I really want to see orcas

[sam73]

So I am trying to plan my vacation for next year. I really want to see orcas in the wild. I know that San jaun islands has them there. So that is one choice. I'm also thinking about an Alaskan cruise. I love to cruise. I figured I'd see a lot of beautiful wildlife and scenery. However Its a dream to see orcas. What ports are good for orca sightseeing?

[marden1970]

We saw them last year on our whale watching excursion in Juneau.  

[xlxo]

Yep, if you make it to Seattle or Vancouver.  Lots of orca whale watch trips to choose from.  In Vancouver, I recommend trips from Storybrooke (Steveston) as it's a shorter ride to the whale feeding areas.

 

Otherwise, you can check out the Prince of Whales that does a island transfer with a whale watch.  https://princeofwhales.com/vancouver-tours/whale-watching-vancouver-to-victoria/

[Gardyloo]

Note there's a lot of controversy at present regarding the resident orca pods in the southern Salish Sea (Gulf of Georgia, San Juans/Victoria, Puget Sound etc.)  which are showing signs of increased stress and population fall-off.  BC is imposing new regulations that will keep the whale chasing boats farther away and limit their numbers; an outright ban on whale watching is being talked about in Washington state (in addition to similar restrictions to those in BC.)  It hasn't happened yet, but use your judgement.  

 

This is less an issue for the transient pods or the northern resident pods, like those in Canadian waters north of Campbell River, on up to Alaska waters.  

 

I would think a cruise would be a better way in which to do some whale watching; there are popular services in Juneau, Hoonah (Icy Strait Point,) Sitka and other ports, and of course if you did a one-way cruise to/from Seward, you could go on a tour of Kenai Fjords National Park which usually have terrific sightings of whales and other marine mammals (as well as spectacular scenery.)

Edited May 17, 2019 by Gardyloo

[gtouch]

1 hour ago, sam73 said:

So I am trying to plan my vacation for next year. I really want to see orcas in the wild. I know that San jaun islands has them there. So that is one choice. I'm also thinking about an Alaskan cruise. I love to cruise. I figured I'd see a lot of beautiful wildlife and scenery. However Its a dream to see orcas. What ports are good for orca sightseeing?

I like you wanted to see Orcas and we took a whale watching tour out of Juneau and it was amazing a pod kept swimming around the boat and the Captain said they were just playing and then a second pod joined them and we got pictures of about 17 Orcas in a line swimming. The Captain and crew got really excited as they hadn't seen that many at once. We are going again in 2 weeks. Hope you plan your trip and have a great time whatever you decide.

[rvorcruise]

Seeing orca near Alaska cruise ports is not at all common, except out of Seward. I've seen them from the ship a few times (distant and fleeting sightings) but never on a whale-watching tour except out of Victoria.

[cruisingnewtoit]

33 minutes ago, rvorcruise said:

Seeing orca near Alaska cruise ports is not at all common, except out of Seward. I've seen them from the ship a few times (distant and fleeting sightings) but never on a whale-watching tour except out of Victoria.

I'm cruising out of seaward so I have a chance 😁

[martincath]

Further to what's already been mentioned above - local whalewatch companies seem to be coming around to an agreement that they will no longer target Southern Resident pods at all to minimise disruption. There are also transients in the southern waters, so Orcas will remain a popular target for the boats but odds are that there will be more trips without Orcas being spotted than in past years. We do get Greys migrating through the area, and more of them are staying around each year due to better herring numbers (why swim all the way up to Alaska if you can get enough food in southern BC?), but it definitely seems like the only safe prediction for next year is that things will be different!

 

The only reliable Orca spotting up in AK cruise ports would be in May/early June, when Major Marine run their Orca Watch tours out of Seward - so if you can time your cruise for then you have pretty much as good a chance up in Seward as you would down here up until now (there's a few posts about this tour, and they seem to be claiming ~90% Orca spotting). Anywhere else, it's always humpbacks that are the target with Orcas random but very much on the low end (I'd take BudgetQueens personal reports as about as good as it gets, given the ridonkulous number of whalewatches she does, so that puts you down in the ~20% bracket).

 

Of course, even when the odds are at their best they never get to 100% like humpies from Juneau - so if it really is a bucket list item, I'd suggest booking tours on BOTH ends and budgeting for extra time pre and post cruise so you can schedule multiple trips. More time on the water is the best thing you can do to improve your chance of a sighting.

[RoyalVisit]

Just off the Nieuw Amsterdam this morning. We saw Orcas from the ship using binoculars on many occasions. One dived right below our balcony stateroom so we could see it's arched back quite easily without binoculars.

[Gardyloo]

One safe place to see orcas is from Like Kiln State Park on beautiful San Juan Island.  You can take the Washington State ferry to Friday Harbor and drive to the park.  The island has lots of interesting places to visit too.

