Have You Seen Any of These?

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Killer Whales, Dolphins and Burger and Beer Night info

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
Call 1-877-323-9776 or Emailyour report.


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.

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.

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?
1-877-323-9776 or Email your report.
Every sighting report is valuable!
We are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society

Friday, February 13, 2015

New SRKW Calf in Time for Heart Warming Valentine's Day

A Very Happy Valentine's Day to all! Another great bit of news for the Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whale population. There's another birth reported in J-Pod, making it the second in 2015! J50, born in December, 2014 is doing well, and this one, born in February, 2015 who's mother is presumed to be J19, has the number J51. All exciting news!

It's been wonderful to finally have some Whale and Dolphin activity to report right out in front of the Whales and Dolphins BC offices. Unfortunately there are so many things under way in the background, that it's been almost impossible to get on the water to check it out or even confirm some IDs. All this behind the scenes activity of meetings and paperwork has also delayed these reports and we apologize for that, but please continue to submit your sightings. Every sightings report is valuable!

We are holding a fundraising 'Burger and Beer' night at the Savoury Bight Restaurant and Pub at Grief Point, Powell River on March 10th. Tickets are $15 for a beef or veggie burger and a beer or wine. We will have a Toonie toss for some pretty awesome prizes as well as a couple of door prizes. Tickets are available at the restaurant or from our members (you can call or email Susan MacKay for info) as well as a table that is planned in Town Center Mall (date(s) to be posted shortly). We are also working on obtaining Gaming licences for our raffles of seven whale watching / eco-tours, accommodation, Pacific Coastal flight, BC Ferries transportation and a couple of prints of Garry Henkel's award winning photo as published on the cover of BC Magazine. These fundraising events are for the first permanent live web camera and hydrophone system we are putting in place off the Beach Gardens Marina.
Susan MacKay & Lynne Cracknell, 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!

UNIDENTIFIED KILLER WHALES
(we are still not 100% sure of who we've had in some of these sightings)



Orca off Powell River
February 8, 2015 - 3 photos
Steve Grover, Powell River

February 13:
9:19 am 5 Orca, one of them is huge and there's a young one too northbound by Albion Point, just by the Wellness Center, Powell River.
Caller did not leave their name

February 13:
9:20 am 5 Killer Whales moving very slowly Northbound. They sort of stop and circle, then continue. Sometimes they look like they're resting. There's 2 big males in the group.
Bill Taylor, Powell River

February 13:
9:49 am 5 – 6 Killer Whales just off Myrtle Rocks, Powell River, northbound. They're really close to shore and have gone into the bay, mostly out of sight for me. There's one really huge male in there.
Jim Southern, Powell River

February 10:
2:40 pm 3 plus Orca are back and forth between VanAnda and Blubber Bay, Texada Island. I'm sailing and they're coming closer... there's actually 7 – 8 Orca including two big males and a small calf. They appear to be feeding on a possible kill. (I could just make them out heading NorthWest - SM)
Joe VanAs, Powell River

Feb 9:
9:00 am: Orca spotted off Myrtle Rocks, Powell River, slowly heading South East. Bit too foggy to see much more.
Holly Roy, Powell River.

Feb 9:
11:00 am: At least 2 Killer Whales in Queen Charlotte Strait this morning around. They were far offshore and I could clearly see one, possibly two male dorsals through the binoculars. They were too far off to see if there were any others with them. They were heading east towards Foster Island – possibly still the T055's from the other day, but unconfirmed.
Darryl Luscombe, SointulArt

February 9: (rec'd Feb 11)
3 pm We saw 3 Killer Whales 1 large one, 1 baby, and 1 mid sized on February 9th in Sabine channel near the southern tip of Texada Island.
Sarah Layla, Texada

Feb 8:
1:25 pm: Four plus Orca westbound in Johnstone Strait at Rock Bay, northwest of Campbell River.
Jos Krijnen, Eagle Eye Adventures.

Feb 8:
4:57 pm: Orca breaching off Harwood Island Spit. I was scanning looking for the Dolphins reported below. I saw 5-8 dorsals spread out. Couldn't tell what direction. Probably feeding. I think that they were Transient Bigg's Killer Whales, but unconfirmed at this point.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.




