Sightings - Orca & Dolphins

Orca Report including a link to the Satellite tagged Southern Resident J26's travels. Pacific White Sided Dolphins are back in the sightings reports. Considering they are considered a pelagic, open ocean, cetacean we are very lucky to see them in our inside waters. There were only minimal sightings of them till around 18 years ago when they started to come back into inside waters in larger numbers. Their gregarious and playful antics and leaps make all who see them smile. Have you had your smile today? Let me know if you see them so I can pass it on.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Orca – Killer Whales

Information about the Orca tagging and satellite tracking map of tagged Southern Resident J26 can be found at: http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/research/divisions/cbd/marine_mammal/satellite_tagging.cfm  The map illustrates the track of J26 over the first three days to February 23^rd after tag deployment.

February 27:

Unidentified pod of 7 - 9 Orca were spotted up around the Sointula / Port McNeill area heading West during the morning.

Anonymous

Pacific White Sided Dolphins

February 28:

HI SUSAN, THIS MORNING ON THE 11:15 FERRY FROM VANCOUVER ABOUT HALFWAY TO LANGDALE WE SAW A GOOD SIZE POD OF SILVER SIDED DOLPHINS. THEY WERE SO CLOSE TO THE FERRY. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL TO WATCH THEM PLAYING IN THE WATER. THEY WERE HEADED NORTH. HOPE THAT THIS CAN BE USEFUL

Gerry Chabot

February 26:

5:20 pm At least 20 Pacific White Sided Dolphins were playing in the Queen of Burnaby's wake heading towards Powell River. A few leaps and surfing movements then they turned to follow the ferry's wake towards Comox. I spotted a few off to top of Texada around 6pm, but I guess the rest continued with the ferry.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

 

2012 Charter Cruises

Enjoy a personalized week long Charter Cruise in the pristine wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest. Information can be found on the 2012 Charter Cruises pages of Whales and Dolphins BC.

Nanaimo Orca & High Winds

The high WNW winds must have given a push to the Orca that had been spotted in front of Lund the other day. It's a good likelihood that the sightings reports below are the same whales. It sounds like they may have turned back in our direction. See report below and keep those eyes open. The whales still need to surface to breath, even if it is stormy..

My Anna's Hummingbirds are having a rough time in these winds. They literally are getting blown off the feeder; that is, if they even get a chance to time their landing to the swing. I watched as a female got blown right across the yard during one big gust. She recovered only when she was low enough by the bushes.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Orca – Killer Whales

February 24

We received a call from Lon Kamann of Vancouver Island, reporting a pod of what appear to be Transient orcas south of Nanaimo, BC - in NW Bay, Parksville, chasing sea lions around the logging boom Lon is working on at ~10:20 am this morning. There were 5 - 6 large fins, and several smaller fins. One orca chased a sea lion right into the bay and near the logging operation! They appeared to be heading in a northerly direction toward Denman Island. Submitted by Susan Berta & Howard Garrett, Orca Network, WA

Humpback Whale

February 23
The Hood Canal (Washington State) humpback, first seen January 27, was seen again yesterday, February 23. Chris Dunagan

February 20

2:55 pm - Lori Wilson just called from Potlatch State Park, near Great Bend in Hood Canal, while watching the humpback tail-lobbing and breaching as she spoke.Submitted by Susan Berta & Howard Garrett, Orca Network, WA 

 

2012 Charter Cruises

Enjoy a personalized week long Charter Cruise in the pristine wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest. Information can be found on the 2012 Charter Cruises pages of Whales and Dolphins BC.

