Reports of Orca that
seem to appear in numbers then disappear. With the calm waters, you'd
think it would be difficult to lose track of them, but it happens. In
the meantime, Pacific White Sided Dolphins have been having some good
feeding runs in the Georgia Strait while putting on a show for some
lucky fishermen. In front of Powell River, we have three commercial
draggers operating, so I don't anticipate Cetaceans in the close
proximity, unfortunately. We also have a great Humpback Whale report
from Hawaii. It's always exciting to receive reports from farther
afield.
For
those of you in the Powell River area, or planning to be: Our Burger
and Beer Night tickets will be available at our information table in
the Town Center Mall, in front of The Brick, on Saturday, February
28th.
We'll have Whale and Dolphin photos and video clips running on a 60”
TV screen, courtesy The Brick. The Burger (beef or veggie) and Beer
(or wine) tickets are $15 each. The event is being sponsored by the
Savoury Bight Restaurant and Pub at Beach Gardens, who also have
tickets available. This is a fundraiser for our First permanent Live
Web Camera and Hydrophone system installation. We have many great
Toonie Toss and Door Prizes, all donated to help us raise the funds
needed. We look forward to seeing you there!
Susan
MacKay & Lynne Cracknell, Whales
and Dolphins BC
Have you seen a whale,
dolphin or porpoise?
We
are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society
UNIDENTIFIED
KILLER WHALES
Feb 22:
2 pm Approx. I was
paddling north in Hunter Channel (15 km. from Bella Bella) and a
family of Orcas was heading south. We watched them approach and then
move on to the south for 30 minutes or so. The male(?) had a very
tall dorsal and came within 20 m. and between us two Kayakers while
the other adult and what appeared to be two young stayed well to our
port. The calves played, breached and splashed with the mother(?)
close at hand. Very enthralling and humbling for us humans on a
bright, sunny day, glassy calm sea. I was too excited to work my
camera.
I
managed to do a screen capture from the few seconds of video that I
have of the male Orca. Derek, my paddling partner has a few seconds
of one of the calves breaching. His kayak was about 15-20 m astern of
the whale! (video
clip not submitted - SM)
Video Frame Capture
of Orca
February 22, 2015
Vic Gladish, Bella
Bella
Here's
a few more details….Date – Sun., Feb. 22 at
approx. 2:00 pm Weather – sun, windless, approx 10 deg Celsius.
4
Orca – family grouping by all appearances – 3 together were
perhaps mother and 2 calves; 1 separated from group and had a very
tall, pointed dorsal fin. He swam between me and my paddling partner
and surfaced astern of us. The entire group travelled from North to
South in Hunter Channel at a leisurely pace. As I watched them into
the distance I could see the male keeping to centre of the channel
and the other 3 staying closer to the Campbell Island shore.
There
has been several sea lions in the Bella Bella/ Lama Pass vicinity for
several weeks. We spotted 2 close to shore in Hunter Channel shortly
after the Orcas passed us.
Vic Gladish, Bella
Bella.
Feb 22:
9:00 am: A friend
reported Orca off the Comox ferry, no numbers, no direction given.
Grant Rainsley.
Feb 22:
3:53 pm: About fourteen
Killer Whales Southbound in Discovery Passage by Brown's Bay,
Vancouver Island.
(from radio)
Feb 22: The Orca passed
us. We got to Seymour Narrows at 5:10 pm and spoke to someone who
said they were southbound one and a half hours ago. So we turned
south and burned to Cape Mudge, but they were gone. A friend posted
on my wall that at around 5:10 pm they were somewhere by the Big
Rock...so close!
Nick Templeman,
Campbell River Whale and Bear Excursions.
Feb 15:
5:42 pm: Reports from a
friend fishing the Hump that there are 50 plus Orca with 5 or more
babies heading north in Discovery Passage. The Hump is just south of
Cape Mudge on the Vancouver Island side of Quadra Island.
Aaron Webber,
Campbell River Whale Watching.
HUMPBACK
WHALES
Feb 20:
Message from Maui! Hey,
it's wild, there are Humpbacks! Lunging and breaching so close to
shore. Honestly, I could have been paddle boarding or swimming right
where they were. Every day like this. Have never seen them so close.
You should come here for Professional Development!
Feb 21: Got another
amazing show yesterday afternoon at about 4:00 p.m our time. Like
non-stop antics! Couldn't have paid for a better seat on a boat. We
sat with many others sipping our cocktails and KABOOM out flies a
Humpback, then another and another...
Lorraine Redpath,
Sayward.
PACIFIC
WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS
Feb 19:
1:17 pm: About one
hundred Pacific White Sided Dolphins off Blubber Bay, on Texada
Island.
Susan MacKay, Whales
and Dolphins B.C.
February 19:
3
pm About 50 dolphins seen heading SE past Myrtle Rocks,
Powell River. They were moving along fast, then stopped and milled
around, with seagulls overhead, then they quickly headed off again in
the same direction.
Holly
Roy, Powell River
Feb 17:
11:50
am: Dolphins one half mile south of Albion Point, Powell River. There
were approximately 50 of them heading east into the fog bank.
Laura Johnson,
Powell River
Pacific White Sided
Dolphins
February 17, 2015 –
2 photos
Laura Johnson,
Powell River
February 17:
I saw what I believe
was a large group of dolphins about 4:30 this afternoon. I was on
Palm Beach and they were over by Northeast Point and lighthouse on
Texada Island. Through binoculars I could see lots of splashing and
could barely make out bodies lunging just above the surface but no
high leaps. Dozens of splashes at a time. They were centred around
the lighthouse and I viewed them for 10 minutes or so then they
disappeared.
Terry L. Brown, Palm Beach, Lang Bay, south of Powell River.
Terry L. Brown, Palm Beach, Lang Bay, south of Powell River.
Feb 17:
On Monday afternoon
(yesterday 16th) there were Dolphins going south past the Donkersley
Beach/Black Point area. I was woken up by Eagles and Sea Gulls this
morning, looked out at the sunrise and saw possibly the same pod of
Dolphins playing/feeding out front in Donkersley Beach, then they
headed north again.
Kimmy Faerie, Powell
River.
Feb 16:
5:00 pm: I saw between
7 – 15 Dolphins in Howe Sound offshore from White Cliff Park, West
Vancouver.
Naomi Gould. West
Vancouver.
Feb 15:
1:54 pm: 60 – 100
Pacific White Sided Dolphins by Grant's Reef, off Savary Island.
2:54 pm: They are now
headed towards Mitlenatch Island in Georgia Strait and in the
direction of Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
Radio
February 15:
2:30 – 3:30 pm Around
100 Pacific White Sided Dolphins off Grant's Reef and towards Savary
Island. There was lots of jumping totally out of the water. Then
they'd create a bunch of white caps. They were a bit farther off from
us fishing, then they headed towards Mitlenatch Island.
Jeff Winter, Powell
River
LINKS
In
a deeply retrogressive move, China looks at buying Orca from Russia
for captive entertainment purposes.
The
death of a Beluga whale at Sealand brings more attention to the many
issues surrounding captive whales:
A
very lucky break for a Humpback off the coast of Hawaii as it is
freed from entangling fishnets after an epic eight day struggle to
save it's life:
Nothing
to do with whales, but this amazing encounter between a Harbour Seal
and an Octopus in the waters off Victoria, British Columbia is well
worth reading and seeing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/13/seal-fights-octopus-canada-photos-bob-ianson_n_6681588.html
And
a proposed increase to protected habitat for Right whales in the
Atlantic. A step in the Right direction?
Have
you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
Every
sighting report is valuable!
We
are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society
