Rob White from Australia.  I told him I had to have a set of the photos and was so happy when he obliged with an email. The sequence shows an orca aka “killer whale” passing close to the boat and a guest with a good eye and a fast finger.  I have never seen another set of photos like this and I have had many guests over the past twelve years.

 

 

Killer Whale?

Underwater orcaSitting and waiting is often one of the best strategy during a whale-watching safari. Orcas like their cousin dolphins are curious and will often approach a boat if it is stationary and quite.  This orca is on its side looking at the boat as it passes by if it weren’t its dorsal fin would be visible above the surface. Not an every day occurrence but often enough to get good pictures.

 

Humpback Whale Watching Safari

HBlungfeed

Luwen & Liwen on a visit from Singapore had several great days of viewing grizzly bears and whales. This days whale watching in the area of BC’s Johnstone strait included a humpback whale “lunge feeding” just astern of our boat.  The idea is to locate a ball of herring from the bird activity on the water and then to move into the proximity of the herring ball and wait for the whales to feed. 

Orca Watching?

glensbest-spyhop08-b028

Spyhoping is an action taken by orca to get a better view of their surroundings. Although most books published on whale / orca behaviour show many pictures of this activity it is very hard to get a picture. If you have your camera pointed in the right direction and happen to be taking a picture on another orca activity you might just get a spyhop.

 

Whale Watching day with orca breaching

Orca Breaching

Orca Calf breaching

These photos are not as good as my guests as I was using a small Pentax Opti 6.0 megapixels and running the boat – that is my excuse.  But I remember the day in Johnstone Strait off the shore of Vancouver Island we came upon an adult orca that seemed to be teaching a younger orca about breaching.  The adult would breach and in less than a minute the younger would do the same.  As you can see there were no other boats in the area and this behaviour continued for fifteen or twenty minutes must have been more than a dozen sets of breaching. As a guide we experience many interesting every summer but this ranks in the top ten for me.

Vancouver Island – Telegraph Cove Area (3 of 3)

Many herring balls form off Bold Head which is a land mass not far from Telegraph Cove a tourist destination on Vancouver Island north of Campbell River. The ideal photo will be one like the one taken byGary Wilson, it is what you hope to have in your picture, a humpback lunge feeding. The plan is to sit near a herring ball and wait until the gulls shoot into the air and be ready.

Vancouver Island – Telegraph Cove Area (2 of 3)

The herring in the waters along the shores of Vancouver Island are at the bottom of the food chain (just above plankton and krill). You know your position in the food chain when your main defense is getting in a tight ball and revolving from inside to outside so you can breath. The many ducks and diving birds in the area force the herring into balls, which try to escape by moving up to the surface. This attracts gulls and attracts whale watching guides and guests.