Victoria: Part 2

Our second day in Victoria we went out WHALE WATCHING!!! Well, technically orca watching...

This is one of the male orcas in the "J" pod: one of three pods of residential orcas that live in the area. Factoid: even though resident killer whales (who live in the area year-round) look almost identical transient killer whales (who travel in small groups), they are a diverging species. They do not mate with each other and have totally different diets. Transient orca eat seals and other marine animals, while the residential eat only fish. Mostly salmon! They also differ in social behavior and language. There is a third type as well (offshore) but we didn't learn much about them. Here is some video I took:


Orca Watching from Kaitlin McCarthy on Vimeo.

AND some more photos:

 Orcas are a matrilineal society, like elephants. The oldest female in J pod is over 100 years old!

 One of the whales rolled over to show us his belly. We also saw one "spy hop" which is when they bob up out of the water straight up and down to get a better look at their surroundings. I didn't get a picture.

 Obviously I'm watching the whales more than my camera, but this picture makes me feel like I'm falling in a fun sort of way.

Flipping his tail up in the air!

Victoria: part one

UPDATE: I made this blog with my phone, and for some reason the photos are tiny and fuzzy. If you click on them they will become bigger and look nice, but still figuring out this technical snafu.

Mom and I took the Victoria clipper ferry to BC for a few days of relaxation. Started out with a beautiful walk down to the docks and a ferry ride with views of city and mountains.










We spent our first day on a city tour and a trip to the famous Butchart gardens.








































We then explored some historical parts of Victoria, including china town and Fan Tan alley-the skinniest street in Canada.





Fan Tan alley





I bought a blue umbrella like the ones in front of these shops.





We got afternoon tea in china town as well.





Which is a Victoria tradition, but is less pricy here than at the ritzy Empress on the water!





Here are a few more photos of old buildings in Victoria:




















The parlement building!
All these pictures were taken with my iPhone and I even made the blog with my phone. A little more tedious than using my computer for typing, but not bad for on the go!
More soon about our other Victoria adventures.