 

Orca Southbound by Lund

Orca by Lund late this afternoon! After scanning the clam waters and not seeing any Whales, Dolphins or Porpoises for days, I was beginning to wonder if there are even any Sea Lions around. This evening I was told about one lone Sea Lion just resting on the surface, south of Powell River. That was it till the call came in today. Maybe this time they'll stay around? Keep your eyes open.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Orca – Killer Whales

Orca between Lund Harbour and Savary Island

February 23, 2012

Photo by Crystal Mitchell

February 23:

At 5:20pm February 23rd there was a pod of 3-4 (Orca sighting off Lund, BC). One looked very small, might have been a baby. But the pod otherwise kept tight together. They were coming from Major Rock on past Lund. The pod was headed South East towards Powell River. The pod was about half a kilometer out from the Lund Dock. They were moving at a slower pace, but kept their pace up. I wish I had my big camera to capture a closer look! Picture was taken from the pub deck!

Crystal Mitchell

5 pm A call came in that there were 3 to 5 Orca including one large male headed Southward, passing the end of Savary Island and towards Powell River, from just off of Lund. Gina Wood was watching them from her Lund Water Taxi Office. Thanks Gina!

 

2012 Charter Cruises

Enjoy a personalized week long Charter Cruise in the pristine wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest. Information can be found on the 2012 Charter Cruises pages of Whales and Dolphins BC.

Humpbacks, Orca and Sea Turtle

More Humpback Whale reports from Mexico this time, another favourite wintering spot for them. We have identified a few that spend their winters in either Mexico or Hawaii and summers in the Johnstone Strait area.

Also in the news is the necropsy of the 3 year old Southern Resident Orca Whale L112 found dead near Long Beach in Washington State on Feb. 11. See more information below. It's always sad when a whale dies and we can only hope that there will be some definitive information that can be acted upon coming out of the necropsy results. More links and information below including yet another Sea Turtle in BC waters.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Transient Orca

February 11: (Possibly the same Orca seen February 14 by Powell River – SM)

Tracey and Ian Cobane, who were staying at the beach cabin at Bold Buff today, saw a group of about 9 Orcas swimming south in Sansum Narrows (Salt Spring Islands, BC) about 11 am this morning. They returned, swimming North about 3 pm. Ian thought there were 3 big males, and a few babies, splashing and jumping (feeding? Playing?) Tamar Griggs, Bold Bluff submitted by: Susan Berta & Howard Garrett, Orca Network, Whidbey Island, WA

Orca by Texada Island

February 14, 2012

Photo: Susan MacKay

Humpback Whales

February 14:

We saw whales breaching at a distance here in Mexico, too. I assume they were humpbacks. Way too Far out to get pictures but saw 2 blowing and breaching for about 10 minutes

Michael

Southern Resident Orca

A 3-year old female L pod juvenile, L112, was found dead near Long Beach, WA on Saturday, February 11. She died of "significant trauma" and had been dead about three days when found, according the initial necropsy report.

(Link: http://www.cascadiaresearch.org/examination_of_dead_killer_whale-12Feb2012.htm)

So far no cause of death has been determined, but injuries from military sonars have been suggested, and as readers of the February 8 sightings report saw, Canadian navy exercises practiced using sonars in Haro Strait around 5 am on February 6, as part of a multi-vessel training exercise from February 5 to February 18. In addition, NOAA has permitted US naval training along the Washington coast, involving explosive munitions in addition to sonar training. A few weeks ago a group of conservationists and American Indian tribes sued the National Marine Fisheries Service to curtail the Navy's expanded training exercises in whale habitat.

Further examination will hopefully find the cause of L112's untimely demise. If sonars or explosive ordnance is found to have killed her, concerns have been raised about her mother L86, her brother L106, and other L pod members who also may have been impacted.