 

 

Edited May 18, 2019 by Gardyloo

[HoneymoonCruiser5]

We just got back from our Alaska cruise and we saw baby orcas! There were about 10 - 15 of them that popped up next to our ship! It was AMAZING and one of those moments that you can't grab your camera fast enough and just have to live in the moment. My jaw definitely dropped! 

[cruisingnewtoit]

1 minute ago, HoneymoonCruiser5 said:

We just got back from our Alaska cruise and we saw baby orcas! There were about 10 - 15 of them that popped up next to our ship! It was AMAZING and one of those moments that you can't grab your camera fast enough and just have to live in the moment. My jaw definitely dropped! 

That is so wonderful. Were you in a specific area. What cruise ship?

[Alatraveler1]

Could they have been Dall's porpoise?   Fooled us may times!

 

[martincath]

2 hours ago, Alatraveler1 said:

Could they have been Dall's porpoise?   Fooled us may times!

 

10 or 15 baby orcas in a group? 100% it was Dall's, or even one of the other smaller dolphin species! Even huge, healthy pods can look forward to less than half a dozen babies in a hundred adults - and very few groups get that big. Even a superpod, with multiple pods coming together to hunt, you would never see a group of babies - they're ALWAYS escorted by their moms, aunts & grannies. You simply never see a bunch of baby orcas alone.

[zelker]

On 5/21/2019 at 2:40 PM, HoneymoonCruiser5 said:

We just got back from our Alaska cruise and we saw baby orcas! There were about 10 - 15 of them that popped up next to our ship! It was AMAZING and one of those moments that you can't grab your camera fast enough and just have to live in the moment. My jaw definitely dropped! 

 

Suspect they were in fact Dall's Porpoises which everyone mistakes for baby orcas.  

[rjm11]

we saw more orcas than humpbacks on the Kenai Fjords tour out of Seward.  We did the 6 hour tour in late May, saw 3 different pods of orcas.  We also saw them from the cruise ship in early September, around the Juneau area, but did not see any on our whale watch out of Juneau (though lots of humpbacks on that tour).

Edited May 23, 2019 by rjm11

[bonsai3s]

Just got back from an Alaskan cruise on Celebrity Solstice.  Not sure if they were whales or orcas, but we saw a number of them from our balcony, from our dining room (Blu restaurant), and in the morning while enjoying our capuccinos in the Tuscan Grill that had floor to ceiling windows in the back of the ship.  The best viewing was heading back south towards Victoria.

[trophy_23]

Agree with a poster way up above.  Best bet for seeing an orca in the wild will be on a tour out of Victoria or Vancouver/Steveston.  Being a local, I have been on both numerous times and have been 100% on sightings.  

 

On our Alaska cruises we have seen orca from the ship many times, but whale watching tours have only seen them once (way off in the distance) .  Humpbacks are likely what you will see on an Alaska whale watch tour.  Good luck in your quest to see an orca, they are amazing to view in the wild!

[chewap]

Every time we have entered the Strait of Juan De Fuca going to Victoria, we have seen pods of Orcas in late August and Sept.   Last year we seen a super pod of 30+ Orcas.  About 1/2 of the time the Capt. announces the sightings.    

[MarilynR26]

I was able to see a ton of humpbacks on a whale watching tour in Juneau I did this past summer but no orcas. On a previous cruise to Alaska we did see some from the ship - they were a bit far off in the distance but you could still very much tell they were orcas.  

 

I also agree with previous posters who recommend a tour out of Vancouver or Victoria. I was able to see some from Stanley Park in Vancouver near the Lions Bridge - apparently they fairly common to see in the area. I would also recommend Friday Harbor (which is in the San Juan Islands) or Anacortes, WA. They are most commonly seen in the Puget Sound between say April-ish and October - they hang in that area during that time because they feed off the salmon run and that's when it's the strongest. The area is worth a visit for more than just whales though...it's beautiful up there!

[JRoyston]

Thanks for this. I’m also really keen to see orcas, and my cruise starts next week. I’ve now booked a whale watching trip on our Victoria Day, so please keep your fingers crossed for us.

[CynCyn]

I’ve see Orcas from the ship and also in Juneau from land.  We learned here to go to the Shrine of Saint Therese and walk to the ocean.  It was amazing! 

 

I have done a whale watch in Victoria- no whales.  I scheduled one this year with Eagle Wing and it was cancelled because they wrecked the morning boat.  I was disappointed with their communication because they tried to postpone which left me out of booking other tours.  It was a big disappointment and kept me from enjoying Victoria as I was kept waiting for 3, then 5.  I could have taken another tour at the initial time, or found something else to do.

 

https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/tourists-rescued-as-victoria-based-whale-watching-boat-takes-on-water-1.4415812