Foggy days

It has been foggy starts to our last two days here in Tofino. WASCO has had the radar going for our morning trips to help guide Keith and Jeff through the waters. However despite the fog everywhere West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests have been having some great trips. Our bear watch this morning had a foggy start but once out on the water our guests enjoyed watching two different black bears. They were able to get up close to these bears and got some great photos!

Our whale watches have been very successful as well. The gray whales have been seen every trip and the humpbacks have also been making appearances everyday. We have had some very curious gray whales that have come close to the boat. And a humpback whale caught some of our guests by surprise by fluking it's tail right by the boat. The picture shown here is of a gray whale seen last year that came right next to WASCO. So don't let the fog discourage you! There is still plenty to see out there on WASCO!

Photo of the week!

Thank you Terry Shields a West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests who came out with us for a bear watch and a whale watch! Here are some of the other pictures that Terry sent in to us. Terry is our photo of the week winner. To see the winning photo just click here to see!

We have been having a lot of sightings on our trips this week. The humpback whales have been very active with lots of breaching and fin slapping. The black bears have also been coming out to the shoreline giving our guests some great views up close. The Steller sea lions have been out on the rocks making lots of noise sunning themselves. Great fun out on WASCO!

New mugs!!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris is pleased to announce that we have just received our new shipment of mugs! These great travel mugs are durable and great for keeping your beverages hot or cold while you are on the go. We have them for sale here at our office for $14.95. Want to win one? Enter our photo of the week contest! Each week we have guests send us photos from their trips out on WASCO. The winner each week gets their photo posted on our website and we send them a travel mug anywhere in the world! Check out our homepage to see our current winner.

In order to get great photos you need to come out on a trip! Our whale watching trips have been great with lots of humpback whales breaching and the gray whales have been tail fluking! Our bear watches have been seeing lots of black bears coming right to the shoreline. We have gotten close up with these great bears and gotten some great photos! So come out for a ride on WASCO. The views are amazing!

Windy day!

So the sun has decided to shine today but the winds have come in strong today. It is still safe to go out to the ocean for whale watching however there is an increased chance for sea sickness on days like this. West Coast Aquatic Safaris wants to help our guests have the best possible time out on the water and will always inform our guests of the conditions. Here are a few tips for when you are out on the water and starting to feel a bit sick:

1. Focus on the horizon. Keeping focused on a stable point of land helps.
2. Fresh air! Going inside is not a good option. Stay outside and get as much fresh sea air as you can.
3. Water - always help settle the stomach.

These are just a few tips for when you come out on a whale watch. The benefits of the whale watches is the incredible nature that you get to see from WASCO. We have been seeing humpback whales everyday for the last 4 days. Gray whales have been seen every trip and the Steller sea lions have been out on the rocks making lots of noise. It is an amazing trip with so much to see!

Sunny day!

It is a beautiful day here in Tofino. West Coast Aquatic Safaris staff are trying their best to soak it up because the forecast is looking cloudy for the next couple of days! It has been great for whale watchers out on WASCO. We have been watching humpback whales today down at Long Beach. Yesterday was what we like to call whale soup! There were humpbacks, gray whales and orcas! With so many whales we are looking forward to some great photos from our guests for the photo of the week contest!

A common question we get from guests is if there is a better time to view the whales. We offer 9:30, 12:30 and 3:30 trips so people always want to know what time is better. We are happy to tell you that all times are good! We have been seeing whales everyday on every trip. It's a great time out on WASCO with lots to see!

Humpbacks and a Sunfish!

The last few days West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests have been enjoying seeing the humpback whales down at Long Beach. It is not too often that the humpbacks can be found at the same spot for several days in a row. So we have really been lucky to have them there. They have been doing a lot of breaching, tail fluking and fin slapping and our guests have been getting some amazing photos.

Another fun surprise our guests had on a whale watch yesterday was the opportunity to see a sunfish! This is the first one we have seen this season and our guests were fascinated by this 5 foot long fish! Jeff who was driving WASCO was able to get some great photos of this unusual looking fish and we have posted all of them on our Flickr!

More orcas have been seen today as well. Despite the high winds our guests have been enjoying some great sightings as a pod of six orcas have been passing through. We hope to see you soon!

Orcas and photos!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests had a great day out on the water yesterday. The humpback whales were very active down at Long Beach again. It has been three days in a row that we have been able to view these great animals down at Long Beach. We also were able to catch up with the orcas later in the day. Our guests were thrilled to have the opportunity to see these transient killer whales passing through.

We also have a new photo of the week! Tineke van Geel sent us some amazing photos (shown here) and of course you can see the winning photo on our website! Want even more photos? Check our our galleries. And for even MORE photos go to our Flickr account. Our drivers have been taking some amazing photos. See what they get to see everyday!

Humpback days!

The last couple of days have been great for West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests for viewing humpback whales. Jeff has been taking WASCO down to Long Beach where the humpback whales have been for the past couple of days. And they have been giving our guests amazing shows! The humpbacks have been very active with lots of breaching, fin slapping and tail fluking. Giving our guests a great opportunity to see these great animals active in the wild.