Susan Berta & Howard Garrett, Orca Network, Whidbey Island, WA

More Links in the News

Sea Turtle, Dolphins, Grey Whales plus more

Here are some more interesting links submitted by Lisa Spaven of the Marine Mammal Response Network – remember if you see any injured, distressed or dead marine mammals please call the incident reporting hotline at 1-800-465-4336:

A 4th sea turtle found in Pacific Rim National Park (this one another green turtle and already dead)

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120210/bc_fourth_turtle_icy_waters_12021/20120210/?hub=BritishColumbiaHome

And sad news from of a killer whale death...L112 found dead on Long Beach WA Saturday. Preliminary necropsy results (see link above) suggest unknown source of trauma to head. (These links are original news reports - SM)

http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/02/dead_orca_whale_washes_ashore.html

http://www.timescolonist.com/health/Death+young+female+orca+mysterious+trauma/6148919/story.html

Legal news: Court compels Ottawa to protect Killer Whale habitat

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/court-ruling-compels-ottawa-to-protect-killer-whale-habitat/article2335762/?utm_medium=Feeds%3A%20RSS%2FAtom&utm_source=Home&utm_content=2335762

http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/Government+must+protect+killer+whale+habitat+court/6134639/story.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/02/10/pol-endangered-killer-whales-court.html

Dolphin stranding video: International Fund for Animal Welfare video compilation of dolphin mass stranding efforts in Cape Cod this past month

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXO2dLkYsPg

The coolness and vulnerability of the sperm whale:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096142/Sperm-whales-How-plastic-bags-poisoning-planets-greatest-predators.html

True story of the rescue of 3 ice stranded grey whales (aka Big Miracle movie)

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/02/big-miracle-barrow-whales-rescue-true-story.html

 

2012 Charter Cruises

Enjoy a personalized week long Charter Cruise in the pristine wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest. Information can be found on the 2012 Charter Cruises pages of Whales and Dolphins BC.

Valentine's Day Orca by Powell River

It was a lovely Valentine's gift to see Orca back in the inside waters and along the Sunshine Coast. Although I spent a short time out with them, there's nothing like sitting there and hearing their blows even when it got too dark to see them. They decided to arrive in the neighbourhood almost too late to see them at all. I managed a few very poor quality photos of them, see below. After my last report wondering where the whales got to, I received a couple of Humpback Whale reports, see below. I look forward to the Humpbacks and Dolphins (other than Orca, which are actually of the Dolphin family) also coming back to our coverage areas.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Orca – Killer Whales

(Transients?)

February 14:

Orca Tail Lob between Powell River and Texada Island

February 14, 2012

Photo: Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

4:40 pm A call came in of 6 or 7 Orca off Armour Road, south of Powell River heading Northward – my way. Thanks to Nina Falls for the sightings report!

I had little time to grab gear and head out into the calm waters in front of the Powell River Harbour. It didn't take very long to spot them, but as they headed close to shaded East side of Texada Island, the light wasn't in my favour to get ID photos. I managed to count at least 6 and possibly up to 9 Orca. As for vocals, I set the hydrophone down a number of times, but there was far too much boat noise from the ferries and tugs transiting the area to hear anything other than boats. I thought I heard a couple of squeaky calls, but they were not conclusively Orca calls.

Orca (possibly T20) between Powell River and Texada Island

February 14, 2012

Photo: Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

I'm pretty certain one of them was the Transient Orca T20 with his distinctive notch in that big dorsal, but they were distant and my photos were just too poor of a quality to be 100% certain. The females and the baby calf, merrily porpoising beside Mom, were also too far off; not to mention it was getting rather dark, to see clearly. I left them around 6:15 pm heading between the reef marker and Blubber Bay at the top of Texada Island.

5:43 pm Telephone message about the Orca out in front of Westview from neighbours Steve Grover, who suddenly realized he was also watching me, already out on the water with the Orca as he left the message. He also called my cell phone at one point to tell me that there were some Orca behind me which I did not see. Thanks Steve.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Orca Breach off the top of Texada Island

February 14, 2012

Photo: Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Humpback Whales

The following reports came in February 13, 2012 after my previous posting asking where the whales are. Most Humpback Whales are in Hawaii, but there was also a report of one in the Puget Sound area.

