Whales, no Whales days, but the Pacific
White Sided Dolphins are around avoiding Transient Bigg's Killer
Whales. A Grey Whale disappeared when the Orca showed up. Some Dall's
and Harbour Porpoise seem to pop up when the Orca are far enough
away, or when they manage to get away from them. Couple of late
reports including reports of Minke, Southern Resident Orca and
Harbour Porpoise in the San Juan Islands.
Susan MacKay, Whales
and Dolphins BC
Have you seen a whale,
dolphin or porpoise?
Call 1-877-323-9776
or Email
your report.
Every sighting report is
valuable!
Transient
Bigg's Killer Whales
Transient Bigg's Orca
June 13, 2013
Myrna, Powell River
June 13:
8 am-ish 2 Transient Bigg's Killer
Whales reported Southbound in Lewis Channel by fisherman.
Aaron Nagler, Sonora Resort
June 13:
12:14 pm 6+ Orca South of Rebecca
Rocks, Powell River. Looks like they're angling North towards Coho
Point, Texada Island. Doing long dives and taking their time. A few
Dall's Porpoise raced up ahead of the Orca. 12:40 pm The Orca stopped
with a few slaps on the water and with the hydrophone down all this
time, they finally got very chatty. This is usual after a kill or
when they're socializing. Couldn't see them or their blows for around
20 minutes! At 1:15 pm 3 Harbour Porpoise came up from the direction
of the Orca and stopped close by the skiff to catch their breath
before continuing past. The Orca then appeared to turn South where I
could see blows heading Denman and Hornby Islands. There was one
large male together with a couple of females and a possible calf when
I first spotted them and the last blows were from two large males.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC
June 13:
3:15 pm 2 Orca Southbound by Havannah
Point, Texada Island.
Commercial Tug Boat
June 13:
3:41 pm 4 or 5 Orca popped up as we
rounded Harwood Island heading South towards the harbour. It looked
like there were 2 males and 3 smaller fins, but too spread out
between Harwood and the Powell River mill, and no time left to spend
with them to confirm. They moved at a pretty good pace, doing long
dives and the last blows seen were headed towards VanAnda, Texada
Island as we headed into Westview harbour.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC
June 13:
About 5 pm 4 Orca – picked them up
just off VanAnda and left them about 6:50 pm just off Myrtle Point
still Southbound.
Mark, Discovery Marine Safaris
June 13:
6:45 pm These whales just passed by the
house, south of town, Whalen Road, Powell River, going south.
Myrna, Powell River
June 12:
12:15 pm Large group of Transient
Bigg's off Nanaimo from Simon.
Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale
and Bear Excursions
June 11:
8 am Report of 1 large fin Orca from
someone on the ferry from Quadra to Campbell River. No direction.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
June 11:
8 am Couple of big male Orca – but
couldn't hear where the boaters were.
Radio
June 10:
8:15 pm 12+ Orca breaching, rolling
around, tail slapping and just having a great time by Dinner Rock,
just South of Lund. Lots of boats out there fishing – getting a
great show. (Their huge splashes and even their blows could be seen
from Powell River glistening in the sunshine for almost an hour. They appeared to head North. SM)
John and Joan Treen, Savary Island
Transient Bigg's Orca
T20 & Friends
June 8, 2013
Michael Matthews,
Okeover Inlet
June 8 (rec'd June 10):
Five whales headed up Okeover Inlet
about 4 pm, and then out again an hour later. One very large fin (but
definitely not ‘Captain Hook’), three smaller fins and one very
young calf. Photo of all but the calf attached. They might be the
same family which came up the inlet in April, but T40 (‘Captain
Hook’) was definitely not with them this time. (Thank you so
much for that report....we wondered where they went. The big male is
known as T020, you may have noticed other photos of him in the
Sightings reports. I would like to post your photo with credit to
you, if that's OK. It shows others that they too can see them from
shore, not just boats. Thanks again for the report and looking
forward to getting more updates. SM)
Michael Matthews, Okeover Inlet
June 5 (rec'd June 10):
6:30 pm approximately 4 Orca close to
Sarah Point. Male = T20 (highly probable)
They stayed close in to shore while we
watched them even after they passed us. I can't be absolutely 100%
positive but I don't think they turned into Desolation Sound. We
headed back to Lund after about 20 minutes. We were on a dinner
cruise. We saw evidence of their catch, a large chunk, in the water
near the boat. Liz Kennedy
Grey
(Gray) Whale
June 10:
8:15 am A Grey Whale – yes, lighter
grey than a Humpback and very splotchy grey / white patches surfaced
three times. I heard it once and saw it twice from the yard as it
headed Northbound by Albion (Black) Point, just South of Powell
River.
