Transient Orca were spotted from Lund in the morning of April 11th coming through Baker Pass heading towards Savary Island. It took them a while, but a couple of hours later I managed to pick them up by Harwood Island out in front of Powell River on the Sunshine Coast. It was great to be on the water with sunshine and calm waters for a couple of hours.
They took long dives staying underwater for a good 10 minutes at a time. They would pop up at quite a distance off if I stopped for too long. I managed to get a couple of photos of them for identification purposes and lost them after waiting for 20 minutes to pop up again.
I dropped the hydrophone, but there were no vocals from them. I did however hear some Pacific White Sided Dolphins at a distance so went to investigate. By the time I got close to their splashes, they had disappeared and become very quiet. I assume their disappearance was due to the realization that these Orca were around. Transient Orca are meat eaters and do eat dolphins, seals and even other whales. For more Orca - Killer Whale specifics go to: whalesanddolphinsbc.com
Today I received information that there were Orca by the Comox to Powell River ferry April 12 around 7:45 pm. It sounds like it probably was the same group of Transients continuing their southward direction.
Have You Seen Any of These?