Wildlife Photography Tour in Port McNeill: Otters, Orcas, and Eagles with Anthony Bucci

Still buzzing from our Triangle Island trip, we had no time to rest. The itinerary had originally allowed for a break day, but with the rescheduled Triangle Island trip we were up late backing up our memory cards and back at adventuring the next morning by 6:30 a.m. This time we were heading out for a day on the water with Anthony Bucci, a local wildlife photographer and guide.

We met at his house, drove with him into Port McNeill, and watched as he launched his boat. Having seen plenty of people struggle with boat ramps, it was impressive how effortlessly he backed it in.

We suited up in survival gear once again. These were one-piece suits, which were less bulky than the Mustang gear from Triangle Island, so much easier to move in since the life jacket was worn separately. It was similar to the set-up we had used in Antarctica and the New Zealand subantarctic islands.

Anthony’s boat is purpose-built for photographers, with two seats set one behind the other. The water was glass calm, and I was relieved to hear we would be staying in the protected inlets rather than heading offshore. I would not be feeding the fish today.

We had not even left the harbour before the first encounter: a sea otter floating near the surface. I thought I saw a few more otters in the distance, but they turned out to be logs. Otters are notorious for looking like driftwood. Their trick to spotting them is understanding the way they float on their backs with their hind flippers sticking up, so basically they look like a log with two ends. We had photographed otters in Alaska last year, but these calm conditions were exactly what I had been hoping for. I could have stayed with that one otter all day, but Anthony assured us there would be more.

We were so focussed on the otter that we almost missed an eagle flying directly towards us.

And as soon as we noticed that one, we noticed that they were everywhere.

We headed into a nearby cove in search of humpbacks. The scenery here is breathtaking: layers of green forest in the foreground with blue-grey mountains rising behind them, each shade fading lighter with distance like a watercolour painting.

Against that backdrop, humpback blows appeared, the mist hanging in the cool morning air.

And as we watched the humpbacks, I thought I saw an orca fin in the distance. I kept quiet at first, half-convinced it was another log. When it surfaced again, I checked with the binoculars and it was definitely an orca. Anthony turned the boat in that direction, and as we sped along we were joined by a pod of Dall’s dolphins playing in the wake. This was a lifer for us. Actually, come to think of it, why is the term “lifer” only used in birding?

Soon after, we reached the orca. These were Bigg’s orca, also called transients, and there were four of them travelling together. Unlike resident orca that eat salmon, Bigg’s specialise in hunting marine mammals. You can identify individuals by their dorsal fins and saddle patches. From the markings, Anthony thought this was the T076 family group.

As we watched the orca in silence, a fog bank rolled in, adding a moody feel to the seascape. Whale blows rose against the misty layers of blue mountains and dense green forest. A lone pale otter drifted past, and before long it was time to start heading back towards the marina.

We stopped to photograph a massive raft of sea otters, dozens of them floating together, rolling and grooming. Their faces looked cartoonish, with dot eyes and button noses like they had been sketched with a sharpie.

On the way back we spotted a black bear strolling along the shoreline. It scooted off into the forest due to an approaching stand up paddle boarder, but the sighting was better than the one we saw while driving, so still awesome.

The last highlight was a scattering of rhinoceros auklets, rounding out another day filled with wildlife.

From puffins and auklets to orca and bears, the northern part of Vancouver Island had delivered unforgettable encounters. Next, it was time to take the ferry north to Prince Rupert, the gateway to grizzly country in the Khutzeymateen.