Our bear watch trips have also been great. Yesterday Jeff found a few black bears and our guests were able to get up close and view them for quite some time. This mornings bear watch our guests were also able to get up close with the bears. Great wildlife sightings and lots of happy guests!

Farewell to a dear friend

West Coast Aquatic Safaris staff really enjoy being able to bring their dogs to work. Juliet is always happy to greet guests coming by the office and is always looking for a pet! When Henry stops by he is immediately your best friend and is happy to play with anyone who is willing. Oscar who was supposed to only visit for a couple of weeks ended up staying here for over a month and a half and enjoyed his time at the office greeting guests and walking down to WASCO with everyone.

West Coast Aquatic Safaris lost our dear friend Oscar to cancer recently and are sad that he had to go so young. Oscar really enjoyed his time here going down to WASCO and taking a dip in the ocean off the boat loading docks when he could. He was always out on the front porch enjoying the sunshine and greeting guests as they came in. We are happy that he was able to spend his last days in Tofino running on the beach, playing in the ocean and spending time at the office. We are sad to have lost such a great loyal companion and he is greatly missed.

Sunshine!

The sun finally came out yesterday and is trying its best to show up today too! West Coast Aquatic Safaris was busy with lots of people stopping by the office. Staff enjoyed walking the guests down to WASCO and getting a bit of sunshine along the way. Juliet made a point of spending most of the day on the front porch basking in the sunshine.

Yesterday our guests were very happy to see some black bears up close while out on WASCO. The bear watching tours typically require a pretty low tide in order to encourage the bears to come out to the shoreline to look for crabs. Yesterday was our last bear watch for a few days. The tides sometimes just don't work and unfortunately for the next few days the low tide is not very low at all. So if you want to go on a bear watch we would reccommend taking a trip with us on Monday. The tides are much better for viewing then!

Bear bears bears!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests have been getting some great views of the black bears this week. The cooler weather has encouraged the bears to come further out from the cool forest to come to the shoreline and look for crabs. Our guests have been getting up close and seeing these great bears in their natural environment.

More orcas were spotted yesterday as well on our afternoon whale watch. A bull and female orca were seen together. Our guests were very excited and were able to get some great photos from WASCO. Thinking of coming out on a trip with us? We have been filling up all of our trips at least one day in advance. So if you want a particular time make sure to book ahead!

Finally some rain!

It has been gray and overcast here in Tofino for the past week but very little rain has come! Today was the first day of some really good rain fall that was much needed! We are currently in a stage two of water conservation so we really needed some rain. West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests are taking full advantage of the heated indoor cabin today for our bear and whale watches. The Helly Hansen jackets are also popular with our guests.

We have a new photo of the week posted on our homepage. This is the first winner that submitted a Tufted Puffin photograph! Leonie Stoffels was able to capture an amazing action shot of these birds while out on WASCO. They are often seen out on our whale watches. If you let us know that you are a bird enthusiast we will also try and take you by Cleland Island which is a bird sanctuary that has a variety of different bird species.

Gray days

The sun has been refusing to shine this past week! Tofino has had overcast days with a bit of drizzle. The good news is that there has been lots to see despite the gray weather! Orcas have been frequenting our waters again and were seen yesterday while West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests were out on a whale watch. Humpback whales and gray whales have also been seen everyday!

Today Keith took WASCO down to Long Beach for the whale watch and guests got some great views of a humpback whale. Our bear watches this morning also had some great black bear sightings. Both bear watches got up close to a black bear with the walk around deck on WASCO. The bear continued on it's way looking for crabs while our guests enjoyed the show. And with Tofino being so busy remember that all West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests can enjoy free parking right in front of our office! See you soon!

Early morning orcas!

We had an early morning hot springs departure today at West Coast Aquatic Safaris. We like to leave at 7:00 am to beat the crowds and give our guests a chance to have the springs to all to themselves. It was a great trip up to the springs with a surprise visit from some orcas! Jeff was driving WASCO and said that they saw a pod of 7 orcas. We were the only whale watching trip to catch up to these orcas as they were heading north. Our guests were also able to see a humpback mother and her calf today and there were gray whales in Cow Bay.

Just a reminder that we are filling up at least a day in advance. So if you want a particular time please be sure to book in advance! We want to make sure everyone gets to experience the incredible wildlife out here. And a trip on WASCO is a great way to do that!

Orcas again!

It has been a remarkable two weeks in Tofino for orca sightings. It has been four days in a row for orcas this week. And last week we had the large pod of 40 pass through. West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests have been getting some amazing shows from these incredible animals. With orcas being transient in the area it is always exciting when they pass through. And to have four days in a row is really great as usually it is only for the day and they are gone.

We also have a new photo of the week! Our guest got a great photo of a black bear while out on WASCO. Be sure to check out our photo of the week gallery to see all the amazing photos people have been getting while out on WASCO!

All three whales!

Yesterday was a great day for West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests out on WASCO. They were able to see a variety of whales yesterday! We were lucky to have the orcas passing through again. There has been quite a few orca sightings this week which has been great. There were also gray whales and humpback whales seen yesterday as well.

Another animal we have been seeing frequently is the sea otters! It is always great for our guests to see the sea otter bobbing in the ocean on its back. Jeff got some great photos of a sea otter while he was out on a whale watch on WASCO.