Humpback Breaching

It was another amazing day on the water for West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests. Clear skies and lots of sunshine made for a great trip and some great shots! Jeff one of our drivers of WASCO was very happy to be out on the water today. One of our guests Stefania Bowler was able to get some great shots (seen here) while out on the boat with us. She submitted her photos for the photo of the week contest and with such amazing shots we awarded her a West Coast Aquatic Safaris travel mug on the spot!

Our guests were able to watch a mother humpback and her calve in the water. The calve put on quite a show with lots of breaching! They also saw sea lions and a bald eagle landed right by the dock to see the trip off.

Be sure to bring your camera when you are out on WASCO! You never know what you might see when on a whale, bear or bird watch and you can enter our photo of the week contest and win a great West Coast Aquatic Safaris travel mug!!

Humpback sighting!

Our 3:30 whale watching trip had a big treat yesterday! We had our first humpback sighting for the season. Keith, who was driving WASCO yesterday, spotted it about five and a half miles off of Wick beach. All of West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests were thrilled with the sighting. This is only the second sighting of any humpback this season. The humpback was feeding when they spotted it.

We have been seeing gray whales for over a month now. So we are excited to see the humpbacks are slowly making their way back to Tofino. West Coast Aquatic Safaris is looking forward to another sunny day out on the water today and hopefully another humpback sighting!

First office party of the season

Keith at West Coast Aquatic Safaris wanted to welcome his new staff properly with a great night out. A yummy dinner out at the Schooner put smiles on all of our faces. Lots of laughs and good stories made it a great way to kick off the new season!

And our 2009 season has been going really well so far! WASCO has a new heating system that ensures a toasty fog free ride! We also had a new stereo system installed to maximize our satellite radio. We have been seeing gray whales almost every day and our black bear watches have been successful as well! The weather has been amazing for Tofino this week and lots of people have been taking advantage of the upper seating on WASCO to enjoy the sights and sunshine! We hope you will join us for a trip soon!

A new addition...

West Coast Aquatic Safaris is happy to welcome Eva to our team!! She has been enjoying the surf in Australia for the last few months but is originally from Sweden. She is really excited to be joining our team here in Tofino and is looking forward to spending her spare time going on bear watches, whales watches and of course getting out to surf!

Eva loved getting out on our boat WASCO and seeing the beautiful inlets of Tofino. She even got to see her first black bear! She is already planning her next big trip out on WASCO and is looking forward to the humpbacks returning for the summer! So come by our office and say hello! Eva will be more than happy to chat about our trips!

Happy Earth Day!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris wants to wish everyone a Happy Earth Day! We pride ourselves here at West Coast Aquatic Safaris in giving back to our environment and community. If you look on our website you can click on contributions to see where our Ecological Fee is spent! One example is the Pacific Rim Whale Festival which West Coast Aquatic Safaris is a proud contributor.

There are lots of events happening here in Tofino to celebrate Earth Day throughout the week. You can check here for some of the events. Why not also hop aboard WASCO and see the gray whales, or take a black bear watching trip through the inlets. Come out and enjoy all the beautiful nature that Tofino has to offer!

Birds birds birds!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris is proud to announce that we now offer guided bird watching tours. A great way to enjoy our boat WASCO and learn about the wide variety of birds that visit and live in Tofino. Our bird guide has extensive experience in both bird research and conservation and has been birding since 1960! Book online now and save 10%.

Want to learn more about birds and help the Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society? Join them this weekend and next weekend for an informative nature walk and presentation to learn more about their efforts and of course about the birds! Check here for more details on when and where this two weekend bird presentation is happening.

West Coast Aquatic Safaris invites you to come out on WASCO and see all of the beautiful nature and wildlife that Tofino has to offer. See you soon!!

Gray whales in the harbor!

We got a very special visit today! Just as Keith was preparing WASCO to go out on a whale watch trip we saw two gray whales blow! It is very rare for these whales to pass through the harbor and everyone was very excited to see this. West Coast Aquatic Safaris staff Ellie and Eva waited at the end of the dock in the hopes of another sighting but no luck. The gray whales had continued on their journey.

West Coast Aquatic Safaris had a successful bear watch this morning as well. The black bears were out looking for crab this morning turning over all the rocks during low tide.

It has been a busy Easter weekend with lots of whales, bears and other wildlife here in Tofino. Everyone at West Coast Aquatic Safaris is looking forward to the summer season and more whales, bears, hot springs and wildlife!

Welcome Ellie and Juliet

West Coast Aquatic Safaris is excited to welcome our newest staff and her dog to our little town of Tofino. Ellie has done extensive visiting to Tofino and finally made the jump across our diverse country and moved from the "Big City" of Toronto, Ontario to the "Beautiful Serenity" of Tofino, British Columbia. As mentioned she came with her her little dog, Juliet. Often at West Coast Aquatic Safaris you will see either Juliet or her partner in crime Henry.

Don't worry Ellie may be new to living in this area, but her own sense of enthusiasm and the help of our staff she is already getting to know the town and the water quite well!

Bear watching season is OPEN!!!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris' driver Jeff was thrilled when he saw a black bear last week just by chance. But now WASCO, our boat is ready for another bear watching season to begin! WASCO has the perfect view point from the bow. Getting up close for some great shots is easy! West Coast Aquatic Safaris has our first bear trip going out today at 4:30 and Keith our driver is really looking forward to it.

Because we have to schedule our bear watches around the tides the times do change a bit. So if you book online be sure to book 24 hours in advance so that we can email you when the trip will be going out! Everyone here at West Coast Aquatic Safaris is looking forward to another great bear watching season!

We're on Video!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris is proud to give the bloggers of the world an inside view of West Coast Aquatic Safaris' tours aboard WASCO! This 45 second long video gives people an inside to the super natural beauty of Tofino, British Columbia and the Clayoquot Sound. WASCO is West Coast Aquatic Safaris flagship and has brought whale watching to new level. WASCO allows a group of guests to be all happy - some can stay warm inside, others can cruise with the wind through their hair, and others again can do both. This vessel also allows you to walk around and view the wild life from three different viewing platforms. Come join Jeff and Keith aboard WASCO to visit with whales, bears, eagles, seal lions, and more.

A "bear" of a time!

Yesterday West Coast Aquatic Safaris' guests were in luck on board a whale watching trip! After a request was made by one of our guests to see a bear Jeff steered WASCO towards the areas that you are most likely to see one. Although it is still a little early in the season everyone was really pleased to be West Coast Aquatic Safaris first group to spot a black bear!

Due to the high winds yesterday we weren't able to get out into the open ocean. But there was plenty of wildlife to see! There was a great show from a bald eagle paddling through the water. There were also sightings of otter as well. We are looking forward to submissions from our guests for picture of the week. We had a few people sure that they would be the winner!