Orca off Powell River Ferry Terminal
February 7, 2015 – 4 photos
Jana Jones, Powell River

Feb 8:
5 pm on: Just to let you know I watched the Orca by Harwood Spit for about 20 minutes with my telescope. They were slowly moving southbound close to the shore off Harwood Island and I counted 7 animals including 2 males. From that distance I couldn't confirm that they were the same animals from Saturday, but I think they probably were.
Steve Grover, Powell River.

Feb 7:
11:20 am: At least 6 Orca northbound towards Powell River, by Grief Point.
Jonathan Cote, Savoury Bight Restaurant and Pub

Feb 7:
11:28 am: 6 – 8 Orca passing by Grief Point, heading towards Westview in Powell River.
Joanne Brough, Powell River.

Feb 7:
11:45 am: There are whales (Orca) out in front of the Beacon B and B, in Powell River. There is one large dorsal fin and a baby whale.
Shirley Randall, Powell River.

February 7:
12 pm – ish: I watched them from Marine Ave. for about 45 minutes and got a few shots that might help in identification. They were on the hunt for something and gulls were hanging around but didn't see any definitive. I think there were 7 animals possibly 8 as one image shows 5 for sure while the 2 large males were further ahead. There was also a young juvenile doing a bit of a spy hop in one shot. There was some tail slapping while the big ferry was going close by which was great to see and lots of people were at the viewpoint getting a pretty nice look.
Steve Grover, Powell River

Feb 7:
12:10 pm: On the noon ferry on Saturday there were some Orca spotted off both sides of the ferry shortly after we left Powell River on the way to Comox. I couldn't grab my camera fast enough to catch the first group, but the 2nd group put on quite the show. It looked like one was quite large (with a hook at the top of the dorsal fin) and also what looked like a calf, who breached twice. I've attached some photos that will hopefully help you identify them. (We have been so busy at Whales and Dolphins BC that the ID's could not be confirmed – SM) There were 3 in the group that I got the photos of, and my husband said he thinks there were about 3 in the first group as well. I didn't get a good look at the first group.
Jana Jones, Powell River

Feb 7:
1:45pm: Third hand report of up to 20 Orca off the Powell River Mill, with many young ones. The Powell River Sailing Club had them escort at least one of the boats for a bit.
Terry Brown, Powell River

Feb 6:
9:20 am: Seen from Texada – Powell River ferry - at least 3 Orca southbound down Malaspina Strait just off Blubber Bay.
Micheline Macauley, Texada Island


Orca off Texada Island Ferry
February 6, 2015
Micheline Macauley, Texada Island


NORTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES

We believe that some of the sightings in the Unconfirmed Orca reports might be the A42's who may have actually met up with another whale or two; possibly to mate since they are a family pod. Sons stay with their mothers except to mate. This is a bit confusing for many who believe the big male in the pod to be the 'father'. Some of the dorsal fins in photos look correct, even though we don't have close ups, but the numbers are off which creates the confusion.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins BC


TRANSIENT BIGG'S ORCA

Feb 7:
9:55 am: Some shots from the Quadra Queen 11 ferry from yesterday around 2 pm. It was raining hard so a little challenging to get great photos as the ferry passed these Orca near Haddington Island. Difficult to estimate how many there were, but there were at least 3 visible at one time, likely more though. Approximate location was Lat.50.607079 Long 127.02906 and they were traveling west down Broughton Strait. (T055's)
Darryl Luscombe, SointulArt



Transient Bigg's Killer Whales T055's
February 7, 2015 – 3 photos
Darryl Luscombe, SointulArt

PACIFIC WHITE SIDED DOLPHINS

February 12:
We saw a few smaller groups of Pacific White Sided Dolphins really close into shore, maybe looking for herring. There were 15 – 20 Dolphins in each group and they were mostly Northbound.
Bill Taylor, Powell River

Feb 9:
12:42 pm: Radio report of Pacific White Sided Dolphins off Coho Point at the north west tip of Texada Island. Too foggy for me to see.
2:38 pm: I've spotted about 10 – 12 Pacific White Sided Dolphins off the Powell River viewpoint, foraging, and another group of around 20 also foraging in front of Powell River. No count on the ones still off Coho Point on Texada Island.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.

Feb 9:
2:15 pm: Just caught tail end of a school of Pacific White Sided Dolphins down in the Grief Point area. There are probably around 30 or 40. They are still around, but heading south. Would be very visible from the Beach Gardens in Powell River soon.
Janet Southcott, Powell River.

