The millions of visitors who travel to Victoria, British Columbia each year are normally satisfied with the endless colors and truly artistic floral patterns of spectacular Butchart Gardens; or with the diverse learning experiences of the world class Royal BC Museum. We enjoyed both. And with perfect weather, our entire group was indeed satisfied. But we wanted to go one step further. Our afternoon departure from the provincial capital had but one purpose - to find killer whales!
The whitecaps of a brisk southwesterly gale in Juan de Fuca Strait presented a challenge. Misty spouts of Orcinus orca, the largest member of the dolphin family, would be blown down quickly, and all but the tallest of dorsal fins would be hidden by the 5-foot, rolling waves. Persistence paid off, though. Buoyed by a report from local whale watchers, we headed well offshore into the US side of the strait, and with the wind at our stern and eyes straining, finally spotted our quarry -- an impressive pod of whales, perhaps 30 or more, heading directly toward us and then circling. The low-angle light was perfect, with spouts glowing briefly and wet bodies reflecting the sun like a mirror.
Our many photographs will eventually reveal the true identity of some of the individuals within this group, and then their pod names. But for now it would appear that we had encountered a very rare event. These spy-hopping, tail-lobbing, breaching animals appeared to be members of the northern resident pods from the Johnstone Strait area of Vancouver Island. Here they were in Juan de Fuca Strait - the heart of the territory of the southern resident pods. Only on a few occasions has this invasion of territory - as friendly as it probably is - ever been recorded.
