FANTASTIC ORCAS, Nemuro Strait (根室海峡), Hokkaido (北海道), Japan, 2019.06.18

Day 4 (2/2).

Whale watching was the final act of our Shiretoko experience. The 2-hour outing in the Nemuro Strait turned out to be one of the biggest highlights of our trip. Located at the eastern coast of Shiretoko Peninsula, Rausu is the most popular spot in Japan for whale watching. Depending on the season, various kinds of whales might be found in the waters just off Rausu, including minke whales, sperm whales, orcas (killer whales), humpback whales (rare), Dall’s porpoises, giant beaked whales, and several types of dolphins. In the summer months, there would be a good chance to spot Orcas, also known as killer whales. Orca is the biggest member of the oceanic dolphin family. They are highly social animals that hunt and wander the sea in pods.

After three days of poor weather, the strong wind and rough sea had finally died down despite the overcast condition over Nemuro Strait. Returned from Shiretoko Pass, we went immediately to the office of Gojiraiwa Kanko Eco Tour (ゴジラ岩観光) in Rausu to make our cruise payment, get a quick snack near the tourist office, parked our car at the dock, and followed one the three queues to get on our cruise boat.

After three days of stormy weather, the sea was calm as we were about to set sail for the whale watching cruise.

Looking back towards the dock, we could see Mount Rausu rising beyond the village of Rausu.

After seeing several black dorsal fin dolphins popped out of the sea in the first ten minutes, our boat captain received the news that orcas had been spotted by the other cruise boats ahead of us. Soon we reached cruise boats and had our first encounter with the magnificent orcas of Nemuro Strait.

While the whales roam in the water of Nemuro Strait, Stellar Sea Eagles and White Tailed Eagles rule the sky.

Lies between Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula and the controversial Russian Kunashir Island (国後島), Nemuro Strait is one of the best place in the world for whale watching.

Orcas often appear in a pod. We were fortunate to follow a pod of around a dozen of orcas, even with a few juveniles.

Sometimes, the pod would get pretty close to one of the cruise boats.

Eventually, the pod of orcas broke up into a few smaller groups. Our boat followed one of the groups towards the direction of Rausu.

Each boat followed a different group of orca.

Seeing one of the juvenile killer whales in the pod was very exciting.

In a few moments, the whales swam really close to our boat.

A few of them even swam under our boat.

From a close distance, we could truly appreciate the true scale of the orca’s dosal fin.

Some scientists can identify different orcas just by studying their distinctive dorsal fins.

For most of the time, our boat continued to follow a small group of orcas.

It was the first whale watching cruise that we ever experienced. We were grateful that the cruise turned out to be a fruitful one.

After about 1.5 hour chasing the whales, it was time for our boat to return to the dock.

The majestic Mount Rausu signified our arrival of the village of Rausu.

Most fishing boats were parked behind the sea wall at the dock.

It seemed that most fishermen were staying away from the sea for another day. Whale watching offered us the perfect finale to for our Shiretoko journey. We picked up our car at the dock, had another seafood lunch at Jun no Banya (純の番屋), and left Shiretoko altogether for our next destination: Mashu Lake.