September 28, 2009

Good morning from the Float House in Discovery Harbour Marina

Yesterday morning we had Transient Orca in the kelp bed at Willow Point (T20 & T21) and about 14 other Transient Orca (T101,& 101b T2's and many others) between the south end of Quadra and Cortez Island. The mob of fun loving, spy hoping, tail flapping Orca near Cortez were the most active group. The social behavior of these mammals is usually low key but in the past week it has been "party time / love-in with lots of vocals and displays by males, both young and old. (Pic attached) With the water calm and the morning sun on the water, our guests got some amazing pictures.

The Grizzlies at the Orford River maintained their morning fishing ritual and came out for another day of "catch and eat" yesterday morning. The number of bears we are seeing each day seems to be consistent at around 8 - 10 in this lower part of the river. (about 4 km up from the estuary) Grizzly viewing is just spectacular at this time of the year! (we still see people attempting to view bears at the mouth of the river and there just aren't any, especially at high tide like it has been the few days. In fact if you are planning to go Grizzly viewing, the only quality viewing is done at the viewing stands about 4 km+ up the river)

The Chum Salmon are beginning to make their mark on the dock however we are far from the main flow. The bright days are helping this fishery and with a few nice sized Coho and late run Chinook in the mix, fishing out there is quite exciting!

Beautiful sun rise this morning with calm seas forecasted however it looks as though we'll have showers later on this afternoon and into tomorrow.

Hope you have a productive day at whatever it is you are up to!

Cheers

Hurricane Jack
Campbell River Whale Watching