The great photos keep coming!

Thank you to Nancy Robertson a West Coast Aquatic Safaris guest who sent in some amazing photos! Nancy is this weeks photo of the week winner and I am sure if you check our homepage you will understand why. Pictured here are the 3 runner up photos that Nancy sent in. It was a tough choice as you can see!

We have had a good start to the day today with gray whales found feeding on our 10:30 whale watch. Orcas also stopped by and surprised our guests. Steller sea lions have been out on the rocks giving our guests some great photo opportunities as well! It is hard to believe that October is only a day away. West Coast Aquatic Safaris will have new office hours starting tomorrow. The new hours will be:

Sunday to Thursday 8:30 - 7:00
Friday and Saturday 8:30 - 8:00

So stop by the office and say hi!

Wind and Whales!

The sun was shining today despite the forecast for rain! But with the sunshine came some wind. West Coast Aquatic Safaris is Transport Canada Certified and has very experienced drivers. We would never take our passengers out on dangerous waters. So despite the winds it was still safe to go out on the waters to view whales. The whales decided to stay in more protected waters which provided comfortable viewing for our guests. And our guests came back with big smiles! Gray whales were seen feeding and tail fluking in the waters. And our 1:30 whale watch trip also caught up with a humpback whale! It was a fun day out on the water with some great sightings.

Orcas again!

More orcas were seen today from WASCO! Keith was able to catch up with a pod of four orcas found earlier in the morning. West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests were able to get some really good looks at these killer whales as they seemed to be on the hunt. Also seen today were gray whales! They were seen feeding and tail fluking. Keith was also spotted a California sea lion. So our guests were able to see lots!

With October close upon us we have changed our schedule slightly. We are no longer offering bear watches as there have been less and less sightings. The black bears have headed into the rivers for fish to fatten up for winter! So our new schedule will be:

10:00 Hot Springs
10:30 Whale Watch
1:30 Whale Watch
4:30 Whale Watch

We hope you have some time to come out. The air is crisp but the sun is still shining!

Triple header!

It was a busy day on the water yesterday. While Jeff was driving WASCO on a bear watch they came across orcas! It was a great find and they watched the orcas swimming circling for food. It was an unexpected find as they were working their way around Meares Island!

With an orca spotting so early on in the day our 12:30 whale watch trip headed straight out to find them again. They were lucky and the orcas were still around and still hunting. West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests got to watch these killer whales for quite some time. Then Jeff took them to the outside waters to see more whales! They found gray whales and humpback whales out there and officially made the trip a triple header! And as well as all of the whales that were seen, Steller Sea Lions were out on the rocks and a sea otter was seen bobbing in the water. It was an amazing day out on the water for all of our trips.

More great photos!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris has a new photo of the week winner! Raj Singh sent us some great photos that he took while out on WASCO. You can see the winner on our homepage by clicking here. It was a tough choice and here are the other photos that he sent in. Staff member Ellie of course picked the picture of her dog Juliet as the winner but it was a slightly biased opinion! These pictures will also be posted on our Facebook page as well.

The weather today is gray and misty. However, the sea conditions and visibility are great! So don't let the gray skies scare you away from going on a whale watch! The humpbacks and gray whales are still here and giving our guests some great shows!

Beautiful Day!

It was an incredible day out on WASCO yesterday for West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests. Blue skies and the sun shining it was warm with very little wind. This made for great sea conditions and there were great sightings! Yesterday eight different humpback whales were spotted. And of those eight at least four of them were a mother and calf. On the 3:30 trip guests were surprised by a humpback coming up right next to WASCO and doing a big tail fluke!

It was a short trip over to Ahous Bay where the gray whales were seen feeding. One gray whale came right next to WASCO and guests got a great view of just how large these whales are! The gray whales did lots of tail fluking and came close to WASCO several times as guests took lots of pictures. It is another beautiful day again today with more humpbacks and grays. So come out and enjoy the amazing views!

It's that time of year...

When West Coast Aquatic Safaris starts to say goodbye to our summer staff. It has been an amazing season with lots happening here at the office and we couldn't have done it without our great staff! It is always sad to say goodbye but we know that they are all heading on to new adventures and we wish them all the best in the future!

To say thank you for all of their hard we went out for dinner at Shelter restaurant on Friday. It was a great evening filled with lots of laughter and great food. Thank you again to Beth, Richard and Eva for all of your hard work. It has truly been a pleasure having you as part of the West Coast Aquatic Safaris team and we will miss you all! Jeff, Keith and Ellie are staying on to finish up the season which will come to an end at the end of October. So not to worry if you are planning to come to Tofino for whale watching. We will still be here, just with a smaller staff!

Facebook!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris is now on Facebook! With our new page you can follow our updates, see photos and most importantly - BECOME A FAN! Thank you to all of our supports who have added us so far. We really appreciate your support.

