The Orcinus Orca is more commonly known as a killer whale. There are three pods of killer whales resident in waters near Victoria Brtiish Columbia.

After about 30 minutes of exhilarating ride, Chris slows the boat to inform us we are in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. A water body which opens to the Pacific Ocean and runs between Vancouver Island and Washington State. It's a little chilly out here but it is absolutely fantastic. Clear blue ocean for as far as we can see, framed by the majestic Olympic Mountains with the Victoria waterfront fading from view behind us. Chris is searching for the whales in the expanse of ocean when suddenly he sights them, "just a couple miles ahead of us" he exclaims! He picks us up to speed again in the direction of the sighting. We are all staring dead ahead but can't see a thing. Chris slows the boat again, as he explains we must approach with caution, but we still can't see what he sees. Then suddenly in front of us we hear a giant whoosh and see a tall puff of vapour. Then a huge black fin rises out of the water-it's our first killer whale sighting. Fantastic!!

Above: Killer Whale/Orcinus Orca - Click Here for More Detail

At first we only see one whale, but Chris recognizes the whale as L-41, an adult male from L Pod. He tells us that there are three pods, which live in the waters near Victoria, called the Southern Residents; each pod is named with a letter, J, K or L. We're lucky to see L pod, as Chris tells us they spend most of their time on the west coast of Vancouver Island to far away for anyone but fishermen to go. J and K pod are more commonly seen as they spend more time in the waters close to Victoria during the warm summer months.

Chris explains that killer whales are also known as orca and were once feared by people. It must have been their name, which they got from eating all types of food. Killer whales have a very diverse diet depending on where they live. They eat all kinds of fish, squid, seals, birds, dolphins, porpoise and even some other whales (not their own kind though). We notice the female killer whales have a short curved fin like a dolphin, and Chris explains that killer whales aren't really whales at all but are really the world's biggest dolphin. This explains the shape of the female killer whale fin. Male killer whales are much bigger than females, sometimes growing to almost 30 feet long-as long as our boat! It is easy to distinguish the two as the males fin grows to about 6 feet in height by the time he is fully grown. Killer whales are very long lived; the oldest killer whale in southern British Columbia is K-7, a great grandma, estimated to be 90 years old!

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