Northern Vancouver Island Birding
Northern Vancouver Island Birding
Vancouver Island Birding Tours
Travelling through the traditional territories of the Tlatlasikwala and Quatsino First Nations, our 9 to 10 hour birding tours plan to visit the remote Scott Islands Marine National Wildlife Area off the northwestern tip of Vancouver Island*. These islands have the highest concentration of breeding seabirds on Canada’s west coast and the surrounding waters provide prime feeding habitat. 90% of Canada’s Tufted Puffins nest on Triangle Island, the most distant of the Scott Islands. The area is recognized as an international Important Bird Area.
Just some of the species we are looking for include Tufted Puffins, Common Murres, Cassin’s Auklets, Rhinoceros Auklets, Pigeon Guillemots, Black Oystercatchers, Sooty Shearwaters, Black-footed Albatross, Leach’s Storm Petrels, and Fork-tailed storm petrels.
In addition to a wide diversity of birdlife, we may also view humpback whales, sea otters, and sea lions during our time on the water.
Please note that this a long tour in a small boat on open ocean and is weather and sea state dependent. Triangle Island takes 3 ½ to 4 hours travel time from Port Hardy (approximately 125 Kilometers). Guests need to be comfortable in small boats on the open ocean. If you are prone to motion sickness, this is not the tour for you.
If sea conditions and weather are not favourable we may not visit the Scott Islands and alter the tour by visiting other key birding areas like the Storm, Pine, Buckle, and Tree groups of islands between northern Vancouver Island and Cape Caution on the mainland coast. If conditions are not favourable to visit these closer in islands, we will cancel the tour.
Our boat, Big Red, was built by Victoria based Titan Boats specifically for wildlife watching. At 8.23 metres (27 feet) and powered by twin 300 HP Yamaha outboards, Big Red allows us to cover a lot of water in a variety of conditions. Features include a small onboard toilet, Ray Marine navigation and Radar, dual VFH Radios, hydrophone, AIS system, and a full PA speaker system. Even though Big Red is designed and licensed for twelve passengers, all our scheduled wildlife viewing tours only take a maximum of eight guests. With four large bench seats this means only two guests per seat and everyone gets a “window” seat. No one has to sit in the middle.
Departs at 7:00 am
9 to 10 Hour Tour
Public tours and private charters will be added as demand dictates
Current Public Tours
June 25, July 6<
(minimum of 6 guests required to run tour)
Adult (15 and older): $475
Private Charter: $3495
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Port Hardy Whale Watching and Sea Otter Viewing Tours
We are located in Port Hardy at the north end of Vancouver Island. Learn more about Port Hardy, traveling here and local accommodations.
Breaching Humpback Whale! #whale #whalewatching #coastalrainforestsafaris #crs #safetrueeducational #firstnationterritory #gonorthisland
Wolves are a part of us, priceless! Much respect goes out to the wolves from the local First Nations. This wolf is a SheWolf with beautiful colours. #coastalrainforestsafaris #crs #safetrueeducational #gonorthisland #wolves #wolf
“I think I’ll just sit here and wait, I’m a little tired.” 😊Waiting and watching for salmon, this T̕ła'yi is. #coastalrainforestsafaris #crs #safetrueeducational #gonorthisland
We love wildlife viewing all year long, but September is extra special in T̕łat̕ła̱sikwa̱la territory.
Here are a few shots from today's Sea Otter and Whale Watching trip. In addition to sea otters, sea lions, and humpback whales we were fortunate to see Pacific white-sided dolphins, a black bear, and two coastal wolves.
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#coastalwolf #wolf #blackbear #bear #dolphin #humpback #whale #seaotters #otters #sealions #whalewatching #wildlifephotography #visitporthardy #gonorthisland #explorervancouverisland #explorebc #explorecanada #indigenousbc #indigenouscanada #goindigenous
Photo and caption by guest @rhloutdoors who recently joined us on a Sea Otter and Whale Watching Tour,.
"Thrilled to have one of my most memorable wildlife experiences on the coast a few days back.
For 2 hours we watched 4 transient orcas hunting steller sea lions at a haul out. The commotion created by the sea lions on high alert was deafening. All the while 3 humpback whales were very near by with their loud, distressed breathing adding to the cacophony.
Truly a spectacle, one that the photos I took and cherish can not do justice to!"
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#orcas #biggs #killerwhales #sealions
#visitporthardy #gonorthisland #explorevancouverisland #explorebc #explorecanada #destinationindigenous #goindigenous #wildlifephotography
“We saw Biggs actually hunting sea lions”. “They got some sea lions?”. “Oh yea”.
Boat based safaris is what we do! #coastalrainforestsafaris #crs #safetrueeducational #porthardy #wildlifephotography #wildlifeplanet