Feb 8:
4:30 pm: 30-40 Pacific White Sided Dolphins southbound off Vananda, on Texada Island.
Micheline Macauley, Texada Island


HUMPBACK WHALES

We have been receiving, non specific (date, time, numbers, etc.) reports of many Humpback Whales in and around both Mexico and Hawaii. We have some photos below submitted by Michael Stewart of Powell River on Feb. 12th from Banderas Bay, Mexico. - SM



Humpback Whales
Banderas Bay, Mexico – 3 photos
Michael Stewart, Powell River

HARBOUR PORPOISE

Feb 8: I wanted to touch base with you regarding two incidents of Pacific White Sided Dolphins being found dead at Davis Bay on the Sunshine Coast. The first sighting was on January 28th (I was out of the country and just heard of it and have no pics) and the most recent was yesterday. I doubt it could be the same animal with the time in between and with not much decomposition. Once looking at it, it became obvious this one was a Harbour Porpoise from the dorsal and lack of other Dolphin markings. (It is possible that both sightings were Porpoise, but without photos from the first one, it's hard to be certain - SM)
Geordie Harrower, Roberts Creek.

LINKS

The new Southern Resident Killer Whale of J-Pod still has the very distinctive tiny 'baby' look; orange colour to white patches and a few fetal folds that he/she will grow into. Here are a couple of the Birth Announcements:

The widening of a Highway in Chile has lead to the discovery of the fossilized remains of large numbers of whales, the result of mass strandings thousands of years ago:

A “nail in the coffin” for the keeping of Killer Whales in captivity. Ontario aims towards the eventual end to all captive cetaceans, plus an overhaul of the rules for all marine mammals presently in captivity.

Some fascinating underwater video of Killer Whales playing off the coast of Western Australia:

And some Super Smart Sperm whales take back what belongs to them, leaving commercial fishermen crying foul!

Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
1-877-323-9776 or Email your report.
Every sighting report is valuable!
We are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society



Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Video of NRKW Pod A42's Rubbing on a Pebble Beach

Killer Whales are all over the place! The viral video of the Northern Resident (fish eating) Killer Whales, the A42's rubbing on a beach were easily identified by Susan MacKay as soon as the higher resolution clip was posted last Wednesday. See the clips below. It's some of the best rubbing of Orca on a beach that's available. Those very lucky workers got a once in a lifetime show. The Southern Resident (fish eating) Killer Whales of J-Pod, from the satellite tagged J27, have moved to the west coast of Vancouver Island, while we appear to have both Transient Bigg's (meat eating) Killer Whales and Northern Resident Orca in the Georgia Strait. Without enough information, we can't confirm some of the sightings and have posted them into the Unidentified Orca column. Few other species reports have come in, but all reports that have come in to date are below.

In the meantime, there is much excitement going on with a gathering of fundraising draw donations, further info to follow; a web camera fundraising event, “Burger and Beer (or wine) Night” coming up March 10th at the Savoury Bight Restaurant in Powell River, and other, to be posted soon, information about events, presentations and programs. Some of the 'behind the scenes' workings have caused delays in more timely postings of these sightings, but you are totally up to date now. We'd love to hear what you think of the revised Sightings Report look.
Susan MacKay & Lynne Cracknell, 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!

NORTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES

Northern Resident Orca A66 (Surf) born 1996
Frame grabbed from video clip below for identification purposes
 
Jan 29:
These videos of the Northern Resident pod A42's has gone viral and have been on the news a lot over the last few days, but even if you have already seen them they are well worth a second watch! It is some of the best footage anywhere showing Orca rubbing on beaches, a regular event, but seldom captured this close from shore. They do prefer pebbles to rub on, but frequent a few other locations with sand and infrequently rub on rocky bluffs. The big male, A66 (Surf) stops beautifully in front of the videographer allowing for an easily confirmed identification of the family pod. When the first lower resolution video clip was posted, we thought it was the younger members of the pod, but could only confirm the whole once we spotted A66 clearly in the higher resolution clip. This was taken while the workers were on one of the 'Discovery Islands' between Powell River and Campbell River. - Susan MacKay

First video is 4:20 minutes:

Second video clip is 1:39 minutes when the whales returned:


UNIDENTIFIED KILLER WHALES

Feb 3:
11:37 am: Report of 6 – 7 Orca somewhere in the fog between Powell River on the Sunshine Coast and Campbell River on Vancouver Island.
(from radio)

Feb 3:
2:47 pm: 3 Orca spotted by Atrevida Reef, just below Dinner Rock and Lund, moving southbound towards Powell River on the Sunshine Coast.
3:00 pm: There is one big male, one female, and one calf for sure.
Kim Lisberg, Powell River

Feb 3:
3:42 pm: Pod of two Killer Whales just passed towards Harwood Island, coming from the direction of Lund in the Strait of Georgia. Another friend of mine posted on Facebook that they seemed to head towards Westview, Powell River after Harwood Island.
Wendy Galligos, Powell River.

