Huge
flurry of activity with the meat eating Transient Bigg's Killer
Whales chasing Pacific White Sided Dolphins into Howe Sound and near
Squamish. They did capture at least one – see photos and links in
the news below. There are some other Orca reports that may be
Transient Bigg's sneaking past at dusk. Gray Whales are arriving back
to the West Coast of Vancouver Island as are some Humpbacks, all
probably working their way to their Summer feeding grounds.
Rumours
(no reports received directly) of some fish eating Northern Resident
Orca being spotted near the Great Bear Rainforest as well as at least
one Humpback Whale near the top of Johnstone Strait. There are many
other Links in the News in this report covering a Humpback
entanglement, sonar and whales, Species at Risk Act, stranded
Dolphins and more.
Lynne
has been helping compile all the reports for a while now and it's
overdue that her name is added properly.
Susan
MacKay & Lynne Cracknell, Whales
and Dolphins BC
Every
sighting report is valuable
Have
you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
Transient
Bigg's Killer Whale
Captures
a Pacific White Sided Dolphin
Squamish
area of Howe Sound
March
15, 2014
Photo:
Shawn Kokko
UNIDENTIFIED
KILLER WHALES
March
18:
7:50
pm Seven
Orcas possibly Biggs headed North just off the kelp bed by Hidden
Harbour, Campbell River, at 7:50 pm. They were moving fast. We saw 2
large dorsals and 2 calves. The seals that usually hang around here
were gone for a bit and just came back yesterday. Jeanne,
Campbell River
(These
may have been some of the same Orca that had been in Squamish. Based
on the photos I've seen, I believe the T60's plus others, possibly
T123's, were there and were rumoured around Blackfish Sound March
19th
– Susan MacKay)
March
18:
5:15
pm: Five whales were seen heading north slowly about 100 yards
offshore off
Schooner Cove BC.
There was one large male, two females (I believe) with small dorsals.
One calf. One smaller male, larger dorsal than the two whales that
had the calf between them.
We
have had two other sightings in the past month with killer whales
southbound.
We
have had more sightings in the last two months than the past five
years combined, along with more sea lions, herring balls with bald
eagles landing in the water, floating for ten to twenty seconds then
lifting off. The water in front of our home in Schooner Cove (near
Nanoose Bay) seems to be more active this winter/spring.
Robert
Wigmore, Schooner Cove.
Transient
Bigg's Killer Whales
Blind
Channel near Squamish
March
15, 2014
Photo:
Sharon Shales
GRAY
WHALES/ HUMPBACK WHALES
March
19:
Day:
Lovely sunny day, but windy and cold in the wind. Not too rough but
only two Gray Whales in about the same area as yesterday. (see
report below) Hope to get out on the outside tomorrow.
Don
McBain, North Vancouver
March
18:
12
pm - 4:30 pm: The Grays ARE in Barkley Sound! Got into Ucluelet at
11:00 am and was out at 12:00 with Jamie's Whaling Station. We saw
three Gray Whales off the north side of Forbes Island, lots of sea
lions, and maybe 100 eagles were in and out of the trees on the
Island, going after the herring. I haven't seen that many eagles in
one spot for years. On the way back in we came across a Humpback
also! More tomorrow, I hope, as I will be going out at noon again.
Don
McBain, North Vancouver
PACIFIC
WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
English
Bay, Vancouver
Photo:
Earl Paxton
March
16:
12:00
pm: Pacific White Sided Dolphins in False Creek today! I have been
watching 3 small pods of PWS dolphins from noon until 3 pm this
afternoon. They travelled back and forth from English Bay Beach to
beneath the Burrard Street bridge, mostly just hanging round the foot
of Jervis Street. I estimate about 20 – 30 in the 2 pods that came
in and about the same in a 3rd
pod that seemed to remain about 500 metres out towards the buoys.
They came to within 30' of the beach. VERY cool to see them in the
city. Lots of spectators enjoying the rare sight. I'll send some pics
as soon as I download off my camera.
Earl
Paxton, West Vancouver.
March
16:
1:00
pm: Hello, I was walking around Vanier Park today March 16 around
1:00 pm and watched 4-6 either porpoise or dolphins swimming into
False Creek and then what appeared to be the same group coming out
again. As I could not distinguish between either dolphin or porpoise
cannot say which it was but lots of other spectators saw them.
They
were too far away for me to determine the dorsals but they appeared
“silverish” and were leaping so I believe they must have been the
Pacific White Sided Dolphins. Quite a thrill.
Carol
Attenborrow, Vancouver, BC
March
10: (rec'd 15th)
6:45
pm – 7:30 ish We saw the (PWS) dolphins as well on March 10th,;
jumped in our boat and they were no longer in the V as our friends
down at Atrevida had stated, but in a long drawn out line, went on
the West side of Major Rock and then veered northwards as if heading
towards Mary Point (Cortez Island). I got a few shots (none
submitted)
along with many gulls and cormorants in the sunset sky. Gorgeous but
cold!
Christine
Hollmann, Terracentric Adventures, Lund.
Pacific
White Sided Dolphins
English
Bay, Vancouver
Photo:
Earl Paxton
LINKS
IN THE NEWS
This
has been a very exciting week with lots of Dolphins turning up in
numbers in places where they are not often seen, and quite often with
Orcas in close pursuit. Lots of sightings offshore in Vancouver, and
also in the Squamish area. We even made the National News! There are
a couple of different links to these stories posted below:
Brenda
Petersen's article on the effects of Sonar on Whales:
On
the East Coast some unlucky Dolphins became trapped in the ice and
came to a tragic end. Link to that story here:
Article
and commentary on Species at Risk, Humpback Whales and Enbridge by
Caitlin Vernon, the campaigns director for Sierra Club.
Officials
Search For Entangled Humpback Whale In Hawaii:
California’s
Orca Welfare and Safety Act, introduced last Friday by state Assembly
member Richard Bloom, D–Santa Monica, has sent shock waves
throughout the media and the captive-marine-mammal industry. The bill
would make it illegal to “hold in captivity, or use, a wild-caught
or captive-bred orca for performance or entertainment purposes.” It
also would ban artificial insemination of captive killer whales and
block the import of orcas or orca semen.
This
article offers possible outcomes for the 10 whales that are in
captivity at SeaWorld. Very thought provoking and well worth the read
no matter what side of the fence you're on:
Transient
Bigg's Killer Whale
Captures
a Pacific White Sided Dolphin
Squamish
area of Howe Sound
March
15, 2014
Photo:
Chris Charpentier
Have
you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
Every
sighting report is valuable!
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