Breach Summer Continues! Our Port Angeles afternoon trip on July 30, 2025 was a fantastic reminder that the best encounters don’t *always* coincide with the best weather. It was a challenging day with both wind and fog, but we headed north with reports of orcas in the Sooke basin (Vancouver Island). It was a choppy journey across with limited visibility but we made it and our hard-fought efforts were rewarded! The waters in the basin were calm, but we only got a few good looks at the the T109As before they headed out into the Strait again. While the wind picked up, the real party started as the pod traveled west along the shoreline.
All of a sudden, the entire family stalled out near a large kelp patch and the surface behaviors began! Nearly constant breaching, headstands, tail lobs and pec slapping started and didn’t stop…for over 20 minutes! Guests and crew were too in awe to actually count, but estimated we witnessed nearly 50 breaches before we had to turn and head home (and they were still going)! All the crew agreed it was the most consistent surface activity we’d ever seen from a pod of Bigg’s, and felt so lucky we were in the right place at the right time to take it all in. – Naturalist Rachel R.