Bill Taylor, Powell River
San
Juans SRKWs, Minke Whale and Harbour Porpoise
June 6 (rec'd June 10):
We had some good looks at Harbour
Porpoise traveling fast away from the Ocean Magic on June 6/13 as
well as 3 Minke Whales off in the distance at Salmon Bank June 6th.
Same day we saw the L 22's , a family of three Orca traveling slowly
along the west side of San Juan Island. Apparently all of L pod came
into these waters earlier in the week. I have only seen the L12's and
the L22's so far.
Marie O'Shaughnessy, Orca-Magic
Transient Bigg's Orca
T20
June 5, 2013
Liz Kennedy
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
June 14:
3:13 pm Small group of maybe 10 PWS
Dolphins at Bodega Point, Kanish Bay area of Discovery Passage.
Shaun, Discovery Marine Safaris
June 13:
5:59 pm 150 or so PWS Dolphins by
Deepwater Bay, Discovery Pass. 6:27 pm leaving Dolphins Northbound at
No Name Creek.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
June 12:
7:45 am A few PWS Dolphins at the
Eastern mouth of Hole in the Wall.
Aaron Nagler, Sonora Resort
June 12:
1:17 pm 3 PWS Dolphins at Deepwater
Bay, above Campbell River milling.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
June 12:
2:40 pm 6 or so PWS Dolphins McMullen
Point milling. Stayed with them till 2:52 pm. They continued to
forage.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
June 12:
3:22 pm 4 PWS Dolphins at Brown's Bay
Southbound to Orange Point now.
Shaun, Discovery Marine Safaris
June 11:
1 pm PWS Dolphins at Henrietta Point
Northbound Stewart Island from DMS.
Mario, Campbell River Whale Watching
June 11:
2:40 pm 20 PWS Dolphins in lower Bute
Inlet by Fawn Bluffs.
Radio
June 11:
3:37 pm 10 PWS Dolphins milling about
at Jimmy Judd Island, Gillard Pass in the Yucalta Rapids.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
June 11:
4 pm 8 PWS Dolphins at Orange Point,
Discovery Passage foraging.
6 pm About the same number of PWS
Dolphins at Jimmy Judd Island off Sonora Lodge.
Nick Templeman, Campbell River Whale
and Bear Excursions
June 10:
12:45 pm 15 or so PWS Dolphins by
Church house, Stuart Island, just milling.
Mario, Campbell River Whale Watching
June 10:
4:11 pm 12 PWS Dolphins in Bute Inlet 3
miles in.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
Dall's
Porpoise
June 14:
4 pm 5 Dall's Porpoise by Denham Island
above the Yucalta Rapids.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
June 13:
12:40 pm Around 8 Dall's Porpoise raced
up the NW side of Texada ahead of some Orca. They slowed down as they
headed around Coho Point.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC
June 12:
2:50 pm 1 lone Dall's Porpoise spotted
by Gomer Island at the top of Nodales Channel.
Mario, Campbell River Whale Watching
Harbour
Porpoise
Harbour Porpoise
June 6, 2013
Marie O'Shaughnessy,
Orca-Magic
June 13:
1:15 pm 3 Harbour Porpoise came up to
and stopped on the opposite side of the skiff from the direction of
the Orca. They rested on the surface for a moment or two as if to
catch their breath, then slowly continued NE towards Harwood Island.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC
June 11:
2:41 pm 2 Harbour Porpoise by Sonora
Point, Nodales Channel.
No time given: 2 Harbour Porpoise in
Bute Inlet by Arran Rapids.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
June 10:
4:09 pm 2 Harbour Porpoise at the East
end of Hole in the Wall.
6:17 pm 2 Harbour Porpoise in Okisollo
Channel.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys
Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours
And a bit of Text Humor
– don't you love autocorrect?:
8
Amish Orca spotted...
2 Herb
Porpoise...
Yes, these are
corrected in the above reports – SM
Have you seen a whale,
dolphin or porpoise? Call 1-877-323-9776 or Email
your report. Every sighting report is valuable!
The
official governing non-profit society of Whales and Dolphins BC is
Wild Ocean Whale
Society (WOWs)