Yesterday - WOW! We could not have asked for a better day with killer whales.

Killer whales swimming in front of Nanaimo harbour! Photo by Mike Campbell

A pod of orca were sighted in the morning heading north through Dodd's Narrows RIGHT TOWARDS Nanaimo harbour! By the time our boat pushed off the dock we were barely able to pick up speed before we slowed down to encounter the whales.

Seals of all shapes and sizes! Photo by Mike Campbell.

We spent about an hour with the T77's in the harbour, moving along Duke Point, Protection Island, and then towards Departure Bay. Just as they did a few days ago, this family of whales spent a lot of time moving in and around the log booms.

Just when we thought the day couldn't get any better, we heard reports of more whales around Entrance Island and then more again on the east side of Gabriola! That's about 20 killer whales, 4-5 family pods, spread out within 30 mins of downtown Nanaimo!! Of course after our visit with the T77's we had to go and visit the other whale families as well.

The T100's, T101's and T65A's were some of the other whales that we encountered and in these pods there are quite a few mature bulls. Having multiple tall black fins surround the boat is something our guests will never forget!

Usually when pods encounter one another we are witness to a lot of socializing, and yesterday was no exception. We were treated to lots of tail slaps from flukes of all sizes. Quick, check out our Instagram story to see Val Watson's footage of these social behaviours!

Two majestic bald eagles. The one with brown feathers on it's head is a juvenile. Photo by Mike Campbell

We have been so fortunate with the number of pods of transient killer whales we've been able to see this spring. We have over a 95% success rate!

June 11th - Killer whales in Nanaimo harbour!!