Feb 3:
3:50 pm: Searching for the Orca from Kim's report above, I finally saw the Orca doing long dives, and then cutting across from Atrevida Reef towards Mystery Reef on the south side of Savary Island.
4 pm: There is at least one by Atrevida Reef and two by Harwood Island Spit. With the split and long (10 minutes or more) dives, it's very difficult to keep track of them.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.

Feb 2:
1:02 pm: Report of a pod of Orca southbound into Georgia Strait between Point Atkinson and Passage Island.
Philine Scholz-Mayty.

Feb 1:
4:30 pm: Orca just off Lund, in the Strait of Georgia, there are 8 – 10 of them, or more, moving slowly southbound towards Dinner Rock, North of Powell River.
(from radio)

Jan 31:
2:25 pm: 3+ Orca travelling in a tight group northbound in front of Powell River! I'm on my way! Although I went to search for them for identification purposes, they just vanished. Trying the hydrophone a number of times, I could only hear distant boats. Not a peep or another sighting of the whales.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.

Spyhopping Orca off Cape Mudge Lighthouse
January 30, 2015
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours

Jan 30:
1:50 pm: 6 or so Orca mid channel in Discovery Passage out from the Cape Mudge Lighthouse on Quadra island. A couple of them were headed north west, but another is southbound, so they may be hunting.
3:30 pm: Orca mid channel Discovery Passage slowly northbound in front of the Anchor Inn, Campbell River.
Elvis, Eagle Eye Adventures.

Jan 30:
2:52 pm: 4-5 Orca foraging near the Campbell River shoreline on Vancouver Island, near the beach side coffee shop, adjacent to Cape Mudge on Quadra Island.
Tara Bladon, Campbell River.

Jan 30:
3:30 pm: Orca mid channel Discovery Passage slowly northbound in front of the Anchor Inn, Campbell River.
3:46 pm: One big fin. Far away. By Quathiaski Cove, closer to Quadra Island. Four Orca total, I think. Leaving the scene.
Garry Henkel, Aboriginal Journeys Whale and Grizzly Bear Tours.

Jan 28:
9:13 am: 6-8 Orca off Cape Mudge Village on Quadra Island southbound in Discovery Channel towards the red can buoy off Cape Mudge. Two big males.
(rec'd on 29th): At the time that I called in the report yesterday regarding the 6 – 8 Orca off Cape Mudge on Quadra Island, I heard that there was also another group off Rebecca Spit, on Quadra Island, by the scallop farm.
Elvis, Eagle Eye Adventures.

Jan 28:
5:03 pm: 6 plus Orca on the north side of Savary Island. Seen from the water taxi between Savary Island and Lund. (Call was dropped so not sure if they were headed up through the Copeland Islands or towards Baker Passage - SM) Midge called back; sounded like they might be southbound.
Midge Dalsin, Powell River

Jan 27:
11:30 am: A pod of 5 orca heading south on Jervis Inlet at Ball Point between Hornby Island and the mainland. Maybe you can see some marking to identify them. They were moving quite fast and this is the only pic I got. (We only received this lower resolution photo and no further information on location - SM)
Bonnie Kent.

Orca in Georgia Strait
January 27, 2015
Bonnie Kent

HARBOUR PORPOISE

Jan 31:
2:25 pm: Out in front of Powell River searching for some Orca who have disappeared. Sighted two Harbour Porpoise, southbound.
Susan MacKay, Whales and Dolphins B.C.


LINKS:

Most astonishing video ever of Humpback Whales joining in with human surfers!

And a final piece of good news, as the Government of Ontario vote against the acquisition or breeding of Orca in captivity.

Have you seen a whale, dolphin or porpoise?
1-877-323-9776 or Email your report.
Every sighting report is valuable!
We are the non-profit Wild Ocean Whale Society