Hi Susan

It seems like a long time since we have had a visit but I do love your Blog and just wanted to let you know that we had many whale sightings while in Maui. Lots and lots of Humpbacks. There was not a day that went by without our seeing many breaches, especially against the darker background of Molokai. We had many sightings on our morning walk at Kapalua. We were smart enough to take our binoculars this time. While we were driving Erin back to the airport we had our closest sighting, just below the cliff edge, and huge! So we have been very lucky this past January. Hope all is well and you Anna hummingbirds are still okay.

Cheers Dulcie

And:

Want to report 3 Humpback whales breaching. Saw them off our deck.....of course, we are in Kona, Hawaii! See you in the spring
Dee

February 5

Just saw the humpback in Hood Canal today, from 4:15-6 pm off the Bangor navy base!
Emma Willoughby

Hummingbird Update

Still have the same four fighting over the feeder in Powell River. The male Anna's are in their breeding plumage and have even redder heads than a few weeks ago. They are also going through a lot more food even though it's warmer.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

 

2012 Charter Cruises

Enjoy a personalized week long Charter Cruise in the pristine wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest. Information can be found on the 2012 Charter Cruises pages of Whales and Dolphins BC.

Calm Ocean but Whales?

I got all excited when in the very flat calm waters I saw something dark surface....it was disappointingly a log bobbing around in the tide line. Then I noticed something that looked like a dorsal....it was sea lion doing a sideways porpoise showing it's flipper and looking like an Orca. I fully expected to get some Orca reports, but I may have taught the locals to realize that sea lions can truly look like Orca from a distance when they porpoise sideways slowly.

I do have some photos of the last Orcas to be spotted close by, see below. I wish they'd get back to the Sunshine Coast area. Please note that there may have been some confusion that the whales last seen up here where spotted in the UK, but, in fact, the report only was from the UK film crew I consulted with. They were filming a reality program for the Discovery Channel. The sightings they were lucky enough to see were by Hardwicke Island in Johnstone Strait (not the UK). There have been no other local (Sunshine Coast - Johnstone Strait area) sighting reports since that last sighting posted. I do hear of people keeping a lookout along the Davis Bay walk in Sechelt and other areas (thank you)....where did they go?? Keep looking, they are out there somewhere, it's a big ocean.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Northern Resident Orca

February 11. 2012

Photo by Ed Jordan

Northern Resident Orca

February 11. 2012

Photo by Ed Jordan

Northern Resident Orca

February 11. 2012

Photo by Ed Jordan

 

2012 Charter Cruises

Enjoy a personalized week long Charter Cruise in the pristine wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest. Information can be found on the 2012 Charter Cruises pages of Whales and Dolphins BC.

Fog and Whales

Sightings have been few and far between over the past bit, but finally, from out of the fog, there are a couple of reports. The drifting banks of thick fog has definitely made it difficult for any sightings along the Sunshine Coast. Fog banks were a bit lighter from Campbell River and up into Johnstone Strait.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

Orca – Killer Whales

February 6:

I've just had a message from Charlotte and they said they have been incredibly lucky and seen cow, big bull and possibly yearling at West Thurlow by Hardwicke. They think there may have been one or 2 more.

Jodie Wilcox (from the UK! Amazing how this works. SM)

February 3:

Whales and Dolphins BC received a late report of 3+ Orca at the top end of Johnstone Strait around 1 pm. Later reports had these whales as Resident Orca.

Susan MacKay

Pacific White Sided Dolphins

February 5:

Around 3 pm with the hydrophone down and in between boat sounds, I picked up some Pacific White Sided Dolphin chatter. It was only due to the one big dolphin leap that I could even confirm that they were under the swarm of birds off the top of Texada Island and towards Rebecca Rocks. It was great to be out on the water; and no fog.

Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC

 

2012 Charter Cruises

Enjoy a personalized week long Charter Cruise in the pristine wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest. Information can be found on the 2012 Charter Cruises pages of Whales and Dolphins BC.