The title sounds a bit like the start of a bad joke, “ a whale and 15 Orcas swim up to a bar…” but it is a precise accounting (hat tip to Princess Stephanie’s profession) of what we viewed on our whale watch tour out of Fisherman’s Wharf. Let me clarify, this is the total of whales and orcas, we also spotted Harbor Seals, Elephant Seals doing battle, California Sea Lions, the one known Sea Otter in the area and a Bald Eagle, but it was a whale watch, hence the headline.
We were upgraded from the smaller Eagle Wings boat to the 50 person power catamaran due to a spot of engine trouble on the original boat. That was a very good thing as the bigger boat 1. Left an hour later. 2. Was covered and it got cold..so cold they gave out parkas, gloves and tuques (Canadian for knit hats) I give you exhibit A, and this was when we were stopped watching the Orca Pod.
I give you Princess Stephanie modeling the Eagle Wings gear
At the end of three plus hours we had experienced what the Naturalists on board proclaimed the best overall wildlife viewing of the year. One super pod of 15 Transient Orcas that we stayed with for about an hour. The super pod is like an extended family get together for orcas. Ours included what the Naturalists told us was the largest known orca in their records, his name is Rainey and here is a photo of him.
Post whale watch we had a walking tour of Victoria with Dave. Two plus hours of learning a little history and architecture in the beautiful old town. The tour started around the deep inner harbor with the capital and we ended the day at the elegant old Empress Hotel bar for drinks made with their house gin, which was an incredible shade of blue.
Dinner and then a cab ride home to Abigail’s Hotel.