A pod of killer whales travels through misty water, a small sailboat in the distance.

The daily log

What the water gave us, day by day.

We post what we see, nearly every day of the season — in our guests’ own words.

A killer whale charges forward through a burst of white spray, eye patch visible.

August 16, 2026

“National Geographic moments, for sure.”

OrcaHumpbacksDolphinsSea ottersSea lionsSeabirds

“All the marine life observed was truly unreal! We saw humpback whales (one was sleeping!), Orca that literally surrounded our boat, playful dolphins, sea otters, sea lions and plenty of birds. It was an experience of a lifetime, National Geographic moments for sure!”

Guest log · Yalina — Edmonton, Alberta

A pair of killer whales travel together, the mainland mountains behind them.

August 15, 2026

“A beautiful journey between the Island and the mainland.”

OrcaHumpbacks

“We saw different groups of Orca and got a lot of information about them by the staff. We got answers to all of our questions. In the end we saw a few humpback whales, which were at their feeding grounds. The view on the whales was amazing and we didn’t go too close to them.”

Guest log · Dominik and Anna — Germany

A humpback whale lifts its fluke to dive near a forested shoreline.

August 13, 2026

“A jump-humpy day at Cracroft Point.”

Orca — A25sHumpbacksDolphinsPorpoises

“We started with one of my favourite northern resident killer whale matrilines — the A25’s! They were covered in dolphins and porpoises as they went past us. I’ve never seen so many humpback breaches ever! We saw Guardian and calf, Ripple, Moonshine and Grizzly today.”

Guest log · Sid & Alex — Berlin, Germany

A killer whale surfaces with a tall blow hanging in the air.

August 11, 2026

“A pod of nine, hunting salmon and spyhopping.”

OrcaHumpbacksSea ottersSea lionsEagles

“A pod of 9 Orcas which we got to see hunting salmon and spyhopping, at least 5 humpback whales displaying lunge feeding, trap feeding, diving and slapping the water, a raft of sea otters as well as two solo otters, a bald eagle and other seabirds, several sea lions and a harbour seal!”

Guest log · Oliver & AJ — Surrey, BC

A Dall’s porpoise bursts through the surface in a spray of water.

August 10, 2026

“Humpbacks within thirty minutes — then humpbacks, humpbacks, humpbacks.”

HumpbacksOrcaPorpoisesSea otters

“Within 30 minutes we saw humpbacks! Then Orcas, porpoise, sea otters and then humpbacks, humpbacks, humpbacks! What a great staff too — Captain Bill, Callyn, Uncle Ron. So worth the price — I’d pay double for all the marine life we saw.”

Guest log · Paulene, Ange, Maggie, Abby — Calgary & Kelowna

A raft of sea otters floats together at the surface.

August 5, 2026

“Then it was humpback soup!”

Orca — Biggs’ T46BsHumpbacksSea ottersEagles

“We saw a very cute sea otter lounging, then right away we saw T46B’s (group of Biggs’ transient orcas) with an adorable baby. Then it was humpback soup! We saw a humpy feeding up close and spitting out a bird! Thank you for gifting us orca addicts our first orca sighting of the year!”

Guest log · Robyn — Calgary, living in Edinburgh

Sighting reports and guest comments are from real Mackay Whale Watching trips, in the guests’ own words. Photography by the Mackay Whale Watching crew, from their archives — not necessarily from the trip shown.

Be in the next report

The water’s writing tomorrow’s entry.

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