The weather is a bit rainy today but that hasn't slowed down the sightings! Jeff is driving WASCO today and our 9:30 whale watch got to see gray whales and humpback whales. The humpback whales decided to put on our show and did some breaching for our guests. The gray whales are busy feeding and have done some great tail flukes.

Our bear watch yesterday was very successful. The weather cleared up and our guests got a nice sunset. They also got to view four different black bears up close. So the bear watching is still good. Come see the black bears before they decide to head to the rivers for some fish!

Lots to see!

We have been getting lots of questions recently about whether this is still a good time to see wildlife in Tofino. West Coast Aquatic Safaris staff always answer "Most definitely!". We have been seeing humpback whales almost everyday. They have still been out near Long Beach breaching and slapping the water with their fins. The gray whales have been seen everyday. And we have had some big days with lots of gray whales. They are continuing to feed and show off their tails for our guests.

Black bears are still coming to the shorelines to look for crabs. Check out our photo of the week winner on our homepage! Tom Middleton sent in some amazing photos from his bear watch. Here are the two runner ups that he sent in. These are some incredible photos of black bears. We still have bear watches this week and the sunrise is at 7:00 am so our trips are still going out in the early morning. September is a great time in Tofino with less crowds and still warm weather. So come out for a ride on WASCO!

Still feels like summer!

Well the rush of peak season is over but the weather still feels like it is August! September in Tofino is a great time. The weather is still warm but there is less crowds and still lots to do! West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests have been enjoying rides out on WASCO to view all of the different whales and the black bears are still coming out.

Yesterday there were lots and lots of gray whales to view! Our guests got quite a show while out on WASCO. The low tide bear watch trips have been great including another sighting of gray wolves. These often very elusive animals have now been spotted twice in a short span of time. The sea lions are still out on the rocks and the sea otters can be found bobbing out in the ocean. So even though the summer is technically over it is actually a great time for that vacation!

New Photo of the Week

West Coast Aquatic Safaris was wowed by the amazing photo Sam North sent in for the photo of the week competition. A humpback had breached really close to WASCO and Sam was able to capture the moment in this amazing photo. Sam is our new winner of the photo of the week contest and he will be receiving his travel mug in the mail soon!

We have been seeing humpback whales regularly these past 4 weeks. Our guests have been seeing humpbacks on every trip. Lots of mom and calf humpbacks. The calves have been giving our guests quite the show on some days. Yesterday our guests out on WASCO had the amazing opportunity to see the humpbacks lunge feed. This is the first time this season we have seen that! Still lots of whale watching weeks left in the season. So we hope to see you soon.

Bears and Wolves!

West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests got a rare view this morning while out on a bear watch. The ever elusive gray wolves made an appearance! There was a pack of six that were seen on Meares Island and our guests were thrilled to see them. It is not very often that we get to see these animals. You can sometimes hear them in the distance but to see a whole pack out was incredible!

On top of seeing wolves our guests also got to see several black bears. The black bears were walking along the shoreline looking for crabs and our guests were able to get close up and get some great views. The bear watching will be coming to an end mid September as the black bears head to the rivers for the salmon. So if you are planning a trip to see the black bears don't wait too long!

The whales are still out and giving our guests a great show. Whale season goes on longer than the bear season and West Coast Aquatic Safaris will be continue doing whale tours in to November. So come out on a tour on WASCO and see all the beautiful wilderness Tofino has to offer.

100th Post and a Long Weekend!

Well this is West Coast Aquatic Safaris 100th post! We hope that everyone has enjoyed our blog so far and that we have many more posts to come! With the last long weekend of the summer upon us and school starting in just a few days the end of peak tourist season is coming. But don't let September fool you into thinking that just because the kids are back at school that the whales have headed out too. West Coast Aquatic Safaris staff think that September is the best time in Tofino. A little quieter, smaller line ups and still lots to see while out on WASCO.

While the bear watches will be coming to an end soon we have still been seeing lots of black bears on our trips. We still have bear watches available for the next week so come out and see them before they head in to the rivers for the salmon. The whale watches have been amazing! Guests aboard WASCO have been seeing lots of humpbacks and gray whales. The humpbacks have been sticking around for over 3 weeks now and we are happy to have them. So come out and enjoy September in Tofino. You won't be disappointed!

Great action shot!

Thank you to Maartje Daverveld for sending us an amazing humpback whale breaching photo. This humpback whale gave quite a show to West Coast Aquatic Safaris guests while out on a whale watch on WASCO. And Maartje managed to capture the action and sent us in the photo! Pictured here is the big splash the humpback whale made. Want to see the action shot? Just click here to see the photo on our homepage. Maartje is our photo of the week winner and will receive a West Coast Aquatic Safaris mug in the mail soon!

We have been seeing gray whales and humpback whales everyday for over 2 weeks! Our guests have been seeing a lot while out on WASCO! Our bear watch yesterday got up close to two different bears and gave our guests some great opportunities to view the black bears in their natural habitat!